Richard Auld was up to his knees in grass on his family's property "Auld-dale" in mid-November of 2021 - and it was still growing.
Unseasonal early spring rain had been dumped on the 910-hectare farm at Koorine, about 40 kilometres north west of Mt Gambier in South Australia.
Lush spring pastures are not uncommon in this high rainfall area, which typically receives 700 to 800 millimetres in the gauge annually.
But 2021 was unusually wet in the area and set the scene for exceptional pasture and cattle growth rates.
Mr Auld farms with his wife Tammy, who also works in forestry, and daughter Shelby, who has returned home after gaining experience as a jillaroo for a couple of years.
The family runs 420 Angus and Hereford breeders in a self-replacing herd system and is aiming to continue to expand numbers as much as possible.
Some stock are bought in when the opportunity presents, but they predominantly breed their own cattle.
The size of the family's herd is limited by their land area, as stocking rates are mostly now matched to available feed year-round.
Expansion is proving difficult due to extreme land prices - of upwards of $10,000/acre - in the area.
"There is a lot of non-farm investment in land around here at the moment," Mr Auld said.
"This is partly due to the flow-on effects of COVID-19, where people want to secure a property outside of major metropolitan areas.
"This makes it very difficult for farmers to compete for the purpose of using it for productive agricultural enterprises."
About 65ha of the Auld's property is irrigated and this area is used to finish steers, produce grass for hay and sileage, and is sometimes leased out to potato growers.
The Aulds have a spring and autumn calving system to make use of year-round pasture feed and spread business risks.
Angus bulls from the Nickolls family's Pinnaroo-based Bull Oak Well stud are used over Hereford heifers that are having their first calves.
But, after that first year, Hereford bulls are used over all Hereford females.
A separate line of Angus cows mated to Angus bulls is run and Angus bulls are used over black baldy lines as well.
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Autumn calvers are mated in June-July and given an eight to nine week joining period.
Spring calvers are mated in mid-November and December to calve-down in September.
Conception rates have been improving each year and hover at about 96 per cent.
Autumn-born calves are run on grass across the winter and spring, and weaned in December, when replacement heifers are selected.
Steers and left-over heifers are grown out to ages of 22 to 24 months and weights of about 660 kilograms for steers and 480 to 500kg for cull heifers.
They are finished on the irrigated pasture at the end of summer and into autumn and are sold predominantly to Teys Australia and the supermarket trade as grass-fed beef.
Spring calves are also retained for about two years and are sold at weights of about 660kg, again mostly to the supermarket trade or direct to Teys Australia for processing.
Mr Auld said he had received his highest ever prices for cattle in spring 2021, with a line of 667kg (on average) Angus-Hereford cross steers making $5/kg - or an average of about $3300 per head.
"These were sold in the saleyards, as our agent indicated competition would be strong and we would likely get the best value by putting the cattle under the hammer," he said.
"We thought we had done well with prices in 2020, but these latest results were amazing and the best values we have ever had. The market was just on fire."
Mr Auld said, in the past, the family had mostly sold its autumn drop bullocks to JBS Australia. But he said the open auction had proved to be better in 2021.
He said it was advantageous being located halfway between Adelaide and Melbourne, as buyers came from both states and competed strongly for stock.
The Auld family subscribes to the Pasturefed Cattle Assurance System (PCAS) Certified Pasturefed program and is accredited with Meat Standards Australia (MSA).
"All our cattle are grass-fed, run in a free-range system and don't get fed any grain," Mr Auld said.
He said pasture renovation was ongoing.
Cattle are grazed on millett over the summer and it is then sprayed out in autumn, when - if necessary - cattle are supplemented with hay made from annual ryegrass.
Every three years, a permanent pasture mix of ryegrass, phallaris and clovers is sown.
This stands up well to wet conditions.
Paddock sizes are about 15ha and mobs of about 40 cows and calves are rotationally grazed.
This involves shifting cattle every week around three to four paddocks of 15ha and feeding out hay when it is needed according to seasonal conditions.
Mr Auld said he was excited about the coming year, as market signals were positive.
He will be selecting his Angus sires from the Bull Oak Well stud in February. He will seek ABVs for 400- and 600-day weights and maternal traits.
