‘Going for broke’: Egg farmer gives crowd-funding a crack

‘We had no idea it would be the start of something horrendous’: The Junabee farming family defying drought, one egg at a time.

Cooper Watson helping out mum and dad on their Junabee farm.

JUNABEE producers, the Watsons, have become adept at defying the odds in the midst of drought but now they're turning to crowd-funding in order to survive.

Watson Family Produce, an organic egg farm run by Matt and Hayley Watson, along with their boys Cooper, 4, and Charlie, 1, started back in 2017.

"Everyone was talking about how dry it was but no one was mentioning the word drought," Mrs Watson said.

"We had no idea it would be the start of something horrendous and in our naivety, we went for broke.

"Ever since then, we just kept going. That's what we're doing now. We're go-for-broke kind of people. There's no stopping drought but there's also no stopping us."

Last year, the family reached a major milestone when Spano's SUPA IGAs started stocking their eggs.

While it was a major achievement, it also meant the small packing room at the back of their house desperately needed an upgrade.

As it stands, the mudroom is barely big enough for one person to work in.

"It can get overwhelming. Within two to three days, it's wall-to-wall eggs in there," Mrs Watson said.

"We pack everything by hand because we can't fit machinery in there.

"Every single egg has to be handled by me to check for cracks. I dry clean them to make sure there's no marks on them, I grade them and then pack them.

"It can be quite a long process."

That's why the family is reaching out to buyers to support them in a new crowd-funding initiative.

For every $50 given towards the new packing room, the family promised to deliver six dozen eggs to their patrons.

It is all part of the family's promise to be accountable as they expand.

"I feel like we need to stay accountable," Mrs Watson said.

"It's why we're hoping to build as we go along and as money grows, so that people can see each step at the time and they can see how they're helping."

They regularly donate to the Warwick Community Van and OzHarvest, so they know how important is to support local initiatives, and Ms Watson said they hoped their customers would feel the same way about the initiative.

"We've been conscious to zero in on waste and plastics, and we've found that supporting local is really important to that as well," Mrs Watson said.

"The shop-local mentality keeps towns alive in tough times.

"The last 12 months have been a scramble to figure out how to keep going through drought.

"We've tried to focus on sustainability in every part of business to continue.

"The packing room is just another notch in the belt of surviving drought, or at least another step towards surviving."

To support the Watsons, head to their Facebook page, Watson Family Produce.

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