Camden Valley Farm opens sunflower fields to visitors to expand business

After dealing with the setbacks of Covid, a Macarthur couple decided to find a way to turn their farm into a tourist attraction. Now it’s grown into favourite spot to grab an Insta-worthy shot.

There‘s a little farm of sunshine in the Macarthur region that’s flung its gates open for visitors as the owners find ways to adapt in an ever-changing landscape.

Luke and Jess Micallef started Camden Valley Farm in 2012, but back then it was known as Camden Valley Veal.

When the pandemic wreaked havoc on parts of their business, a friend gave the couple an idea to find a way to benefit from tourism.

“They run a biodynamic farm, and they get people turning up to their place wanting sunflower photos so we thought ‘let us just plant sunflowers’,” Mrs Micallef said.

Will, Luke, Jess, and John Micallef at Camden Valley Farm. Picture: Kyah Lee Stauffer

“It went gangbusters. We couldn’t believe the amount of people who wanted to come and visit.”

The couple planted their first field in early 2021 and have cultivated more since then with hundreds of visitors making bookings to see the stunning sea of yellow and snap a social-media worthy shot.

“The main groups are families who want to do photo shoots, the teenage groups and the influencers who like the Instagram shots,” Mrs Micallef said.

“It’s been so lovely to see all of these people coming out of the field looking relaxed and happy so it has been great for us.

The captivating sunflower field at Camden Valley Farm.

“If you want to keep a business going, you have to stay on your toes and keep an eye on what the market is doing.”

The need to adapt has been a mantra of the Micallefs right from the beginning.

“When it started we wanted to produce elite and ethical milk-fed and pastured veal,” Mrs Micallef said.

“But we decided we needed to find more ways of making more money off the farm so we diversified into pasteurised meat chickens.

“We also had the cows who were at the end of their dairy life and instead of sending them on a long drive to be used in mince meat we collaborate with Vic’s Meats in Sydney to dry age them here to produce a premium steak.”

The Micallef also have a second business called A Smart Farmer, which travels to schools to teach students about dairy.

“We take the cows around and make dairy products with the students,” Mrs Micallef said.

“We only used to do Royal Agricultural Shows and we were using our annual leave to do it, so we said ‘let’s make a business and go into schools and align it with the curriculum’.”

Mrs Micallef said they learned many lessons over the years, but one standout remained — find ways to adapt or expand.