MUCH respected North Queensland cattleman Tom Mann passed away after a short illness on Saturday, aged 91.

Tom was a prominent member and leader of the beef industry community around Charters Towers, often years or even decades ahead of broader industry trends in his thinking and actions.

Tom Mann

In some ways a traditionalist, in others, Tom was an absolute trail-blazing pioneer and early adopter. In the nicest possible way, some viewed him as an academic wrapped in a cattleman’s body, and his personal demeanor – studious, reflective, analytical – mirrored that. He possessed a natural curiosity; was a voracious reader and absorber of information; and consulted widely across his contacts in academia, extension and the broader beef industry.

Having spent ten years in Townville from 1982, this writer got to know Tom Mann well, as an abundant source of innovative thinking and on-farm adoption of new technologies and management practices.

From a single modest land ballot block drawn in the early 1960s, he and his late wife Eve and their family built up an extensive northern cattle operation that by 2023 numbered seven properties covering almost 240,000ha of country.

It was Tom’s father who started prolifically entering his son’s name into land ballots. Eventually he drew Lochwall, a 12,140ha block 60km northwest of Charters Towers. In fact, he drew two other (farming) properties at the same time, but Tom was determined to graze cattle and this was the best option.

Tom had a deep interest in, and respect for the value that research and development could deliver for the beef industry. He not only embraced new R&D developments in his own cattle business, but served at local, regional and national level on R&D committees and advisory groups, including a lengthy term as North Queensland Beef Research Committee chair.

He frequently lobbied for stronger industry financial support for R&D, arguing in one memorable case during an MLA annual general meeting in Townsville for more industry capital to be directed into research, development and extension. He saw considerable merit in backing so-called ‘blue sky’ research – those special one-off projects that carried high risk, but equally high reward if they delivered.

Dawn of the computer era

Tom’s constant search for better ways to manage cattle and the land that supported them meant he was fertile ground for on-farm cattle production articles for this writer and others in ag media.

Beef Central’s friend and former work colleague Kenrick Riley wrote an item on Tom’s pioneering interest in on-farm computers in the mid-1980s.

At the dawn of the computer age, Tom bought and installed a primitive Commodore 64 desktop computer equipped with six-inch floppy disc drive around 1985 or 1986. Computers were unheard-of in extensive agriculture at the time.

Back then, there was no purchase and upload of the latest ‘Zero’ accounting package. Tom taught himself to design and write software programs, and built his own herd management spreadsheets.  A version of that software is still in use in the family’s cattle operations to this day.

Tom’s near neighbour, former ABC journalist Jane Cuddihy wrote an entertaining account of Tom and his industry legacy for an article in Outback magazine in 2023.

Tom Mann beside his trusty Cessna 172 Skyhawk

“From the saddle to the cockpit (Tom was an experienced pilot) to the spreadsheet, there’s not an element of Tom Mann’s grazing business that wasn’t in focus,” she wrote. “After more than 50 years managing rangelands in northern Australia, he’s helped to set the industry standard and is being recognised as a cattleman who drove change.”

Tom and his family haven’t always followed fashionable approaches, but rather, have found success at a crossroads of smart economical decisions and land management ingenuity.

“I’ve always preferred to move my cattle on horseback, as it provides the time and opportunity to really observe the country around you,” Tom said during the interview.

“You need to be aware of small changes in the grass ecosystem to make the best decisions for your business.”

“Dad always told us that the land is forever and we only have it as caretakers,” his daughter Liz Pearce said in the article. “It belongs to something bigger than us and we need to treat it with respect,” she said.

That legacy was honoured by the Australian Rangeland Society with its inaugural Excellence in Rangeland Management award, and while Tom was shocked at the gesture, it wasn’t a surprise to those who know him well.

“Many people dabble in trading cattle, but few do it well and even less do it well and maintain their country in good condition,” said Bob Shepherd, a principal rangeland extension officer with Queensland’s Department of Agriculture.

“Tom was one of the best in the industry at following the market, knowing how much feed is on hand and accounting for erratic wet seasons,” Bob said.

