Published since 1986
APRIL, 2020
Dogs detecting bad things
www.farmernews.com.au
Vale Stan Artridge PAGE 13
Laura leading Mitta farmers PAGES 14-15
PAGE 17
Tough times booster resolve at Tolpuddle By EMMA OLIVER
WINNER WINNER: Danni Schneider and Tim Szczerkowski are Rushnot Garlic, a boutique operation in the highlands of Tolmie. After over a decade of nurturing their crop - a purple hardneck varietal of garlic - their hard work and perseverance through extreme weather events and challenging situations has paid off. With a recent gold at the 2019 Australian Food Awards, the latest in a long list of accolades, Danni and Tim are excited about the direction their business is taking with plans to expand and diversify. Their story is on pages 2 and 3.
YOUR HOME OF 6
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ON the last day of the school term in 2013, Melissa and Donovan Jacka got in their car with their two young sons and left their life in South Melbourne behind for a new life of goat-raising and cheese-making, on their newly purchased 120 acres in Tarrawingee. Melissa and Donovan were following a dream born from the desire of a better quality of life and more time spent with family. Both holding senior management roles in public hospitals, the roles were allencompassing, stressful and challenging, and though they had a lovely home in Melbourne and a beautiful nanny who was helping raise the children, this couple of foodies wanted so much more. “It was always cheese,” Melissa said with a laugh. “And it was always goats. “The plan when moving to the country was always about agritourism, and that’s what we built our whole business model around. “We bought this land in Tarrawingee, and it was all about the beautiful old stone building on the property which has become our cheese-making room and farm gate door.
“It was the perfect bones to create an experience - the look, touch and feel appreciation of where the produce has come from, encouraging that stronger connection to agriculture.” It was the farm gate part of the equation that was really important to the Jackas when they first embarked on their mission. Twenty Saanen goats were their first purchase, bought from Sunhill Dairy Goats in Uralla - up near Armidale in New South Wales which was down-sizing due to the effects of drought in the region. As they learnt the ropes of their new enterprise, familiarising themselves with these new family members, the Jackas also began to turn their vision into a reality. “At first it was working out the logistics of the dairy and making the cheese,” Melissa said. “Then it was tweaking and fine-tuning our product, and doing lots of farmers markets, festivals and events before we finally managed to achieve our original plan. “It was three and a half years in total, before Tolpuddle Goat Cheese and Farm Foods actually opened to the public.” ■ Continued pages 8-9
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