It was the autumn of 1911, and with those words, a pioneer pastoralist inked his name on the bill of sale for the property, the mixed farming property he established on the Eyre Peninsula’s west coast in 1887.

Included in the sale was one of best homesteads in the district, a huge hayshed, and considerable livestock, including twelve horses, five cows and, of most interest to the new owners, two and a half thousand merinos.

Two brothers were the purchasers. Born into a local woolgrowing family, the two had sought work at the property some three years earlier.

Determined to prove him wrong, the brothers set about paying for the farm as quickly as possible: cutting chaff for sale to local farmers, and through astute breeding, increasing merino numbers and refining its fleece. By 1922, they had repaid their debt in full.

Although remote and inhospitable, the countryside certainly proved ‘fertile’: the flock continued to grow and both men fathered large families. One brother lived with his wife and seven children in the original homestead; the other with his wife and their 10 children, in a new homestead a few kilometres to its south. Midway between, the brothers built a schoolhouse; the teacher billeting with each family for 12 months at a time.

In 1946 the next generation emerged as their successors. Today, the property is run by third and fourth generation family.

Throughout all these years, our family’s determination to produce the highest quality merino fibre has never wavered. Nor our dedication to the uniquely pristine stretch of coastal land we farm.

Indeed, while less committed woolgrowers have turned to cropping or sheepmeat, our passion for wool grows ever stronger. And with the fifth generation now taking small, but surefooted steps around the property, we expect it to keep growing for decades to come.