Garvoc cattleman Peter Wines runs a simple, but effective operation fattening steers after years as a dairy farmer.
With no one wanting to take on the dairy farm, he sold the farm and turned the 120-hectare out-block into a beef operation.
Mr Wines said the steer finishing was a good pastime.
"I go to the gym twice a week to do some exercises to keep the body nimble," he said.
His operation involves turning off steers twice a year, at November and around the end of January.
He likes to get the steers above 500 kilograms and "nice and fresh-looking" for sale.
"We don't run 600 and 700kg bullocks, it doesn't pay to keep them that long and the buyers don't seem to want the heavy animals," he said.
He said he also sold direct to processors, "whoever is paying the best price at the time".
He said running steers was better than running cows and calves.
"There's a lot of work in cows and calves and a lot of hidden costs with bull costs and perhaps losing a calf," he said.
Mr Wines sold 126 steers at Mortlake that were bought in January.
The consignment had average weights between 511-566kg.
He said he kept them for 11 months and would rather it was six or seven months.
They weighed around 290-315kg.
He still has a mob of steers at home that weighed around 400kg that would be sold before the start of winter next year.
He said retained steers were a little younger and would benefit from the grass produced after a good season.
He said he wouldn't buy in January again as he had to keep them through the autumn and winter when they didn't put on weight unless they were fed cereal hay or grain - "grass is the cheapest option".
The best option was to buy around May and get weight onto them during the spring to sell in November or take them through to January, he said.
Mr Wines said the steers were rotated and he applied plenty of fertiliser.
"My father always told me not to skimp on fertiliser, if you can't afford to put out one bag, put out two," he said.
"You'll never go broke putting plenty of fertiliser out, but you've got to use it.
"I don't like to see grass going to waste."
The St Patrick's Day fire that burned 95 per cent of his property meant the pastures had been replaced.
