qldag

Central Queensland, this place: it’s the only place I’ve ever really known and it’s the place where I am happy, so why wouldn’t I want to look after the land? Earlier this year I went to a Land Restoration Fund workshop in Biloela and that was pretty exciting – there were a lot of new ideas in the room. People talking seriously about recognising what we producers contribute to looking after the land, that we may not wear the environmental badge, but we do the right things as much as it is possible within the system as it works now.

There’s some guy who’s almost certainly dead, who started the whole thing, probably the great-grandfather. He did things the way they did them then – clearing pretty much everything, putting on as many head as he could afford. People moved great mobs across the country to get them to better pastures. 

I guess you’d have to say those first farmers didn’t have much of a clue about what we call the environment, or the ecosystem. They were just trying to survive. Back then clearing was the way to go.  It’s too easy to look back now and say they were doing the wrong thing. Don’t blame the farmers – they’re just trying to run a business, to stay afloat and keep the banks off their backs.

A feed of misinformation doesn’t feed us Agri-Phoenix Feature: Doug EvansName: Doug EvansPlace: Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast  I find myself constantly jumping to the defence of the fishing industry: battling misconceptions and misinformation. Having worked in the industry for years, I see that commonly this misinformation feeds myths about the environmental impact of fishing on the oceans,

I’m not sure what people think about when they look at agriculture or the beef industry from the outside. I grew up smack inside of it on a cattle property in the north-west, near Richmond. The thing is, at the end of the day this industry is as much about the people as it is about the land and the cattle.

On my family cattle property as a general station hand, I muster cattle on horseback, handle foals, process and treat cattle, test for pregnancies, check fences, waterpoints, lick runs and do weed control. A commercial and stud cattle operation; our key focus is breeding quality Droughtmaster bulls, and quality Droughtmaster fat cattle that are fertile and quiet. Working for family, contrary to some beliefs, is one of the hardest things – expectations often exceed what you think is reasonable. Character building.

I was brought up on my family’s cane farm and went on to complete a trade in boiler making, allowing me to move away to see more of the country. I was never too interested in the farm after I completed my trade, however I have always had an undeniable entrepreneurial streak from a young age.