Dawson Valley Free Range

Dawson Valley Free Range

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Nearing the End.....

A few weeks ago I sent out an email to all those on my email list to inform customers that we would be ceasing business by the end of June. This was a really tough decision to make as we have loved being free range pig farmers. It has been a huge learning curve for us, and I really think I could write a book about it and about paddock to plate marketing.

Through this journey we've not only learnt alot, but we've met some wonderful people. Some of those we've been their first point of contact with eating real food. Food farmed the way it should be. I have been a big advocate of the ethical farming of animals and also the ecological farming of land. Both these are needed to be run in conjunction to enable healthy food. We've seen our land change rapidly once we put pigs in the paddocks. Paddocks that grew very little grass as it was poor sandy soil, now has a large range of grass and other plants.


We will always farm animals in this way, just not to the scale we have over the last few years. It's been a lot of years of very hard work. We've put a lot of money into it, but we just haven't been able to really make it work. Unfortunately we are not alone. There are quite a few other free range pig farms that have succumbed over the last couple of months. Please consider this when you next tuck into a feed of bacon and eggs. Ask your butcher, your cafe, where they source their bacon and eggs from. Please support small scale local producers where ever you can. We don't do it because we think we'll get rich, we do it because we hope we'll make a living doing something that we love doing and that others may get a direct benefit from.



We had thought that we'd keep going with the markets until June, but we made the decision recently to bring it forward. We will have two more markets before Easter and then on Easter Monday we take our final load of pigs to the abattoir for Sunshine Coast Organic Meats. This will signify the end. It's actually very fitting, because Sunshine Coast Organic Meats was right there at the beginning. They were the first butcher to take us on and have stuck with us right to the end. Different owners, but both lots have been incredible to work with. Chris and Jono who own it now, are just great blokes, so if you're down that way, continue to support them as they continue to support farmers!

Markets, and please note that these are not my usual weekends, so in Rocky I may be at a different spot:
  • Saturday 30th March at Yeppoon Community Markets
  • Sunday 31st March at Rockhampton Kern Arcade Carpark Markets
And then.....
  • Saturday 13th April at Yeppoon Community Markets
  • Saturday 13th April at Benaraby Turnoff for Gladstone area - 2.30 to 3.30pm
  • Sunday 14th April at Rockhampton Kern Arcade Carpark Markets

I'm now looking forward to a long holiday before we work out our next plan. We will still continue to run cattle on our property at Baralaba and Chloe will be looking after things here while we head off for a bit. If you want to keep up with what I'm up to when we are done, please follow my personal facebook page, as I will be closing down the Dawson Valley Page after Easter. You should be able to find it on this link I hope. Lucy's Farm Kitchen or if you enjoy reading blogs, I'm hoping to spend a bit more time blogging at Healthy Farming Healthy Food




2 comments:

  1. With a tear in my eye Lucy, I read this and understand why you have made the decisions you've had to make. There is a book in you for sure and I'll keep on at you to write it. We look forward to seeing you when you venture down this far south. XX

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