Mackay stalwart Paul Fordyce has returned to the land in partnership with his family in a cattle enterprise

But, with the support of his wife, Leanne, and his family, Paul turned his dark days around to where he now recommends a life that is balanced and not all about "chasing the dollar".

"When I left school, I went on to 100,000 acres (40,468 ha), a family property that my father, my brother and I bought when I was 20 and at 49 I sold up and came back to Mackay," he said.

"After three years of drought and a big heap of debt and two inches of rain in three years, I just thought I'd had enough.

"In a drought, they always tell you to keep your eye out for someone else (who may be struggling), but I didn't realise the person I should have kept my eye out for was me. I had a downer, it just got me...it was an horrific drought."

In the early 1990s, the 100,000 acre property, Wyena, north west of Moranbah, was split into three between Paul and two of his three brothers with the fourth brother taking over a property at Koumala.

Paul and Leanne kept the name, Wyena, for their 31,000 acre (12,545 ha) share of the original block, running about 3000 head of mainly Brangus and Brangus cross cattle until they sold out in 2006.

A property, Branxholm at St Lawrence, that they had bought in 2001 then became their home until they sold it in 2007 and moved to Seaforth. It ran 1000 breeders.

It was from his home base at Seaforth that Paul started buying and selling property.

"I came to town and got myself together. I am very familiar with the area of Mackay because our family has been here for 140 years so I have a lot of relatives and friends here," he said.

"I just started buying interesting property. I farmed cane for a while because I bought a farm that was in 13 deeds and I've done a lot of property transactions since.

"I was opportunity investing, I would try and buy farms that had a lot of deeds on them and split them up in their deeds and sell them.

"Some sold as farms, some sold as hobby farms, some sold as house blocks. I did a lot of house blocks in and around Mackay and on the coast, I just poked along there quietly and enjoyed it.

"I enjoyed the challenge of (buying and selling) property as property is something our family has done on both sides.

"Mum's father was a big property developer and Dad developed a lot of housing and rural property.

"I just played the property market and invested wisely - I wasn't going too bad, and I was enjoying it very much.

"I probably missed the bush extraordinarily, but I didn't miss the pressure and then my oldest son, Lachlan, wanted to leave the city and get a rural enterprise."

In a partnership, Paul and Leanne with their son, Lachlan, and his wife, Sarah, own a 900 acre (364 ha) aggregation, Cattle Creek, at Finch Hatton in the Pioneer Valley where they have a commercial herd of 500 Brangus cross breeders and where they have started a stud operation, Altitude Brangus Stud.

Paul said they started out as a hay operation at the Finch Hatton aggregation until everyone started growing hay and the market went soft so they went back into cattle.

He said he suggested they establish a stud as he had always had studs and grown up with stud cattle.

"If you breed good bulls you can have a real good earning and a real good life," he said.

"It's not just about the money though, I said it's easy to go and make a lot of money, but you've got to have a life as well because our life in the bush at Wyena was a lot of work with no relief and it got to me a bit.

"We've done an embryo program (here) and we've got enough cattle of the right breed so that in the next two years we should be able to have quite a good supply of stud genetics together."

Paul said they chose Brangus cattle because there was a good market for this type of cattle in Queensland now because "black cattle were very much in fashion".

Paul's father, Bill, was a pioneer of the breed and president of the Australian Brangus Cattle Association from 1976 to 1982.

"I've shown a lot of Brangus cross cattle over the years as did a lot of other people and we did very well with them," he said.

"Commercially, they're beef quality is what I like the most and they live well in this country. Brahmans do particularly well (here too), but they don't necessarily have the beef qualities or hybrid vigour of a cross.

"There's lots of cattle that I like but because of me being around and being exposed to Brangus, I've really got a soft spot for them and they're ultra competitive if you want to show them - they're good cattle."

In five years time, Paul sees himself still being involved in the cattle business, but in a lesser capacity as he wants to see more of Australia.

At 65 and a sixth-generation farmer, Paul reckons "you're dead a long time and what's in the bank doesn't count".

"I just thought (when we sold out) that there was more to life than just doing battle every day. I had to see a brighter side of life for a while," he said.

"I've got perspective now. I started work when I left school and we just worked and worked, and we worked through the years of 21 per cent interest and cattle prices at $2 to $10 a head and we paid off two properties.

"But I just thought that I don't want to go to my grave and all I've done is work chasing a dollar. I actually wanted to have some life."