The Weekly Times Coles 2023 Farmer of the Year winners revealed
Australia’s best farmers in beef, cropping, dairy, horticulture, sheep and innovation have been announced. See all the winners, including the overall Farmer of the Year.
A Queensland family at the forefront of agriculture’s sustainability movement have been judged Australia’s best farmers.
The Corish family, from Condamine, has been named overall winner of The Weekly Times Coles 2023 Farmer of the Year awards tonight, at a gala ceremony at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“I am honoured to win this award and it is quite humbling,” Nigel said when accepting the The Weekly Times Coles 2023 Farmer of the Year award.
“I want to thank Vanessa, she is a true rock that allows me to do what I do and I want to thank my three children as well, Harry, Will and Henry. They are always very patient with me travelling around to the farm and surrounds.
“As farmers what we produce is so unique and so rewarding and I want to continue travelling Australia telling our stories and promoting agriculture to the wider community.”
The awards honoured the best in farming during 2023 across six categories: beef, cropping, dairy, horticulture and sheep farming, as well as innovation.
Nigel and Vanessa Corish and family, who run New Leaf Ag Pty, were recognised for their forward-thinking approach to growing crops, and passion for taking others along for the sustainability ride.
The family grows dryland wheat, barley, chickpeas, sorghum and irrigated crops across 4000 hectares and, with an eye to sustainability, have cut nitrogen fertiliser usage while increasing yields at the same time. The next challenge Nigel is taking on is producing carbon credits, as one of Australia’s first cropping farmers to run a soil carbon project.
“I’m being the guinea pig,” Nigel says. “I’m being the person that hopefully shows people how it is going to be done.
“I think we need to be part of the conversation and at the table, to allow us to become better farmers.”
Category winners were chosen from a field of 18 finalists, hailing from Victoria, NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. Judging criteria centred on the key pillars of productivity, sustainability and innovation.
The overall award was presented to the Corish family by Coles chairman James Graham, Herald and Weekly Times chairman Penny Fowler, federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, Coles chief executive Leah Weckert and The Weekly Times editor James Wagstaff.
Mr Graham said the winners had “an eye to the future while continuing to deliver exceptional quality produce for Australian tables”.
Mrs Fowler said farmers had “again proven themselves to be masters of innovation”.
In addition to the overall title, the Corishes were one of six category winners, lifting the trophy for Cropping Farmer of the Year.
The Weekly Times Coles 2023 Farmer of the Year winners are:
OVERALL FARMER OF THE YEAR
Corish family
New Leaf Ag Pty Ltd
Condamine, Queensland
BEEF FARMER OF THE YEAR
Caithness family
Caithness Pastoral
Bairnsdale, Victoria
For the Caithness family the key ingredient to a great-tasting steak is dirt.
By focusing on soil health and finetuning efficiencies across every aspect of their mixed farming enterprise, the family has managed to increase fertility, stocking rates and their bottom line all at the same time.
The Caithnesses run 850 Angus, Hereford and crossbred breeding females on their 1800-hectare property and produce 700 calves a year for the premium Coles Graze beef label.
BEEF FINALISTS
Apelt family, Collingwood Pastoral Company, Tara, Queensland
Hassall family, Glendaruel Pastoral Company, Holbrook NSW
CROPPING FARMER OF THE YEAR
Corish family
New Leaf Ag Pty Ltd
Condamine, Queensland
Fourth-generation cropper Nigel Corish and his family are at the forefront of the grain industry’s push towards sustainability.
New Leaf Ag grows dryland wheat, barley, chickpeas, sorghum and irrigated cotton across 4000 hectares of owned and leased country.
40-year-old Nigel has been working for years to retain moisture, improve the health of his soils and reduce reliance on synthetic fertilisers, all while boosting productivity.
CROPPING FINALISTS
Fox family, Marrar NSW
Holland family, Young NSW
DAIRY FARMER OF THE YEAR
Walpole family
M&K Walpole
Yielima, Victoria
Dairy farming is a numbers game, and the Walpole family has mastered the maths.
Mark and Kate Walpole run a team that includes four of their six adult children and 27 staff, milking about 2200 cows.
In an effort to ramp up productivity, the Walpoles recently installed a freestall barn housing 2000 cows.
In July last year they moved to milking three times a day, in an effort to boost production by a whopping 16 per cent.
They have achieved that already, with the herd producing 1.2 million kilograms of milk solids — or 14 million litres of milk — last year.
DAIRY FINALISTS
Staley family, Yarram, Victoria
Greg and Kim Wilson, Oakhampton Dairies, Irrewillipe, Victoria
HORTICULTURE FARMER OF THE YEAR
Steemson family
Littabella Pines
Yandaran, Queensland
Littabella Pines produces 7000 tonnes of pineapples a year and is the biggest supplier of canned pineapples in Australia.
With the Great Barrier Reef on their doorstep, the Steemsons have been actively involved in various research projects and trials looking at ways to reduce environmental impacts such as sediment and nutrient run-off, water quality and soil erosion.
HORTICULTURE FINALISTS
Buckley family, Buckley Innovative Farming, Pleasant Park, South Australia
Frank and Dianne Sciacca, Pacific Coast Eco Bananas, Mourilyan, Queensland
INNOVATIVE FARMER OF THE YEAR
Xavier and Kimberley Prime
Chooks at the Rooke
Cororooke, Victoria
When Xavier and Kimberley Prime started in free-range eggs seven years ago, there was no blueprint for what they wanted to do, so they decided to wing it.
In 2017 the couple started rearing not just laying hens, but also male cockerels on their 65-hectare property.
In a move few egg producers have been game to try, Xavier decided to give male chicks a productive life of 150 days on pasture to save them being culled as a by-product.
The roosters are now an exciting and successful part of the enterprise.
INNOVATIVE FINALISTS
Bignell family, Bream Creek Dairy, Bream Creek, Tasmania
McPherson family, Tinaberries, Woongarra, Queensland
SHEEP FARMER OF THE YEAR
Roberts family
Ridgehaven Poll Dorsets
Cudal, NSW
Isabele Roberts is in prime position to make sure her family’s sheep genetics are a cut above the rest.
In a circular economy that delivers at every level, she breeds Poll Dorset rams for a big number of clients but also uses the rams herself in a commercial prime lamb breeding arm of the family business.
Those lambs are mainly sent direct to processors, who in turn provide feedback on whether they have met their specifications.
This information is used to hone genetic decisions in breeding the type of Poll Dorset rams the industry needs, with the stud having the capacity to influence up to 100,000 prime lambs, including their own.
SHEEP FINALISTS
Troy and Nette Fischer, Ashmore Rams, Wasleys, South Australia
Howell family, Howell Pastoral Company, Amphitheatre, Victoria
Picture gallery: All the action from Farmer of the Year awards
The best and brightest in Australian agriculture were crowned at The Weekly Times Coles 2023 Farmer of the Year awards. See all the pictures.
Red-tipped bananas point to future of farming
See how Innisfail’s Frank and Dianne Sciacca’s bananas tipped with red wax are helping reverse declining ecosystems and land, soil and waterway degradation.