Named: The Qld finalists of the delicious Produce Awards

Well-known Queensland pig farmers have been named as one of five state finalists in the annual delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards. SEE ALL THE FINALISTS

A Toowoomba pig farm has been recognised for producing some of the best pork in the country in the annual delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards.

Fifth generation Schultz Family Farms in Bergen was named as a national finalist in the gongs, which celebrate the best growers, farmers, fishers and culinary creators in Australia.

As state finalists since 2017, this is the second time the Queensland farmers have made the nationals.

“It’s a surprise every time,” said Jade Schultz, who runs the operation with her husband Vaughn and his son Xavier, 14, and his father Geoffrey.

“We are always just so happy to be involved in something that champions those small quality producers.”

The awards are judged by a panel of the top chefs in each state, with Queensland kitchen kings Cameron Matthews, Spencer Patrick, Adam Wolfers and Jake Nicolson leading the taste test this year.

Vaughn and Jade Schultz with two-week-old piglets at their award-winning pig farm at Bergen. Picture: Luke Marsden.

The Schultz family won over the experts with their free-range suckling pigs, reared using barley grown on their own farm and traditional techniques passed down from Vaughn’s great grandfather.

“We do it because we love our animals,” said Vaughn, who works directly with the chefs and restaurants he supplies including Agnes and Iris, both in Fortitude Valley, The Arsonist in Manly and Pilloni in West End.

“We have a small herd that we can manage ourselves just as a family unit (and) we’re giving them (the pigs) the best life they could possibly have.”

Other Queenslanders to make this year’s national finals include Tommerup’s Dairy Farm in the Scenic Rim, Green Valley Fingerlimes and The Falls Farm on the Sunshine Coast, and North Queensland’s Collison Reef Fish.

The finalists will now go on to be judged by a national panel of acclaimed chefs including Matt Moran, Peter Gilmore and Josh Niland, with the overall winners announced on August 24.