It’s a reality that’s all too familiar to Ivan and James Johnson, father-andson Simmental breeders who experienced the destruction of Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires first-hand.

The Johnsons’ 23-hectare property just off the Melba Highway at Glenburn was engulfed when flames roared out of the adjoining Kinglake National Park on February 7, 2009.

Ivan and James were away manning the local CFA tanker when the firefront hit, leaving Ivan’s wife Jenny and younger son Luke defending the house with the aid of a built-in sprinkler system.

The paddocks were burned out completely, the fences reduced to a tangle of blackened wire, but the buildings survived. Glenhaven’s bull and two stud cows weren’t so lucky.

Despite the setback only three years after their stud’s formation, the Johnsons elected to persevere. The rebuilding process has been steady, initially including the purchase of three heifers during the Whittlesea Simmental sale in November 2009.

The stud draws on traditional Simmental bloodlines, including

those of Gina Ryan’s nearby Glenview Del.

“Gina has had very, very good cattle there since the early days,” Ivan said.

“A lot of people have her to thank for their herds now.”

A long-time friend of the Johnsons, Mrs Ryan also helped kick-start Glenhaven’s rebirth by donating a cow to James following the deaths at Kinglake.

Ivan said the loss of the original Glenhaven cattle set the stud back virtually to square-one.

“Now we’re where we were three years ago, before the fire,” he said.

“Another three or four years on we’ll be where we should have been now – but we’ll get there.”

Last Saturday, a week short of Black Saturday’s three-year anniversary, the Johnsons opened their gates for Beef Week for the first time.

With only one bull for sale this summer, they welcomed a pleasing number of visitors and had genuine interest from at least two prospective buyers.