ATTEMPTING new ventures is nothing new for the Chalmer family and their Nypin Grazing Co business, and keeping a keen eye on market trends has seen them through some difficult periods.
The Condingup-based producers have always run mostly cattle, but have dabbled in running sheep and even 300 Angora goats for seven years.
But it was cattle that Phil, Nicole and their son, Rohan, kept coming back to and what has now become their sole livestock priority.
They had previously run up to 1000 fine wool Merino breeding ewes but were receiving little for their efforts and sold all their sheep by 1991.
When the cattle market experienced a similar downturn they made a brief return to the sheep market from 1997 to 2000.
After watching the sheep destroy the fragile coastal soil of their 2500-hectare property 50 kilometres east of Esperance, they settled on running just cattle and for the last 10 years have been driven to perfect their operation.
"It was mainly a combination of the soil damage, poor lamb prices and the ease of management of running cattle," Rohan said.
"This farm is suited to cattle so we decided to specialise in Angus-Gelbvieh composite cattle and try to do it really well."
These days 880 Angus-Gelbvieh breeders, in addition to a stud nucleus of 50 Angus cows and 12 Gelbvieh cows, reside at Nypin Grazing, with the aim to maintain the balance within the composite cattle herd at two-thirds Angus and one-third Gelbvieh.
The Chalmers have set themselves up to supply cattle to three or four different markets, depending on the opportunities that arise including abattoirs to supply the domestic market, live export, grassfed or feedlot entry.
A small 400-head feedlot facility is also located on the property.
"We have fed our own cattle when cattle prices are low and grain prices are low, we just buy seconds grain locally," Rohan said.
They have 40 bulls which are mostly Angus-Gelbvieh composite used over commercial cows, with the pure Angus bulls being used over the heifers.
The bulls are joined with the cows at two per cent on July 22 every year to calve in May through to mid-July.
The last three years have been tough seasons, with bad starts and the last two years also finishing badly.
Rohan said this had a direct affect on their herd's conception rates, calf size and cow condition.
Luckily for them, they began a rotational grazing concept around the same time in 2007 which they found to be highly effective.
"We became a lot less haphazard with feed and it was a much more efficient way to utilise our rations," Rohan said.
Phil and Nicole had been testing out the rotational grazing theory for the past 20 years but infrastructure and stock handling issues made it difficult, so they recently built new infrastructure designed around rotational grazing.
Now they have 10-12 cells, which were roughly 10-20 hectares in size, designated for each mob of cattle.
These are grazed for three days and then the area is given a 30-day rest period.
The effects have been positive, with the Chalmers experiencing a lift in stocking rates and cows in better condition.
"Calving was also shifted back from April to May so that their feed demand in autumn is not as high and we don't need to feed them hay," Rohan said.
When looking at the desirable traits in their herd, Phil said they looked for animals with low to moderate birthweights, moderately framed, highly fertile and were all-rounders with higher fat scores.
"We're aiming for an animal that has a lot more fat than normal, which helps in a tough year because if a cow can pull from her fat reserves she is more fertile," Phil said.
"We've had three tough years now so that extra bit of fat comes in handy."
Seven years ago Phil and Rohan also decided their Angus cattle were getting too large and "leggy", particularly as they were crossbreeding with a Euro breed, so they made a conscious decision to shift back to a more moderate animal.
And if that wasn't enough, every year they also bring in station cattle to maximise the amount of feed used on the property during the peak pasture growth times.
"It's mainly about feed utilisation, we get them in by the end of June to grow out and take advantage of the winter and spring pasture growth, then they are out by the end of January," Phil said.
"By doing that we cut our stocking rates over the tough months every year."
The station cattle are also sold to a variety of markets, those that are finished on property are usually sold to abattoirs but this year the Chalmers are aiming to sell most of them to exporters.
They are one of the only families in the area who trade in pastoral cattle and Rohan said it's not without its challenges.
"The biggest problem is having females over the weight range for Indonesia and finding markets for slaughter cattle," he said.
Despite the hurdles the Chalmer family will continue to finetune their cattle operation and have faith in the WA cattle industry.
