WOKALUP producer David Lofthouse began an association with EG Green & Sons some 40 years ago.
He had followed the gumbooted footsteps of his father Dick and brother Peter into the family dairy, on his return from boarding school in 1966 and they would grow the business to be milking up to 150 cows twice daily, before buying another dairy farm nearby in 1973 which Peter took over.
His dad, who started the dairy, was a saleyards man and initially all surplus cattle from the dairy operation, mostly cull cows and Friesian steers, went through local saleyards auctions.
However with the closure of local saleyards, David saw the value in going direct and that was when he first began dealing with EG Green & Sons.
It suited that its processing works was just 10 kilometres from the home property and that he could load his cattle and transport them at mutually agreed times and said they were great to deal with from the start.
"I would ring up and discuss what I had and they would give me the price," David said.
"There was no bulldust, they were straight forward and told it how it was.
"I guess they found they could have confidence in my cattle because I have always worked on my quality and supplying the cattle as they wanted them.
"If you breed them well and feed them well, they will sell well."
Having stopped dairying in 2011, prompted in part by the need for a knee replacement, David and his wife Diana now focus solely on producing beef cattle.
They retained Angus-Friesian females bred from their dairy which they mate to Charolais bulls for a February calving and buy in Friesian steers.
The steers are backgrounded on clover and rye pastures on their properties at Harvey and Benger with some sold direct from there and others finished on irrigation at their Wokalup former dairy farm.
Milk-fed calves are sold to Harvey Beef in November and December and last year averaged 244kg dressed weight while the Friesians are sold between October and April aged about 2.5 years and last year averaged 380kg.
"I ring up (Harvey Beef) and book my numbers in advance to cover myself but it's the ongoing communication we have that is really important," David said.
Initially he dealt with Colin Green but these days it's with Campbell Nettleton and Jonathon Green, who he says have been good to work with.
"My first memories of Colin Green are when he asked my father to run steers as part of a fundraising effort for the Harvey Brunswick Football Club and this led to my brother and I playing with the football club later," David said.
Sponsorship of local events and support of the local town and region was always big on the EG Green & Sons radar and David applauds that commitment.
"They really made the town of Harvey with the number of people they employed," he said.
"It didn't matter about educational background there were jobs for all.
"And there are many people who have set themselves up for life from very successful careers there.
"Between Harvey Beef and Harvey Fresh (the milk and citrus enterprise) they really put a floor in the money structure in town which benefits local businesses."
David has seen first-hand that propensity to sponsor local events as the chief steward since 1978 of the Harvey Show trade cattle section.
This year Harvey Beef was a major sponsor of the 100th Anniversary Show in April.
David does not enter his own cattle as the competition is for grainfed cattle only, but he did take up a light-hearted, cross town challenge last year from his Brunswick Show counterpart Rodney Galati to enter cattle there.
To his surprise and one up to Harvey, he won champion vealer with an eight to nine month old Charolais-Angus-Friesian steer.
Of the new regime at Harvey Beef, David says he was delighted to hear the Forrests had bought the facility.
"Twiggy is an Australian and a Western Australian," he said.
"I think it is the best thing ever he has bought it.
"It gives an enormous boost of confidence to the beef industry and it puts money into the State and into our local communities.
"The degree of foreign ownership we are starting to see in this country is a concern to me so anything retained in Australian hands is a positive."
