SOMETIMES if you want to get ahead in this world, you have to go out and do things yourself.
For Jack Burton this statement definitely rings true and he is currently putting plans into action to take back control of his product.
This "product" entails more than 50,000 head of Brahman cross cattle spread across seven stations plus Dorper sheep being run on properties that stretch from the Goldfields to Geraldton.
The operation runs under the trading name, Yeeda Pastoral Company.
While Jack's look-after-yourself attitude may seem selfish to some, market forces, bureaucratic decisions and a lack of encouragement for primary production have all combined to push him in that direction.
Jack is a big picture kind of bloke and his vision involves producing his own beef, Kimberley Free Range Beef, that he can market across Australia and the world.
While the events surrounding last year's ban on live export to Indonesia may have added some impetus to his desire to control what he produces, his vision is not something that grew from those events.
"I have been thinking about this since I was a kid," Jack said.
"I am sick of being a price taker and I guess I want some control over my future and my family's future instead of sitting around waiting for things to get better on their own accord.”
While Jack admits live export has been, and still is, great for his family and his operation and he has faith that it will continue for many years yet, he said there has been an unhealthy reliance on that market for too long.
"That can only lead to trouble," he said.
But if you think that starting up your own beef label and processing your own cattle couldn't be that hard - think again.
One of the first steps in the plan is building a large scale beef abattoir that will enable the Burton family to process their own and outside cattle.
There has not been a new abattoir built in WA in 20 years - and since 1995, 17 WA abattoirs have closed down.
Jack says they are more fortunate than others in that they have the luxury of not having to outlay too much cash too early to get things moving.
"We have our own trucks, we own the land the abattoir will be built on and we have a large number of our own cattle to supply it from the outset," he said.
Jack admits the purchase of the Gingin abattoir to process small animals is his biggest expense so far.
"It's something that we fell into and took the opportunity and we will slowly build that up in the coming year."
But it is the beef side of the enterprise that Jack has high hopes for, particularly the Kimberley Free Range label.
"We were halfway through building a little 'pilot' beef abattoir on Kilto station, but we have taken our foot off the pedal a bit in terms of finishing it at present," he said.
"There is a lot of available capacity in the southern abattoirs and when we started building our small abattoir here a year ago it was mainly because we couldn't get a foot in the door in those southern processors as everyone was offloading numbers.
"Now given the current cattle shortage, most abattoirs are only running at about 60 per cent and we were able to get a day's custom kill each week."
Jack's focus is now squarely on the construction of a 300-head a day capacity abattoir to be situated between Broome and Derby.
"We own a parcel of freehold land there and it is well located in terms of accessing cattle and transport and, importantly for up here, it has all-weather access," he said.
At the moment Jack is waiting on Department of Environment and Conservation and shire approvals but hopes construction will start soon.
Jack aims to also have a beef outlet in Broome selling wholesale beef.
But that is just one piece of the puzzle.
"The end goal is to sell Kimberley Free Range throughout Australia and overseas," Jack said.
"If you say 'this is the story behind our product and why it is better' then yours hopefully becomes the more desirable product.
"Two of our properties (Texas Downs and Mt Jowlaenga stations) are about to be classified as organic so everything is now so marketable.
"The red meat industry is where the wine and cheese industries were 20 years ago.
"You don't just go out and buy a bottle of wine from wherever anymore, you look at the story behind it and how well it's been marketed - and we think we have a pretty good story.
"Our production systems will also become a marketing tool.
"For example we would like to set up live cameras on some of our properties so if people or potential buyers log on to the business website they can see the cattle coming down to a watering point or ranging around a paddock contentedly eating."
Most of the cattle run by Yeeda Pastoral are Brahmans.
About five years ago the Burtons started putting Charbrays over them to add a bit of Euro influence.
"We do keep the Brahman content in breeders high enough that they perform and maintain productivity in this country," he said.
"We buy bulls from local and Queensland studs and try to buy them as young as possible."
Jack said the huge capital investment the family had in the industry had prompted the massive project.
“Basically I am tired of going cap in hand to just take what we are given from one market," he said.
"And we were frustrated waiting for someone to offer us something and just being grateful for that because it's our only option.
"I want to be able to go into Taiwan, the Middle East, America, Europe or Russia and say to them 'this is what we have got'.
"We see our beef as a niche product and that is what we will be marketing it as and I think the consumer is more than ready for the next step."