qldag

My main focus is in the soil, because once that is in balance and alive, my job is easy. When things are in balance, I watch birds perch on nearby trees and scoop up the bugs that eat crops. I love the feeling of being part of the system that supports us.

When people think of tropical Far North Queensland, buffalo are probably not the first creature that comes to mind. But for me, these two are inextricable. I am lucky enough to have been raised on fresh buffalo milk products and have sampled more versions of gourmet buffalo mozzarella, ice-cream and ricotta than most celebrity chefs. 

I am a third generation farmer and I have been on the farm for 26 years. Because I never wanted to be doing just one thing I was attracted to farming – it gave me the diversity and challenges I craved.  I’d always managed the farm for my family, but it wasn’t until 2007 that my wife and I leased the farm as the first step to becoming our own entity. In 2013 we took the big step of purchasing it outright.

We take a waste product, in our case coffee grounds, and save it from landfill, recycling the chemical goodness of the coffee grounds to feed our produce: gourmet & medicinal mushrooms. After the harvest we turn what is left into mushroom compost which goes into the ground as a beneficial, rather than a harmful product.

I’m Peta Zivec and I am in the final year of my PhD at the Australian Rivers Institute at Griffith University. 

My grandfather came to Australia as a refugee from Italy after WWII and established a vegetable farm on the outskirts of Brisbane, near to Forest Lake. I guess in that sense, the land is in my blood. 

I’m Hayley Wolski, 27. I was born in Chinchilla, went to primary and secondary school there, and I still live there now. I love to help my dad out on our family farm. He works so hard.  It’s pretty much a case of ‘all hands to the pump’ – if you are around and there is work to be done, you don’t really get a choice about pitching in. 

The land and I have been connected since my childhood, spent exploring the wild places around my hometown in South Western Australia. A patchwork of happy days; climbing trees, finding frogs, building cubby houses and birdwatching. I moved to Brisbane 8 years ago and felt like my connection to nature disappeared. I found it harder to find undisturbed wilderness in the suburbs. 

When I was about five years old my dad would take me to check the irrigation. That’s when I fell in love with farming and from that moment, I knew I wanted to be a farmer.

My wife and I moved back to Home Hill in 2017 to lease one of my parent’s cane farms. I’m a 4th generation cane farmer and still use much of the equipment my grandfather used. Our farm is only 118 acres so we both work off farm as well to supplement our income.

Nestled in amongst the towering cane fields of Home Hill is a micro flower farm. The primary goal is to grow seasonal, local flowers in a natural setting, so they have the uniqueness of field grown flowers: curvy stems, discoloured petals and so on. Growing flowers in an open field is challenging – in an open field in North Queensland it’s even more challenging. The last year or so has been a steep learning curve and there is no sign of that curve flattening anytime soon. My main focus is soil biology and insects (bees and beneficial insects).

Young Farmers Connect is an alliance that believes in a bright and prosperous future for our next generation farmers. We are a national not for profit organisation committed to cultivating networks, resources and community for young farmers. Through our network we provide educational platforms and community connections that encourage our young agrarians to farm #4futureag , supporting the use of regenerative, holistic & sustainable agricultural practices. YFC is a community that provides a national framework for peer support and a network that facilitates opportunities, land sharing, collaboration, education, mentorship and industry support to new, young and aspiring farmers throughout Australia.