Beasley family: Sheep and beef prepared well for the future

THE numbers add up for Shaun and Maria Beasley.

Eye on the prize: Shaun Beasley on his farm at Lindenow South. The first thing Shaun does each day is pay the debt, which, he says “strangely enough keeps you focused on what you are doing”.

THE numbers add up for Shaun and Maria Beasley.

The couple run a mixed sheep and beef business on 2800 hectares at Lindenow South, near Bairnsdale in Victoria’s East Gippsland, where productivity and performance reign supreme.

Adhering to the mantra that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”, the Beasleys have positioned their finely tuned Angus beef herd and Merino and crossbred sheep flocks well for the future, operating on an impressive rate of return of at least 30 per cent.

“You have got to do the figures — otherwise you are wasting your time,” Shaun said.

Such is their devotion to the bottom line of the business, the Beasleys are experts in dollar returns for each of their different enterprises.

While they run 20,000 Merino sheep, it’s their 600 breeding cows that are Shaun’s passion. And, he said while the wool business has been profitable in the past, the labour intensity of sheep was now eating into their bottom line. The beef herd returns more on a per-hectare basis: $520 compared with $490 for their self-replacing Merino flock.

The Beasleys aim to sell 300kg Angus steers at eight months of age to the Bairnsdale store cattle sale each April. Last year their steers averaged an impressive $1000 — or about 333c/kg liveweight, well above the already strong market rates at the time.

Shaun said he had built up his cattle numbers by leasing land, which he said was a “very effective way of increasing your capital”. There was the added benefit of having stock on hand ready to make a return when land became available to buy.

“The first port of call when I get up at 6am every morning is to pay the debt,” Shaun said.

“That, strangely enough, keeps you focused on what you are doing … you want to run the most profitable enterprise you can.”

A feat the Beasleys have well and truly mastered.