Published since 1986
OCTOBER, 2020
Southdowns shine
www.farmernews.com.au
Wandin/ Silvan falls to COVID PAGE 9
Water/ Irrigation
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PAGE 23
Deer fella - Mike Vella Terramirra Park deer farm stands the testament of time By EMMA OLIVER MIKE Vella of Terramirra Park deer farm is a man who is not only passionate about his industry, he genuinely loves deer. “Red, fallow, hog, samba, sika and elk,” Mike said. “I absolutely love deer, and that’s why every deer you can have in Australia I’ve got them. “Sitting around of an evening - watching the interaction among the herd they’re amazing creatures to watch. “And one of these days I may retire, but I know I will always have a block with deer on it - I can’t imagine I will ever be without them. “And with our son Tim returning to the farm, I know that should I retire, the farm and the animals are in incredibly capable hands. “He loves the deer as much as I do, and you’ve got to love what you do.” It was the seventies, and Mike Vella, and his wife Jill, responded to a job advertisement for a farm manager for a new agricultural enterprise. Willow Ware Australia at this stage had a pastoral division, and the new agricultural enterprise was
FULLY INTEGRATED MODEL NSURES FARM IS VIABLE RICHARD Hawkes is sixth generation farming, growing vegetables and strawberries on 140 acres on the family-run farm in Boneo. As well as supplying local and interstate wholesale markets, the Hawkes run a farmgate store which accounts for between 20 and 25 per cent of gross turnover. Selling not only their own produce, Hawkes Farm also stocks a handpicked selection of fresh produce sourced from other farmers on the Mornington Peninsula. However, under current legislation pertaining to commercial activity in the Green Wedge this is considered an issue. Turn to page 2 for the story.
Australia’s first commercial deer farm. Mike and Jill had managed a pig and sheep farm up in the Mallee, but as Mike said he’d never seen a deer up close before he got the job. Mike was a fully qualified fitter and turner, and Willow Ware needed sheds built and specialist yards constructed as the industry in Australia was in its infancy and nobody knew how to yard deer in those days. Jill was a micro-biologist, and with her ability to do testing and monitoring of the deer herd, the couple became the perfect package for the new enterprise. Of the 82 applicants who applied, Mike and Jill Vella were the ones chosen in a turn of fate that would dictate their lives, as the job became a passion and the passion became their profession. It was in 1987 that the couple started their own deer farm with fallow deer on 70 acres in South Gippsland, near the tiny town of Koonwarra. “It was 70 acres initially, but then we bought next door and expanded another 50 acres, and diversified from fallow into all the breeds we have on the farm today,” Mike said.
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