Turners to share the reins after an exceptional year

That's according to his eldest son, Jacob, anyway.

The family has started succession planning for their enterprise, which is spread across 9000 hectares at Aldersyde through to east of Corrigin, and the couple's three "boys" will be running their own program from next season on about 3000ha each.

Mr Turner is all for giving them more responsibility, though his sons will be getting plenty of advice from their dad "when needed or probably sometimes when the boys think it is not needed", he said.

The Turners finished an "exceptional" harvest just after new year, but have not yet tallied up the final totals as they still have grain on farm.

"We have a lot in bags, '' Mr Turner said.

"I think most people have had an exceptional year, from what I have heard around the State.

"Protein was low, screenings were fine and when you get a year with lots of rain and a good finish, that's usually the outcome.

"Tonnes always win, at the end of the day and I think that reflects the majority of WA's harvest."

The Turner's program this season consisted of wheat, barley, canola, lupins, oats and export hay.

Mr Turner believes the rain definitely helped produce a solid result this year, with 390 millimetres falling across the year.

"This year and last year have been two extraordinary years here, which I have not seen in the area before,'' he said.

With his children, Jacob, aged 27, Stephen, 24, and Mitchell, 19, ready to have more of a go for themselves, Mr Turner is happy to step back a little, while still providing direction and advice when needed.

Although he thinks the brothers probably have rose-coloured glasses on as, since they have been home, they have probably not seen a farm loss.

"I'm probably a bit more cautious and saying 'you know, one day we are going to make a loss'," he said.

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It's some fatherly advice they will hopefully heed, as he has 25 years' experience under his belt.

Mr and Ms Turner started with 900ha in 1998 and have grown the business to just over 9000ha this year, including owned and leased land.

Over the years one of the biggest challenges they faced were labour shortages.

"You can't do without people and getting the right staff is hard work," Mr Turner said.

"It was easier when I started because I only needed one other person, now this year at harvest there were 11 of us,'' he said.

The Turners have employed casual workers over the past couple of years.

"We keep them on all year if they want to stay, as if you let them go they generally get a job somewhere else and don't return,'' Mr Turner said.

Beyond staffing, he has also navigated rising costs that have been "tricky to get your head around", something he hopes his children will listen to him about.

"It's OK putting all the dollars in, as long as you get them out at the other end," he said.

"In the past two years, just about everything has doubled in price and that's worrying because of the amount we are outlaying per hectare.

"You hope you get a good return, which will cover it.''

His biggest tip for the boys was "listen to me", and after a few good years, it's probably the best advice his children can adopt moving forward.