On vast and remote stations throughout Far West New South Wales, mustering stock is being aided with the introduction of helicopter mustering in the region.
BROKEN Hill based helicopter mustering business Far West Helico offers round up services by air and have done so since they began in 2022, though co-owner and chief pilot Louis Bennell said the late Jamie Henderson was the regions original chopper musterer.
“Jamie really pioneered it, we couldn’t have done it without him,” Bennell said.
Business partner Alex Johnson said that while helicopter mustering has been used since the 1970s in other parts of the country, it’s a fairly recent addition to traditional approaches like dirt bikes, ultralights, and gyrocopters in Far West New South Wales.
“Up north they’ve been going it a long time, but this area is slowly changing to use of helicopters in their mustering,” he said.
“They’re seeing the benefits and efficiency, and it’s better for the animals too because you aren’t missing stock. It’s a much cleaner way of doing things.”
Mr Johnson and business partner Louis Bennell launched their company after meeting by chance while working on the mines.
Mr Bennell had moved to Broken Hill at the beginning of COVID, and was an experienced musterer and helicopter pilot, with a background mustering and ringing in New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia.
At the time, Mr Johnson had only flown in a helicopter twice, as a passenger.
“I’d always wanted to fly helicopters,” he said.
“My dream as a kid was to be a helicopter pilot, I just thought they were the coolest thing ever.”
Mr Johnson suggested to Mr Bennell that the pair might start a helicopter business together.
“One day I said to him, ‘what do you think about buying a helicopter, starting a business? You can fly and I’ll do my license, and we can try and make a run of it?’” he said.
The pair pooled together their life savings for a deposit on a helicopter and approached a finance broker.
“We pretty much got laughed out the door by the first finance broker,” Mr Johnson said.
“He said to us, ‘if it flies or floats, the banks aren’t going to want to look at it’.”
Thankfully, a finance broker in Sydney agreed to help them and they were able to purchase their first helicopter in February 2022.
Now, Far West Helico employs five pilots and own four two-seater helicopters, with plans to buy a four-seater soon.
Being able to see stock from the air and use noise to move the animals has changed the way station managers throughout the region are able to approach mustering entirely.
Randy Graham, who manages a station near Ivanhoe, said that employing Far West Helico on goat musters on the property has been a game changer.
“Louis and Far West Helico have made a huge impact on the time and efficiency of mustering on the property,” Mr Graham said.
Mr Graham was one of the business’ first clients and said Mr Bennell’s skills and background rounding up stock on the ground are crucial to him being such an effective chopper musterer.
“It’s easier to teach someone to be a pilot than it is to teach someone to understand how to move stock,” Mr Graham said.
“Louis has the ability to understand moving stock, and is an exceptional pilot, which makes him a highly skilled helicopter musterer.”
Last Saturday, Bennell spent the morning mustering goats on the station Mr Graham manages, moving the animals into one corner of the paddock by using a variety of techniques such as sound, smoke and occasionally maneuvering the helicopter closer in below the tree line when needed, or “bombing.”
Bombing is required when stubborn stock refuse to move or attempt to bury themselves under trees.
On the ground, the Graham family ride dirt bikes to pick up stragglers and disoriented goats, with direction via radio from Bennell who has a clear aerial view of the animals below.
With muster days usually beginning at first light and helicopters unable to fly at night, Mr Bennell and his team of pilots often travel out to stations on the evening before the muster.
“It can be a lonely job,” he said.
“It’s hard because you’re always with people, but you’re never with the people you love.
“You’re out there all the time with your clients, who are your mates too of course, but you don’t have much time at home, so you spend a lot of nights in your swag wishing you could be with them.”
But Mr Bennell said he’s loved mustering ever since he first got on a horse 12 years ago and couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
“As soon as I got on the horse, I thought it was the best thing ever, it was just the thing I felt that I needed to be doing.”
As the business grows, Mr Bennell spends less time in the air and more time at a desk in the hangar, but said he’s learned to love the business side of the job.
“Originally, I didn’t want to be in the office doing the business side of things at all, I wanted to be out in the chopper,” he said.
“But now I’ve come to enjoy the business side of things too and growing the business.”
Mr Johnson said a key focus at Far West Helico is not only improving the efficiency of stock work for local station owners but also giving back to the Broken Hill community.
“We really want to give back to the community, when possible,” he said.
“We’re a local business and we want to support local, whether that be through things like local sponsorship or even offering talks and things at schools or elsewhere.
“We’re keen to be involved in whatever we can to give back to the community, and if we could inspire some young helicopter pilots in Broken Hill, that would be great too.”
