Fairy tale ending for King Kit

For Kellerberrin farmer Kit Leake, his last farming season might just end up being his best yet.

Mr Leake said this season was like a fairy tale, but he had no regrets about handing over the reins to his daughter Ebony and son-in-law Jason at the end of harvest.

"This is my 40th crop, and I'm pretty excited," he said.

"My barley and lupins have both yielded the best that I have ever had."

Kit and his wife Eileen, who farm with Jason and Ebony Syred, crop 2560 hectares of lupins, barley, canola and wheat.

The Leake family is well known in the Kellerberrin district, being the fourth farming family to come into the area in the late 1800s.

They moved to the existing farm more than a 100 years ago, and Mr Leake is a third-generation farmer on this property.

And while he might be retiring from full-time farming, he will not be a stranger to the WA Wheatbelt.

Currently a Western panel member of GRDC, Mr Leake also plans to return to the farm to help during busy times.

"But I might make my own rules up a bit," he said

In 40 years of farming, Mr Leake believes the secret ingredients to consistent cropping results, even during the dry years, are correct soil pH, residue retention and sustainable crop rotations.

"We have soil tested the farm to 30cm twice, and have limed accordingly and that shows up in a dry year," he said.

"None of our soil has been terribly acid but we've just kept on top of it and we've been liming for a long time."

Chatting to the _Countryman _ while sitting on the header, Mr Leake said so far harvest had been plain sailing and the only downside may be lower than average protein in some of the wheat.

"The crops are going to be a dream to harvest and I really think the only thing that might take the edge off for us is the protein in our wheat, and I'm only judging that on the protein of our barley," he said.

"It's high yield but the protein has been diluted by a season that evolved too late."

Mr Leake said the dry period in June had meant less nitrogen was applied at that time.

"If we had had 10mm fall on the third week of June, then I would be saying now that we would be harvesting something extraordinary," he said.

"We lost a lot of potential in that dry June, but that's farming.

"We played the a season, and when it did rain, we applied some nitrogen to what we knew would be lacking it, but no doubt we will discover that some more nitrogen would have been good, but I'm yet to know that.

"That's probably the only underlying thing, but I'm not regretting it."

Mr Leake said the 74mm received in September had been a season changer.

"Its really unbelievable how the season has evolved," he said

"Our average rainfall for September is 20mm and we had 74mm this year, and that's the make or break month for us," he said.

Mr and Mrs Syred, who are in their early 30s, will take over full responsibility for the farm at the start of next year.

Mr Leake said he had the utmost confidence the business would be in safe hands.

With two daughters in the family, Mr Leake and his wife Eileen, who he says has also been an integral partner in the business, had never been certain of what the future held for the farm.

"The girls always knew that we were planning for the farm to be viable for them but there was never any obligation, and then it just fell into place," he said.

"Jason is from a farm and he and Ebony have been back on the farm for three years now."

Mr Leake said the pair were both excited about the opportunity.

"I defied the adage that says the third generation farmer loses it - I was told that when I was about 19 and I thought, I'll show you," he said.