"With costs getting dearer and dearer, you have to be spot-on to really make a go of cropping," he said. "Plus, some of our poorer country is unsuitable for cropping."

David and his wife Judy, son Adam and daughter Rebecca, run 700 mixed-breed beef cattle, predominantly Red Polls, on 2835 hectares across Yorke Peninsula, mostly at Urania.

They also run Aberdeen Angus, Herefords, Santa Gertrudis and Belted Galloway.