Stockman
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- This article is about people who work with animals. For the the Finnish company, see Stockmann
In the Australian lexicon, a stockman is the name given to a person who looks after the livestock on a station, while a drover tends to cattle on a stock route. Trainee stockmen are known as "jackaroos" (trainee stockwomen are known as "jillaroos").
Stockmen traditionally used whips and rode horses for livestock maintenance and mustering, but motorised vehicles are increasingly used. Station employees, including stockmen, who work at a number of different occupations within their work, are also known as 'station hands'.
In Australia, the person who raises and looks after the livestock is usually called a grazier if they own the property (called a Sheep station or Cattle station). The sport of campdrafting is reputed to have started by stockmen during informal competitions.
The Gurindji strike was a large strike by stockmen that arose in 1966. The Myall Creek massacre involved twelve white stockmen and sqautters killing twenty-eight Aboriginal Australian people.
The term stockman or, in more modern times, stockgrower, is also used in the United States and Canada as a formal term for a person who raises livestock, principally cattle. However, there is a slight difference in actual useage from the Australian version.
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[edit] North American usage
When livestock are raised for meat on a North American grazing operation, it is called a ranch. The person who raises and looks after the livestock is usually called a rancher if they own the ranch, and a cowboy or cowgirl if they are an employee of the ranch who looks after cattle. Therefore, in North America, the term is considered a bit broader in scope than rancher, encompassing all livestock operations, all types of livestock (including sheep, pigs and dairy cattle), and owners of non-grazing livestock businesses such as feedlots. (In North America, the term farm is used when referring to places that raise plant crops, pigs or dairy cattle. Sheep operations are usually called ranches in the west and farms in the east).
[edit] Fictional portrayals
There was a tribute to the Australian Stock Horse when stockmen rode 121 Australian Stock Horses during the 2000 Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony, where they portrayed "The Man from Snowy River", a famous Australian poem by bush poet Banjo Paterson, to music written by Bruce Rowland, who composed a special Olympics version of the main theme for the 1982 movie "The Man from Snowy River".
During 2002, Australian stockmen rode in the live stage musical "The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular", which was based on Banjo Paterson's poem "The Man from Snowy River".
In Longreach, Queensland, Australia, a Museum and Memorial called the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame was established to pay tribute to the pioneers of the Australian Outback.
