Watson Family Produce struck down by possible links to salmonella outbreak

A Warwick couple says their world has been shattered after ‘an illness we can’t even see’ led to their products ripped from shelves and their home and business in tatters.

Watson Family Produce.

A Warwick family is facing a $1 million hurdle to claw back their business after a salmonella outbreak saw their products pulled from shelves and their livelihood in ruin.
Watson Family Produce owners Matt and Hayley Watson, who had operated on their Junabee farm just outside Warwick since 2017, recalled their free range egg range in January over potential links to a salmonella outbreak.

The couple said everything they knew came crashing down around them in an instant.

“Our world has been rocked,” Mrs Watson said.

“We have no chickens left. We followed best practice for scrapping all of our equipment ... for an illness we can’t even see, and still have no answers as to how it arrived.”

Matt and Hayley Watson with their children.

As the eggs were pulled from shelves in IGAs and Woolworths, the Watson family faced more of the hellish ordeal at home.

Mrs Watson said Biosecurity Queensland and Safe Food Queensland conducted an assessment of the farm and its procedures, and undertook environmental sampling of every chicken coop and the egg packing areas.
“Biosecurity Queensland stated that the farm did not have any visible bird health issues and this is supported by our data showing there has not been any elevated mortality,” she said.

Despite this, the couple was left staring down the barrel of a million-dollar bill to get their farm operational again, including a quarter of a million dollars in machinery, $200,000 in birds, an $80,000 packing machine, $50,000 for fencing, $10,000 in licences and more.

The hardworking couple were devastated when their products were pulled from IGA and Woolworths shelves in January.

“We can’t afford the hoops we need to jump through in order to farm here again, but we have a plan,” Mrs Watson said.

“We are trying to secure another property that we can start from experience on. It’s not going to be quick, and our kids lives have been thrown into upheaval, but we are holding each other through the waves and staying as close as we possibly can to each other.”

The couple said the “nightmare” had been hard on their two children, Charlie and Cooper, with the family now looking for a rental property away from the place that is a constant reminder of the heartache.

“Moving off-site is what is best for our children who are watching everything they love be destroyed,” Mrs Watson said.

“The trauma that this has put on all of us will be long lasting and something we will be working on for years to come.

“We are doing our best to continue to look forward and rebuild our business and our lives.”

Matt and Hayley Watson have no chickens left after a voluntary recall and potential links to a salmonella outbreak devastated their business.

The couple last week visited Parliament House to share their plight with Member for Southern Downs James Lister and Agriculture Minister Mark Furner.

“We are so grateful these guys took the time to hear us and are going to try to work with us,” Mrs Watson said.

“We are dead serious about going again and will have eggs on the shelf before you know it.”
To help expedite their recovery and get their products back on shelves, the Watsons have created a GoFundMe, which has so far raised almost $25,000 of its $100,000 goal. To donate, click here.