Anna Creek Station is the world's largest working cattle station

Cattle station

Cattle station is an Australian term for a large farm , whose main activity is the rearing of cattle. In Australia, the owner of a cattle station is called a grazier...

. It is located in South Australia, Australia. Its area is roughly 6000000 acre (24,281.2 km²; 9,375 sq mi) which is slightly larger than Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. It is 8,000 km² larger than Alexandria Station (its nearest rival) in the Northern Territory, Australia and eight times the size of America's biggest ranch

Ranch

A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...

, King Ranch

King Ranch

King Ranch, located in south Texas between Corpus Christi and Brownsville, is one of the world's largest ranches. The ranch, founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis, includes portions of six Texas counties, including most of Kleberg County and much of Kenedy County, with...

 in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, which is 825000 acre (3,338.7 km²; 1,289.1 sq mi).
The nearest township is William Creek (which is completely surrounded by the Anna Creek station), but the nearest town for freight etc is Coober Pedy.

History

The property was originally established in 1863 but moved to its current location in 1872.

The property was originally used for sheep, but due to losses from dingo

Dingo

The Australian Dingo or Warrigal is a free-roaming wild dog unique to the continent of Australia, mainly found in the outback. Its original ancestors are thought to have arrived with humans from southeast Asia thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to...

 attacks, they switched to cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

.

Anna Creek in the 2000s

Despite its size, in 2007 Anna Creek Station was carrying only 3,000 head of cattle due to the drought

Drought in Australia

Drought in Australia is defined as rainfall over a three month period being in the lowest decile of what has been recorded for that region in the past. This definition takes into account that drought is a relative term and rainfall deficiencies need to be compared to typical rainfall patterns...

 which started back in 2001. In 2008, the station was owned by S. Kidman and Co Ltd

Sidney Kidman

Sir Sidney Kidman was a pastoralist in Australia and controlled huge tracts of land.-Early life:Sidney Kidman was born near Adelaide third son of George Kidman , farmer, and his wife Elizabeth Mary, née Nunn...

, there were eight full time staff and they were destocking all their cattle. Following floods in 2010, conditions improved and the station has restocked. It had 10,000 head of cattle in May 2011.

They raise Santa Gertrudis cattle

Santa Gertrudis cattle

Santa Gertrudis cattle are a tropical beef breed of cattle developed in southern Texas on the King Ranch. They were named for the Spanish land grant where Captain Richard King originally established the King Ranch. This breed was officially recognized by the United States Department of...

 as they are suitable for hot, dry climates.

Life at Anna Creek

There is a main homestead

Homestead (buildings)

A homestead is either a single building, or collection of buildings grouped together on a large agricultural holding, such as a ranch, station or a large agricultural operation of some other designation.-See also:* Farm house* Homestead Act...

 at Anna Creek and an outstation at The Peake. Although the homesteads are very isolated, they have satellite telecommunications including television and internet. The Coober Pedy Oodnadatta One Day Mail Run

Coober Pedy Oodnadatta One Day Mail Run

The Coober Pedy Oodnadatta One Day Mail Run is a 4WD mail service in the outback of South Australia.Twice a week, the OKA bus travels from Coober Pedy to William Creek to Oodnadatta and then back to Coober Pedy, all on unsealed roads. The road between William Creek and Oodnadatta is the famous...

 delivers mail twice a week and can bring a small amount of freight.

Once there was a large workforce of stockmen at Anna Creek, who mustered the cattle on horses. Today light aircraft are used for spotting animals which are rounded up by stockmen on trail bikes, requiring a much smaller workforce.