Bronco branding is the traditional method of branding cattle in the Outback and has been practiced on most of the large stations throughout Australia.
Once the mob has been mustered a stockmen rides in and ropes a cleanskin calf from his horse. The catcher then hauls the calf to a bronco ramp where it is held, earmarked and branded.
The whole process can take less than a minute.
The modern process uses a calf cradle and this reduces both the time and labour costs for outback stations.
The use of open or yard broncoing, as seen here, has become virtually obsolete, and, along with that, the skills of the Australian stockman.
To keep those skills alive there are now bronco branding competitions all over the Outback.
The next one is in Marree on June 12. If you don’t mind a bit of dust it’s worth joining in to see our station people doing their thing.