EASY is the best way to describe running Murray Grey cattle according to Jelcobine producer Ian Simmons.
The farm is 223 hectares (550 acres) and is run by Ian and Cindy Simmons.
Ian grew up on the family sheep farm 10km away from his current property that they purchased in 1991 when he was 17.
It has only been a couple of years since Ian and Cindy started farming the property on their own but are enjoying working with the cattle.
Ian knew from an early age that he wanted to farm, so after completing year 10 in Brookton he returned to the property full-time.
"I have been in the district all my life," he said.
Once Ian returned to the farm in addition to working with his parents, he made the decision to work as a shearer, which he did up until five years ago after doing it for 20-25 years.
"It started to take its toll physically, so I stopped," he said.
Retiring from shearing also meant he could concentrate more on developing his cattle enterprise.
It was during his time working for a local farmer Eric Martin with a cattle herd when he knew he wanted to build a herd of his own.
Ian said that he was also drawn to cattle because they were easier to run than sheep and were not as intense.
"With sheep, you have to get in contractors/outside workers and it's very hands-on but with cattle, I can do all the work myself."
After deciding to run his own herd Ian bought 20 heifers from Eric who he was working for at the time, as well as a few stud cattle from dispersal sales.
When Eric decided to offload his cattle, Ian bought most of them to add to his breeding herd.
They now run 110 Murray Grey breeders, which is down from their usual 130 breeders due to drier seasonal conditions.
"We've had to drop the numbers back over the past couple of years," Ian said.
The Murray Grey breed has been run by the Simmons since they first started farming cattle and according to Ian are quiet, easy to handle, easy to sell and are easy calvers.
The Simmons purchase one bull every three to four years and select them from the Buller family's Monterey stud at Karridale.
Ian said he then breeds his own bulls from his best cattle.
"Our bulls usually last on average five years," he said.
The bulls are joined with the females on the first of July for two and a half months, with the cows being due to calve in April, just before the start of the season to ensure there will be plenty of green feed available.
"We don't want them dropping too early otherwise we have to supplement feed them too much," Ian said,
The steers are sold towards the end of November, straight off their mums with the heifers being weaned in late December/early January.
This year Ian said he weaned more steers than heifers, which is the opposite to their usual ratio of more heifers than steers.
When it comes to selling his cattle, he carts them himself to the Muchea Livestock Centre.
His 2020-21 season steers sold have averaged 260 kilograms.
At one of the sales, Ian said he achieved a very high price for two of his lines, which sold for 472c/kg and one sold for 464c/kg.
"We are lucky prices are up a bit," he said
This year, Ian said the reason he received such high prices was because all of his cattle were very even.
"They were all a good size and weight," he said.
Heifers that are due to be sold are pregnancy tested before they are transported to the saleyards and sold.
"Most cattle have to be pregnancy tested these days," he said.
The past couple of seasons have been tough with low rainfall impacting on pasture growth, reducing the number of cattle producers in the district.
"The drier seasons just means that I might have to run fewer heads per acre," Ian said.
Feed available for the cattle includes a mix of predominantly clover and ryegrass pasture varieties which are grown on the property.
To fill the feed gap in the warmer months, the Simmons feed out hay which they purchase from locals.
"We're only a little operation and you have to have the same machinery to put a little bit in as you do a lot so it's just not viable for us to do ourselves," Ian said.
"Hopefully, we'll get some more rain in the next couple of years."
During the more difficult years in terms of feed, Ian said he has supplement fed the cattle pellets, but they were too expensive to be feeding out year-round.
"They cost a lot of money, but they have been worth it," he said.
Ensuring they are achieving maximum productivity is important for the Simmons, so they are strict on selling any cattle with low fertility and poor temperament.
Ian said they generally had a high fertility rate with only one or two dry females per year.
"I don't usually have any issues with them," he said.
Ian said over the next few years one of his daughters, Brittany, is keen to be the third generation of the family to farm and already has ideas for the cattle enterprise.
"She's pretty keen on farming - she wants to add some Speckle Parks to the herd," Ian said.
Further down the track, he said when his parents were ready to retire he would take over the additional land, allowing him to increase breeding herd numbers.
