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JUNE, 2020
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Wangaratta Farmers’ Market transitions online By EMMA OLIVER
REWARDING THE VISION: With a dream of diversifying away from the ups and downs of cropping, Mat Jenkins applied his knowledge of farming systems to of all things Murray cod. Utilising on-farm dams at his Bilbul property, Mat successfully trialled growing out the fish, and from these preliminary steps, Murray Cod Australia was born. Taking advantage of the good quality water and agricultural land of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, the company has become a success story, renowned not only for their quality product, but their strong stance on sustainability and positive company culture. This is a business that goes from strength to strength - inspiration for all those looking to diversify and follow a passion. Turn to page 10 for the story.
YOUR HOME OF 6
IN direct response to restrictions that witnessed local markets postponed or cancelled, the Wangaratta Farmers’ Market (WFM) moved quickly to ensure the livelihood of their producers. The Wangaratta Farmers’ Market Hub has been operational for the last seven weeks, and in this short space of time has experienced more than a 50 per cent increase in online orders. Opening on a Monday morning and trading through to Thursday afternoon, their first online market at the beginning of April generated sales of 61 boxes of customer-chosen produce. Two weeks later, sales had increased to 91 boxes and feedback was great, as consumers embraced the new online market with its weekly access to their favourite seasonal produce, and a convenient Saturday morning pick-up time. With numbers remaining consistently above 90 boxes each week, the business model has proven to be a success and managed to inadvertently attain a goal that the WFM had been striving to achieve for some time. “We have been wanting to increase the offering of local seasonal produce in Wangaratta, but were unable to increase our on the ground market
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to fortnightly or weekly,” said Mary Daly, manager of the Wangaratta Farmers’ Market. “As we are an accredited market with the Victorian Farmers’ Market Association our farmer or producer has to be at the market to interact with the customers. “This is achievable once a month, but not feasible on a weekly basis as it takes them off farm too much. “Our main objective is to grow our small primary producers in the region by offering them a fair market place. “Be that on the ground or online is how we see this happening. “We will always return once restrictions are lifted to an onground monthly market, however, we do sense that this online market continuing alongside it may be what we need in the future. “The online market represents a leaner system to producers, and though they have to grow and make to supply demand, there are the huge benefits of guaranteed orders reducing waste. “From producers coming out of the bushfires, with COVID-19 now affecting their livelihoods as markets are put on hiatus and farmgates closed, the response to our hub has been very positive.” ■ Continued page 5
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