DON'T be fooled by Kelly Manning's youth.
She may be only 22-years-old but she is well on her way to achieving the dream of carrying on her family's beef cattle operation at Mardella (home farm) and Birchmont.
Having recently purchased her own farm with her fiancé Ben Smart, who has a farming background from Margaret River, which they have called BK9 Grazing, they have been able to achieve an aspect of farming that many young people can only dream of - purchasing farmland in a time when the market is tight and land values have soared.
Not only this, but for the past three years since she returned to her family farm, Ms Manning has introduced artificial insemination (AI) into the breeding operation and started her own Blondeman stud, known as BK9 Blondemans.
She always wanted to work in the family farm business but wasn't sure when she would return.
Prior to returning home this go-getter gained varied experience in the agriculture industry.
Ms Manning worked for a local farmer who had a large herd of Simmental and Wagyu cattle of a few hundred head which "was pretty eye opening", as well as milking cows part-time on her uncle Geoff Manning's farm, Shade River dairy, and riding race horses.
About two years ago she managed a dairy farm in Victoria which although she said was way out of her comfort zone and "nerve-racking, it was also a really good opportunity".
"I was running a dairy farm by myself for a month and it was really different to what we do here, with things like irrigation and feeding and I had to learn it all in just a few days," Ms Manning said.
When her parents Darren and Jenny purchased additional farmland at Birchmont in 2017, the doors opened for a full-time role on the farm, utilising her breadth of skills and knowledge acquired from her schooling at the WA College of Agriculture, Harvey and experience working in the industry.
Now Ms Manning is responsible for the farm's beef cattle breeding program and has worked to make the herd genetics more modern and marketable with AI.
"The stock that I have bred through my AI programs have had their first calves, so seeing the rewards of using different genetics is really exciting," she said.
"We have Angus cattle on our Birchmont block, so we brought in some cows which we are using as a nucleus herd, so every year I use a few different Angus bulls with a fixed time AI program to mate.
"This creates a tighter calving period so that when it comes to weaning time they are all an even line rather than having them spread out."
At the home property at Mardella, Ms Manning has started her own herd of Brahmans which she mates to Blonde d'Aquitaines, from the family's Kalinya Blondes stud.
"I am trying to get Blondemans (Brahman crossed Blonde d'Aquitaines) going, which is my side project that I have been wanting to do since before I left school," she said.
"I bought my first Brahman in 2015, started off with one and mated her to a Blonde d'Aquitaine, then got a heifer calf which I was so excited about and waited for her to grow up and she has now had her first calf which has been so great to see."
Ms Manning has been busy in the past few weeks with calving.
To boost her numbers last year she also purchased nine heifers from Virginia station, Nullarbor and a Brahman bull from Kweda.
"So now I can mate them both ways to build it up a bit quicker," she said.
"Now there's a bit of competition between mum and dad and I on whose calves look better and it's definitely mine."
At this stage Ms Manning has three Blondemans, with one being of breeding age and the rest of her herd are either Blonde d'Aquitaines or Brahmans.
The Blonde d'Aquitaine stud has been part of the family operation for about 14 years and she has fond memories of showing cows at the Perth Royal Show.
She said the idea to breed Blonde d'Aquitaines with Brahmans came from her love for both breeds.
"I just love Brahmans because they are so cute and I think it was within the Blonde d'Aquitaine Society of Australia and New Zealand when I first saw Blondemans and the calves they had looked spectacular, so I thought I would give it a go," she said.
Seeing as Blondemans are a sub-breed, Ms Manning said it would take four generations to develop a 'pure bred' but she's determined to do it.
"It's a long time away but my dream would be able to sell bulls or even cows, most likely up north," she said.
"For someone to use my bulls over their cows, it would be pretty cool."
By crossing the two breeds, Ms Manning aims to develop her ideal animal with a square, long, deep, well-balanced body with optimal muscle and fat coverage.
As well as good temperament, she also looks for good feet and udder traits.
"I think udders get forgotten about with beef cows, but if the cow doesn't have any milk then she's not going to produce a very good calf," she said.
With qualities of both breeds, Ms Manning said Blondemans would ideally be more marketable.
"The goal is that they would have the hardiness and softness of Brahmans and heavy muscle of Blonde d'Aquitaines, which have double muscle," she said.
While Ms Manning was very grateful to her parents for being willing to take her on full-time and give her big responsibilities in the enterprise, she said the work came with difficult decisions.
But that's all part of learning the ropes and although there are challenges, she loves working on the land.
Finding the balance between commitments on the farm and other opportunities that arise off-farm has been a struggle, as she has missed out on other ventures, but on the other side she has been able to see the reward of her work.
In the long-term, one of Ms Manning's biggest concerns is that the urban sprawl could impact her family's farm.
"We are just shy of an hour from Perth and the city is moving closer to us and the worry is that we could be pushed out," she said.
"I just want to keep it going as long as I can because I am very proud of my family's work in the area.
"I'm proud to be a fifth-generation farmer as a Manning, in particular the first female and I want to keep that in the family as long as possible."