Early life

Tom started in the livestock industry as a young jackaroo in the early 1950s working with the Scottish Australia Company at Nive Downs, a sheep and cattle property near Augathella in south-western Queensland. He later became overseer on another of Scottish Australia’s properties, Kynuna Station.

It wasn’t long after Tom drew Lochwall in the land ballot before the new landowner caught the attention of Eve Allingham, the daughter of long-term local graziers and the pair were married in 1965. Through the division of her own family business, the pair acquired Hillgrove, in the Upper Burdekin district.

Tom’s savvy business skills and proficiency with cattle trading saw the couple build a portfolio of seven properties running some 14,000 cattle.

A self-confessed obsession with tax law aided Tom’s smart and informed business decisions that allowed them to expand.

“The first few years were very grim, but it started me off on the Income Tax Act. I used to go to bed with a copy – I couldn’t read enough,” he said. “I’m an early seller – that’s my main thing and I suppose as backup to that, I always reckon the tax value of your cattle is the only true value you have.”

Land management

Tom was flippant about his approach to pasture management systems in his early years.

“It was the dollars I was more worried about,” he said.

But scratch a little deeper and a compelling history emerges of visionary land management experiences.

The local Dalrymple Landcare Committee was the first of its kind formed in broadacre grazing area in Queensland. It was the brainchild of a small committee that included Tom, attached to the Charters Towers branch of the Cattleman’s Union, who were concerned about the degraded state of grazing land in the Dalrymple Shire.

Tom was awarded the 2007 Northern Australia Beef Research Committee’s medal acknowledging excellence in the field of production in the beef industry in northern Australia.

He spearheaded the producer uptake of phosphorus supplementation in cattle, revolutionising animal husbandry practises and reducing mortality rates in northern Australia. He was also one of the early campaigners for the selection of polled Brahman cattle – long before animal welfare, human safety and productivity impact issues surfaced.

Local DPI staffmember Bob Shepherd worked closely with Tom for decades, both in his professional role as a rangelands extension officer, and in various community and industry bodies. Bob is generous in his praise of Tom’s achievements in land and pasture management.

Recognition from the Australian Rangelands Society reflected how highly regarded Tom was in the beef industry, Bob said.

“Not only did this award recognise good land management in our productive rangeland areas, but Tom’s incredible service to the overall beef industry through communication of his successes, failures and learnings,” he said.

“He was financially successful because he did manage his country well.”

Tom pioneered variable stocking rates and controlled burns on his open forest country as ongoing management tools.

“Tom used fire well and in turn his pastures were incredibly productive and for the most part woody weeds were taken care of,” Bob said.

Tom, in turn, praises the influence of animal husbandry specialists through Queensland’s agriculture department. Of particular note was Wallace ‘Wal’ Taylor, who encouraged his penchant for technology and economics in conjunction with cattle management.

“Wal was always thinking outside the square and that didn’t go down with everyone, but he knew his beef science and his computer stuff. He got me into computers long before I thought of it,” Tom said in the Outback magazine article.

Through the 1960s and 70s, Tom and Eve welcomed four children into the family – Bill, Liz, Gordon and Jack. Tragically, Gordon was killed in a car accident in 1988. His wife Eve passed away in 2017.

“Dad could cast a critical eye on the world at times, but it was always balanced by a healthy dose of positive enthusiasm, energy and passion for the industry and life in general,” his son Bill Mann said in Jane Cuddihy’s Outback article.

“Being a great reader and early adopter of technology also made him very aware of both historic and future trends essential for the type of strategic planning our family business has benefitted from.”

In his later years Tom spent more time at home in Charters Towers among his books. While he remained active and his wit was as sharp as ever, his failing mobility prevented the amount of travel that he enjoyed in earlier years.

Tom Mann has left a legacy in the cattle industry that will last generations. His footprint will be set in stone for the future of the northern Australian beef industry for many years to come.

• Tom Mann’s funeral will be held at Hillgrove Station from 9am on Wednesday 28 October, followed by burial at the Hillgrove cemetery. All family and friends are welcome to attend to remember and celebrate his life.