OUR STORIES: Farming future bright for Pocock family

Roy Cecil Pocock moved to the Mallee from Reynella in 1906 to settle on a block north-west of Lameroo.

Four of his family's five sons then became the Pocock Brothers, one of the state's biggest barley operations.

In addition to cropping, the brothers were also keen sheep breeders, with agistment lots and leases across the region.

In 1950, Robert Melrose Pocock and his wife Shirley founded Lampata and in the 1960s, separated from the brothers to create their own standalone operation.

The family has been found on the property ever since, with the fourth generation living on the land.

Presently managed by Robert Pocock and his wife Courtney (nee Wait), in conjunction with his parents Bruce and Gaylia, the operation has grown from its humble beginnings to more than 3500 hectares of mixed cropping and sheep country.

Looking back at the family's history, growth has not always been easy and the struggles of family farming have always been present, but Lampata has evolved into something Robert hopes his grandfather and namesake would be proud of.

"My grandfather Bob was really innovative," Robert said.

"He always tinkered around and built equipment and looked at what he could improve, which has probably helped the farm be what it is today."

Unfortunately, Robert was unable to soak up as much knowledge as he would like from his grandfather, with Bob passing away in his early 60s.

"He passed away in 1989 when I was only five-years old, but I still somehow remember him and he has really shaped the farmer I am and my Dad is too," he said."

Due to the loss of Bob, Bruce was thrust into a tough succession, according to Robert.

"He would have been 34 when he ended up having everything and pretty well buying two-thirds of the property from his siblings," he said.

"To just be thrown into the deep end without his father there to guide him would've been so tough.

"But he took it in his stride and he's done a fantastic job to keep the farm succeeding throughout the years."

Bruce said he was thrown in the deep end without someone to bounce ideas off when his father passed away.

"It was tough to lose my father so young and to have a young family but we made it work," he said.

"My mother Shirley was still here and very much a part of the family as well as my wife Gaylia and daughters Ann and Sally at that time.

"I had a young lad working for me at the time, who was a great help, and my father had done so much to get the property to where it was.

"Although it was hard, I had good support around me and a good foundation from my father to grow from."

Robert said he was always going to be a farmer - he didn't know how or when - but he knew that was his destiny.

Whether that meant managing other properties or leasing land, he was determined to do it.

"With Robert, it was pretty obvious to us at a very young age he was going to be a farmer," Bruce said.

"I'd be out during harvest and after the school bus had dropped off I'd see the crop moving around in front of me.

"It'd be Robert running through the crop to get on the header.

"During shearing he'd be in the shed and get duped into dragging lambs out for the shearers who'd promise him 5c a sheep - he never saw the money but that never stopped him."

After finishing his education, the family farm was hit with one of the worst droughts on record, and he needed to step up to the plate.

"I came back in 2002 during the Millennium Drought to the worst harvest yield we've had," he said.

"I think Dad was pretty glad I came home because it was a really low point and staffing was tough.

"But the following year in 2003 we saw some of our highest yields and it was a really big eye-opener for me.

"It showed not only how bad times can be, but how quickly things can bounce back and how resilient you have to be as a farmer."

During his 20 years working on the property, Robert said he had acquired a wealth of knowledge from his father, which he carried with him as he moved into the management role.

"My parents have gone into semi-retirement now and it's my turn to push us into the future like everyone has before me," he said.

"They're pretty big shoes to fill, but I'm more ready than ever to tackle the challenge."

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The family's sheep flock originated from Gum Hill bloodlines, with ties that go back to 1916, building the foundation of the operation.

In addition to commercial sheep and cropping, the property is also home to a Poll Merino stud, something Bruce started in 1981.

In 1987 the family held its first on-property ram sale.

"When we started the stud back in 1981 and it was a pretty simple transition," he said.

"We just registered the stud and went on doing what we were doing, selecting the rams and growing them out and selling them - as simple as that.

"Before he passed away, my father did a mountain of work with the stud and our flock and he just knew what he was doing.

"We believed sheep are born to be in a paddock, to live in a paddock, to work in a paddock, to produce in a paddock.

"We've done it with objective measurement and visual traits also.

"We've just tried to produce a commercially viable sheep that people can take home and use immediately."

Bruce said originally tried selling through private selection, which was very time consuming.

"We had people say to us they wanted to have a crack at the top ones, so that led us to having an auction," he said.

"When we first started we were selling about 300-plus rams."

The crash of the wool market was a major setback for the stud, but Bruce said persistence was key, and the farm always overcame the tough times.

"In 2003 we set an Australian saleyard record price for 1.5-year-old ewes at the Lameroo off-shears sale, which is one of our biggest highlights," he said.

"We sold for $178, which was unbelievable.

"I'd never seen anything like it, there were $5 bids happening - it was massive.

"There are always tough times but we've had good, loyal clientele who have been here year in and year out and without them we wouldn't be where we are today."

Almost 40 years on, the stud is still operating, but Robert said he wanted to bring it into the 21st century.

"The stud has always been run as a fairly low key operation with my dad," Robert said.

"He hasn't tried a lot of self-promotion, which is challenging for a lot of farmers and I find that a bit challenging too, but with everything moving online we need to move with it."

Agtech has always been at the forefront of the operation, with the family eager adopters of electronic data management, pregnancy testing and ASBVs according to Robert.

"Since the late 50s and early 60s we've been measuring animals' individual characteristics and breeding from them which has built us a highly productive flock," he said.

This year, Lampata displayed at Agfair Broken Hill, NSW, for the first time, and although daunting, Robert said it was an important step towards the future of the stud with the South East Merino Field Days the next opportunity.

