Buoyant Dunne family celebrate bittersweet back-to-back bumper harvests without farming patriarch John

A record-breaking harvest has kick-started a year of celebrations for the Dunne family, who will mark 100 years of farming at Beacon this year after two bumper crops in a row. But it’s also a bittersweet time for the clan as they gear up to mark a century of farming while still grieving their patriarch John Dunne, who died last year in March. John is survived by his wife Marilyn, daughter Catherine, sons Andrew, Michael and David, son-in-law Cameron, and daughters-in-law Gemma, Stacy and Karley. There are also 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild, and John’s brothers William and Allan. It was 1923 when Thomas Dunne — a tailor in Wyalkatchem — and his wife Amy decided to buy 2000 acres (809ha) south west of Beacon for their youngest son Harry to farm. It was virgin land - uncleared, unwatered and unfenced. The first crop of 50 acres was planted and harvested in 1926. Harry married Janet Forrest, from Busselton, just in time to live through the worst farming depression in history but they overcame those trials and tribulations and went on to successfully farm through the 1950s wool boom and beyond. Two of their children, William and John, carried on the Beacon farming tradition which in turn is carried on by Andrew and David and the upcoming generation, the great-great grandchildren of Thomas and Amy. Since the original farm was purchased, the Dunnes’ collective landholding has expanded to cater to the needs of the growing family. Sheep have played a major part of the enterprise since the very early days with the Parakeelya Merino Stud being established in the 1960s. It continues to move with the times, producing some fine woolled, plain-bodied sheep to appeal to the modern sheep farmer. The name for the farm “Parakeelya” was chosen because of the small succulent plant found throughout the region that flowers in the spring. It’s not always a good season in the far Eastern Wheatbelt, but this year has been a belter. Marilyn, who has now retired from farming after 55 years but continues to live on the original property alongside eldest son Andrew, Andrew’s wife Gemma and one of the couple’s four children Matt, said this year’s harvest was one for the record books. With rain coming at just the right time this year, the tide continued to rise and the farmers also managed to avoid the troublesome frosts that took the shine off last year’s huge yields. Andrew said the family’s wheat crop in particular had exceeded expectations this year, breaking the previous record average of 2.4t/ha by a country mile and yielding 3.2t/ha. A bone-dry summer was followed by 40mm of rain in March, 31mm in May, and “a lot” in June and July. But it was a 77mm tally in August that cemented the Dunne’s record harvest. Andrew said there had been next to no rain since, but falls during the growing season meant they were able to increase their canola plantings on land previously planted to lupins. “We were lucky with rain . . . we haven’t had a lot, but it has come at the right time,” he said. About 3400ha was put to crop at Parakeelya this year, including 550ha of canola, 450ha of lupins, 350ha of barley and 2000ha of wheat “People are feeling really good in this area . . . everyone has had a good year.” Helping Andrew and Gemma with the harvest this year were their 21-year-old son Matt and farmhand Ian Clark along with a range of other occasional helpers. Among the group were their other sons Ben, 23, a qualified accountant, and Nathan, 17, who has just completed Year 12 at Guildford Grammar, plus Matt’s partner Emma Kerr. Andrew and Gemma’s fourth son son Lachy, 15, was away at boarding school and missed most of harvest, but Marilyn was called in for the occasional machinery shifting exercise. Also helping out was family friend Tristan, Gemma’s niece Anna and casual harvest staffer Theo Herman. Marilyn and John’s youngest son David has been farming with his wife Karley since 2009, just north of Beacon at their farm “Alkira”, which is an Indigenous word meaning “big sky”. Their children Blair, 19, and Holly, 17, help out when they can. Blair is doing a dual apprenticeship in heavy diesel mechanics and auto electrical at McIntosh and Son in Wongan Hills, and Holly is about to start Year 12 at boarding school in Perth. After meeting more than two decades ago, Wagin-born Karley and Beacon-born Dave began farming independently after the partnership of J & M Dunne and Sons was dissolved in 2009, but they still breed sheep for the family’s sheep stud. Their property is located about 5km north of town, with 2100ha of crop put in this year and runs about 1000 Merinos. Karley is a long way from where she grew up, in WA’s sheep heartland of Wagin. She moved to Beacon with her parents in 1997, when they took on a job managing the local sporting club. At the age of 16, and while living in Perth she came home to Beacon for a weekend, met Dave, and the rest is history. Dave said it had been a case of “right time” for rainfall at their property too, and after a dry summer that saved considerable spraying costs, the weather turned in March. “We haven’t had a lot of rain, but we have just had it at the right time,” Dave said. “It has been one of those seasons where getting it at the right time was important.” While the Dunne’s recorded more rain at Parakeelya and Alkira last year, they were hit by frosts during the week of the Dowerin Machinery Field Days in August. Describing it as a risky year after last year’s frosts, Dave and Andrew both pulled back their programs a little this year in response. “With high input costs, we had to be really careful . . . it was a numbers game,” Dave said. “But it paid off . . . has been amazing to have such a good year this year.” Karley and Dave started harvest at the end of October, about a week later than usual. They wrapped up in time for Christmas with the help of Karley’s cousin Jason. “We started harvest early with barley and continued on from there,” Karley said. “It’s been an amazing season.” Marilyn and John’s other two children, Catherine and Michael, have flown the coop from Beacon but still hold strong ties to the area. Catherine lives in Margaret River and works as a digital consultant. She has a husband, Cameron, and two children Tom and Casey and one grandchild Olivia. Michael moved to America in 2001, and now lives there with his wife Stacy and three children, Emma, Luke and Keegan. Michael runs his own landscaping business. The Dunne family’s optimism is reflected across the State with the well-timed rainfall across most of the South West Land Division ramping up yield potential this year. At the same time, buying uncertainty among some of the world’s biggest exporters has seen demand for Australian grain skyrocket, but supply chain struggles have dampened prices. The latest Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey showed the State had one of the biggest upswings in the survey’s 20-year history, with confidence rising to its highest level in almost five years. But like most of the State’s 3600 grain farmers, the Dunnes are feeling nervous about the cost of doing business as inflation remains at near-record highs. Dave and Andrew agreed the cost of fertiliser and chemicals was a major concern for farmers crunching the numbers for the year ahead — especially if it was a poorer year. Farmers pumped millions of dollars into the ground to plant the recent winter-crop — which totalled about 8.89million hectares across WA — but input prices have barely abated. “It is the best year we have ever had, in terms of gross income,” Dave said. “But it is also the most expensive year we have ever had too.” For now, the Dunnes are enjoying a well-earned break and plenty of family time before launching into preparations to seed a crop they hope will make it a hat trick.