DRIVEN by an agricultural upbringing and a passion for the rural life, twin sisters Maxine Clifford and Calinda King are helping develop their family's Angus enterprise, one step at a time.
Born and bred in Bridgetown, the sisters' grandparents Sidney and Muriel Russell moved from Stoneville to the property in 1948.
Their father Ed has been farming on the property his whole life, while their mother Coleen was raised on a neighbouring farm.
"We have a long affiliation with farming in this area," Maxine said.
Farming in the district for more than 70 years has seen the Russell family's enterprise evolve over time and their passion for their livestock and the land strengthen.
Maxine said previously they ran a lot of sheep on the property and surrounding lease blocks.
"We also ran a large piggery on the farm before moving into cattle about 30 years ago," she said.
"Aside from dealing with dry stock for quite a few years, we developed a breeding herd by purchasing pastoral cattle, predominantly Shorthorns."
Having steadily expanded the property and adapted to environment and market changes, today the Russells farm 607 hectares and run a purebred herd of 130 Angus breeders.
Maxine said through close relations they were introduced to the Angus breed and began joining Mordallup bulls over their pastoral cows.
"Crossing these females with Angus sires was a great stepping stone towards a purebred herd for us," she said.
"The Angus cows make beautiful breeders, which are easy to work with and are well sought after within the beef industry."
The Russell family is in a rebuilding phase after selling about 200 females in 2006 to make way for a blue gum plantation.
"We retained 100 head for breeding purposes, with the blue gums harvested in 2018," Maxine said.
"A lot of cultivation work has taken place since and we have started a fertiliser program on it already to get it back into peak production."
The late break in recent seasons has made it difficult for the family to keep an ideal amount of replacements to increase their numbers.
Maxine said that over the past two seasons the late start had affected some seeding that has taken place.
"As a result, our stock numbers have had to increase a little slower than anticipated," she said.
"However, we are happy to increase herd numbers as we see fit and as the country can handle it."
The family generally culls its older females as it sees the need and keeps the younger ones accordingly.
"All of our heifers are prepared with a view that they will be offered at the January mated beef female sale and closer to the sale nominations we select the heifers that we need as replacements," Maxine said.
This year the Russell family offered 42 owner-bred heifers which were carrying Mordallup and Monterey sired Angus calves.
While prices fluctuated, the big roomy females reached heights of $2300 and as a whole averaged just over $1900.
"We have been selling mated heifers for many years and have offered heifers in nearly every one of the January Landmark Specially Selected Female sales," Maxine said.
"Before the sale formed, we were selling them privately."
Preparing the heifers for a breeding future is something the sisters love to do.
"It's wonderful to have an influence on that early part of their life and set them up to be calm and level headed for their future," Maxine said.
"Knowing they are heading to other herds to play their part in producing more awesome Angus cattle is a great feeling."
Many of the family's females have gone State-wide and others have been regularly purchased from local South West producers.
Taking the advice from their local Landmark agent Ben Cooper, the family has also sourced unmated heifers.
Last year they purchased 22 head which were mated and re-sold.
The bulls are joined to the Russell's heifers for a nine-week period on June 1 while the older females are given a slightly longer period of 12 weeks.
Calving begins early to mid-March and the heifers are monitored closely while the mature cows often calve with minimal assistance.
"All females that are not pregnancy tested in calf by Darren Clews, Complete Cattle Scanning, Kojonup, are sold directly to the abattoirs," Maxine said.
"We only keep efficient females that rear a calf annually."
Weaning begins in December and only the heaviest steers are initially taken off their mothers and yarded for three days.
They then spend up to a week in a smaller paddock near the yards and are worked on foot, being brought back into the yards in the evenings.
"We take the opportunity to do some education with all of our weaners at this time and on recommendation we have used Beachport Liquid Minerals over the past two years to improve the overall health and docility of our weaners," Maxine said.
The Russells sold 38 steers through the Boyanup sale yards on December 18 with the top dozen attaining a 379 kilogram average and returning 318 cents a kilogram.
The remaining steers are weaned in January, usually with the goal to finish them on pellets closer to mid-year.
The unique bond between Maxine and Calinda means a very calm approach is always taken when working cattle in the yards and the paddock.
"We don't actually talk to each other much, if at all," Maxine said.
"We just know what each other is thinking and doing, which has aided in the quiet nature of our cattle."
After leaving school, both Maxine and Calinda studied visual arts at university before spending many years travelling and working in the agricultural sector, including on cattle stations in the Pilbara and West Kimberley and sheep and cropping in the Esperance region.
Eventually settled back in Bridgetown with their own families, they now enjoy sharing all that is special about farm life with their young children and relish the opportunity to continue working alongside their parents.
Their love for farm fashion, as they call it and talent in artistry has also seen them develop their own small business, Lazy V.
"For the past 10 years we have been hand crafting and designing leather products and accessories, mainly for women" Calinda said.
The sisters' business has changed and grown over the years to have a strong customer base in Australia and America.
"The leather we source is amazing to work with and the products we make are often sold within minutes of going up online," Maxine said.
"We have the best of both worlds, being able to combine our love for livestock and passion for leather artistry."
While Maxine and Calinda love what they do and are hands-on on the farm, their father Ed still remains agriculturally driven and has his own passion, restoring stationary engines and vintage machinery.
"Dad is still heavily involved in the beef enterprise, but he and mum also enjoy travelling around the country attending vintage and Trachmac events and showcasing their own engines and machinery," Maxine said.
"As a part of the Bridgetown Heritage Group, our family has hosted a biannual heritage field day here on the property since 2013.
"Dad also contracts with his own truck, tractor and bulldozer, which keeps him pretty busy."
The future for the Russell family looks bright, as they pursue their agricultural and individual passions in the best way they know how.
