A plan to downsize and semi-retire was quickly reversed three years ago when Dale and Heather Perkins' daughter Elizabeth and her partner Sam Chapmandecided to take up roles in the cattle business they had built-up since 1970.
The younger couple had been working on Herron Island on the Great Barrier Reef but wanted a 'tree change' and returned to the family's property south east of Mt Gambier, in South Australia, to help expand the predominantly Angus-based grass-fed beef enterprise.
"We have four children and thought none of them wanted to come home to the farm, so we started to consider scaling down," Mrs Perkins said.
"Instead, in collaboration with Elizabeth and Sam, we have now expanded our leased and owned land to just over 1250 hectares - all within a 45 kilometre radius."
The family runs 480 breeding cows, of which 80 per cent are pure Angus and the remainder are Hereford-Angus cross calves.
Most of their females are mated to Angus bulls sourced from the nearby Pathfinder stud, owned by Nick and Sara Moyle. A small percentage is mated to Hereford bulls to produce some hybrid vigour in sale steers.
Pathfinder, based in Gazette but with herds spread across SA and Victoria, is a great fit for the Perkins - who are firmly focused on improving their female breeders - as the stud has a base of elite cows from the well-known Basin herd and from sourcing top female bloodlines from around Australia.
The Perkins also have 2000-head of ewes for prime lamb production and crop a small area of lupins.
The family's livestock operation is now in a growth phase, with pasture renovation strategies being implemented to boost carrying capacity by about 30 per cent in the next eight to 10 years.
Cattle are grass-fed, so the pasture base is a key driver of productivity and profits and there is a strong emphasis on making pasture and soil improvements.
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Mr Perkins said 10-20 per cent of grazing area was renovated each year with new plantings of annual and perennial varieties that were specifically targeted for their suitability to the variable soil types across the local landscape.
Some pasture mixes are used for hay or silage.
We also have pivots covering about 200ha that have been established since the 1990s, and which we have sown to perennial forage crops, such as sorghum."
The pivot areas are used to finish bullocks and lambs from November to April and ensure the Perkins can continuously grass feed their stock year-round.
"We are in a typical Mediterranean climate, where we have a wet winter and hot dry summer - so the irrigation is a valuable resource to get us through the summer months," Mr Perkins said.
The Perkins join their cattle in June for an eight-week period to ensure a tight calving in late February and early March.
They provide supplementary hay to the herd during the autumn and winter periods - with the length of feeding dependent on the timing of the autumn break, but often continuing right through to August.
Cows and calves are then ideally placed to capitalise on the peak of pasture production in spring, when progeny growth rates average about 2 kilograms per head per day and cows can recover in preparation for the next joining.
We are in a typical Mediterranean climate, where we have a wet winter and hot dry summer - so the irrigation is a valuable resource to get us through the summer months.
The Perkins retain their steers to market as 2-2.5-year-old bullocks for the long-fed market, turning these off to processors or local saleyards at liveweights of 700-900kg.
Mr Perkins said retaining the steers for a longer period could add about $1000/head to returns, with minimal extra work required, when prices were conducive.
He said recent sales included a line of 20-month-old Angus steers that weighed an average of 660kg (live) and returned $2500/head.
"The season in 2020 has been very good to the cattle, with solid spring rainfall leading into summer, and the market is exceptionally strong," he said.
The Perkins said when carrying stock through for an extra year, it was vital to have robust infrastructure.
"We have built new yards and replaced our cattle crushes this year to ensure animal and worker welfare, health and safety," Mr Perkins said.
He said making continual genetic improvements to the cattle herd was a key goal for the family to keep expanding and growing their business.
They have been using Pathfinder Angus stud for about 30 years and focusing selection on female traits for moderate birthweight, calving ease and 600-day weight.
"We find this mix gives us big, good 'doing' female breeders - and we look for a good temperament to ensure ease of management," Mr Perkins said.
"We undertake pregnancy scanning and primarily base our culling on pregnancy results and temperament.
"We cull at least 70 per cent of our female calves at one-year-old, so our herd is really of high quality and we are strengthening the genetic base of our females every year.
"That keeps our productivity trending upwards, because the breeders are obviously the engine of the herd.
"Then we only source the best bulls to put over our females to get the best overall business results."
Mr Perkins said Pathfinder produced the type of bulls they were seeking, focusing on breeding a more traditional solid Angus body shape.