"I want to do that now because we've just had a DNA flock profile result and the result came back amazingly solid," he said.

"What we're trying to produce is a maternal component in the sheep with good growth ranked in the top 10 per cent and our profile results have shown that.

"I figured I've got something here I can show that's not just our stud sheep, but our flock as well, which gives people more insight into what kind of impact our rams will have.

"We had a great response from the crowd and I think it's something we're going to keep doing from here on."

Systems have developed immensely on the cropping side of the operation as well, despite challenging years.

"In the 20 years I've been home I've probably seen more below-average, drought, hard seasons and low commodity prices than optimistic ones," Robert said.

"Last year we had a similar rainfall pattern and effectively had 20 times the yield we had in 2002 with the same amount of growing season rainfall.

"The system is now not a credit to me or my father, but it's the way farming has moved and developed over the last 20 years."

Bruce said the differences in farming throughout the years were phenomenal.

"I would love to see Robert out on a tractor in a coat at night time without a cabin and doing what we used to do," he said.

"I never sprayed a weed until the middle of the '80s - they weren't a problem because we used the old style of cultivation.

"Now it's one pass with the boom spray, one pass with the seeder and the job's done.

"The grain handling has also changed, I can remember as a kid stamping the bags as they were being loaded on the elevator at the bag stacks at the railway sidings.

"We had to go and get our fertiliser off the railway trucks and bring it home and that was all in bags.

"When my father used to talk about horse and carts it was amazing, so to think of it now is massive change."

This year, many across the state were faced with the unknown.

Rain hadn't fallen in months, paddocks were bare and farmers were seeding dry without any indication of what was to come.

In the nick of time, a rain break made its way through SA and into the Mallee, ushering in what may be a record-breaking crop.

"We don't want to put all of our eggs in one basket and expect something huge this year," Robert said.

"But it looks like it might be a great season.

"Grain prices are high, the rain we finally received has been good and the outlook is promising."

There is a magic about growing up on land that you can't experience anywhere else, according to Robert, and raising his children on-property like he had been was always a priority.

At four, three and three-months respectively, Thomas, Hugo and Ruby have years of farming life ahead of them, with the ins and outs of the operation already a glint in their eyes.

"Kids grow up to understand animals, they develop awareness around trucks and machinery and I think just mature differently to city kids," Robert said.

"At the back of the house we've got a sand pit and the cubby house and a whole lot of toys but put a pile of crusher dust next to the shed and that's all they want to play in.

"Thomas was out on the tractor with me last night in his booster seat sleeping and just enjoying life.

"When he was a baby, you could just put him in his pram at the sheep yards and he'd be happy as anything watching.

"Hugo's a little different and isn't as interested in farming as Thomas is, but he's gorgeous all the same and if he grows up and decides the farm isn't for him, we'll support him."

A family tragedy had Robert and Courtney re-evaluate and put a renewed focus into building generational ties within their family.

"Courtney lost her sister, aged 19, three years ago in a car accident," Robert said.

"It's just a huge shock to lose someone so young with so much future.

"Family is very important and I try my best to be as present as I can while operating the farm.

"I can't always be there, but I really want to be a family man and I'm really lucky to have someone like Courtney here to support me and be the backbone of our family.

"We think about our family in everything we do, not just our kids but our parents and siblings as well."

The couple have been together for 10 years and, although Courtney grew up on a family farm, she never planned on marrying a farmer.

"I was a hairdresser when I left school and worked on a station for a while as well before I came back home," she said.

"Robert and I met and I was thrust back into farm living."

Three children later, Courtney's main focus is raising their children, but she is always keen to get out on the property.

"I'd love to be out on the farm more so I think that's something we'll look towards as the children get a bit older," she said.

"I drive the chaser bin every harvest.

"We're lucky to have family around happy to look after the kids and give me that chance to get out there during harvest.

"I think sheep are really what I love though."

The family ties don't just extend to the Pococks either, with Courtney's cousin, Luke Sparks - one of the property's longest standing farm hands.

"We employed Luke when he finished school and it has been great to work with someone impressionable and eager to learn," Robert said.

"We've watched him grow and develop that love for farming and I've been able to pass on knowledge and nurture skills which has been something I've really enjoyed.

"Courtney and Luke get out into the sheepyards as well and work together which is great - they probably work better together than she and I do, but it's awesome to have Luke - and Courtney - so passionate about the sheep side."

Looking to the future, Robert said he wanted to ensure a smooth succession for his children, with equal opportunity to farm the land if they chose.

"I'm very passionate about business development and looking at opportunities going forward - I just hate sitting still," he said.

"We've always got something planned whether it's trying to buy some land or lease or do something else.

"We have a reasonable size operation at around 3500ha at the moment but we do want to grow to give all the kids something that's going to be fairly solid to go on with.

"We also want to respect other farming families and instil that respect in our children as well."

With expansion comes the need for extra staff, which is a challenge within the industry according to Robert.

"I think everyone's struggled to get staff at one point or another," he said.

"We have Luke who has been great for us and we've just had a young guy start on the cropping side of things as well.

"You need a solid staff base to grow.

"I'd rather have extra staff and grow than not have enough staff and not be able to do it properly."

Robert said the family's past history is shaping its future, and giving the next generation a chance to learn from mistakes.

"I'm reasonably sentimental and I love the fact we've got a brand and that means something to me," Robert said.

"I even said to Courtney if we had a holiday home I'd name it after the farm.

"You don't want history to determine who you are, but it clearly shapes who you are and I think we've got a great history.

"We've been very successful and very well established and that gives me confidence.

"I'd love to get the whole Pocock family history written up".