For Lawsons Angus, its new West Australian venture is set to become the engine room of its breeding operation as home to the bulk of its females.

For managing director, Harry Lawson, Western Australia has long-loomed as the land of opportunity.

For more than 10 years, he and wife, Ruth, have contemplated scope to build their West Australian clientele and to capitalise on the production potential of comparatively low-cost land in a temperate zone.

After a run of dry years at their home base of Yea in Victoria and with the prohibitive cost of land there limiting their potential for growth, they decided to make their move.

In late 2007, they put the operation’s foundation property “Ythanbrae” at Yea on the market and began work on a West Australian division.

“From a business perspective, we’ve got to continually assess our overheads and look at our cost of production – and it didn’t make sense to own or buy more land where value was based on ‘real estate’ rather than productivity,” Mr Lawson said.

"What made sense was to move our breeding factory to an area where we could lower our cost of production and where there was reasonably reliable seasons.”

* Read more about Lawsons in The Land's Angus Journal, January 14.