Tom and Olivia Lawson win The Weekly Times Coles 2020 Beef Farmer of the Year
A couple of Victorian beef farmers from Murrindindi have been named Australia’s best. See why and meet the finalists here.
AUSTRALIA’S top beef, cropping, dairy, horticulture, innovative and sheep farmers have been recognised at The Weekly Times Coles 2020 Farmer of the Year Awards. The following three growers vied for the title of Beef Farmer of the Year.
WINNER: TOM AND OLIVIA LAWSON
Paringa Livestock
Murrindindi, VIC
WHOEVER said profits and ethics didn’t mix when it comes to business have clearly never met Tom and Olivia Lawson.
The Lawsons operate Paringa Livestock, a diverse stud beef business running about 550 Red Angus, black Angus, Charolais and red and black composite Stabilizer cows at Murrindindi, in Victoria’s North East, and at Clarkes Hill, near Ballarat.
The business, with science and hybrid vigour as its centrepieces, sells 150-200 bulls a year to a growing client base seeking to produce born-to-perform calves that will return them a healthy premium.
Tom and Olivia, both agriculture science graduates, are passionate about beef production and the role data plays in selecting the most advanced genetics, with their business tailored around meat quality, productivity, feed efficiency and reduced carbon emissions.
Unafraid to stretch the boundaries of industry tradition, they were the first to bring to Australia the four-breed Stabilizer — the idea being the more breeds, the more retained hybrid vigour — and are one of a handful of stud breeders in the nation linked to a worldwide multi-breed database developed to produce the most economically advanced genetics possible.
The Lawsons embraced biological farming practices about 20 years ago, long before it was considered sexy, turning their backs on the use of synthetic fertilisers and nitrogen, cutting back on chemicals and limiting cultivation in a bid to promote soil health.
In more recent years they have been involved with a Meat and Livestock Australia carbon-accounting project and the early stages of a farm biodiversity certification pilot scheme in which farmers are rewarded financially for their biodiversity and land stewardship.
“Climate variability will be the biggest challenge for our industry, without a doubt,” says Olivia, an independent Cattle Council of Australia director.
“It is how we can adapt and prepare for the impacts of that going forward.”
A future that appears bright for Paringa Livestock, worthy winners of The Weekly Times Coles 2020 Beef Farmer of the Year.
READ MORE ABOUT TOM AND OLIVIA LAWSON
FINALIST: STARK FAMILY
Lake Mundi, VIC
THE Stark family might have farmed the at-times soggy paddocks of western Victoria’s border country since the late 1800s, but don’t for a second think they are bogged down by tradition.
Here, on 2500 hectares near Lake Mundi, between Casterton in Victoria’s Western District and Penola in South Australia’s South East, Kevin and Maryanne Stark, and their son Kevin Jr, 31, put profits front and centre as they work hard to produce a beef herd that matches the demands of today’s consumers.
The Starks, who run 800 breeding cows, are passionate about producing food as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Since returning home to the farm eight years ago, Kevin Jr has overseen a switch from decades of breeding Hereford and Poll Hereford cattle to Angus crossbred black baldies in an effort to produce better-quality beef.
An emphasis on marbling and fat in genetic selections has allowed the Starks to capitalise on premium markets, such as JBS Australia’s Great Southern accredited grass-fed program.
The family has also moved calving times to better suit feed requirements and changed the way they use available irrigation to finish more cattle on the farm, instead of selling them as calves through the famed Western District weaner sales.
In a sign of their commitment to the industry, the family recently purchased 1100 hectares of neighbouring land and also have a property further south at Heywood, where they run steers.
A qualified aerospace engineer, who spent a year working in Germany, Kevin Jr now can’t imagine himself doing anything apart from farming.
“I like the challenge of running your own business and having the goal of growing,” he says. “Hopefully within five years we will have expanded again.”
It appears the sky’s the limit.
READ MORE ABOUT THE STARK FAMILY
FINALIST: TIM AND ANNA WILSON
Labertouche, VIC
A CHARMED entree into the beef industry just five years ago has Tim and Anna Wilson well and truly craving the main course.
The Wilsons might farm just 450 hectares, spread across three properties around Labertouche in Victoria’s Gippsland region, but what they lack in quantity they surely make up for with quality, running a powerhouse herd of 1100 purebred Angus cattle targeting the top-shelf beef market.
Farming is much more than a passion project for Tim, who grew up in Melbourne and studied agricultural science at university, before jackarooing in Western Australia for a year and later becoming an agronomist.
In 2012 he became a farm manager on the Labertouche property, which at that time was running a commercial Angus herd, and four years later purchased the farm with his mother, Ann.
The 43-year-old’s approach to farming is to “maximise every blade of grass” pushing production through the use of new varieties of grasses, a good fertiliser program and grazing management while going above and beyond to protect the environment.
Passionate about performance, he has entered cattle into Lardner Park’s steer trials to compare their performance against others, under the same conditions, and see where improvements can be made, such as intramuscular fat, eye-muscle area and growth rates.
“I need to run at maximum capacity to afford to own the land,” Tim says. “Because we put the effort in to get the best quality, we’ve got to get extra value for what we produce.”
All the meat is sold to high-end brands, including Coles grass-fed Graze label, as well as Greenham’s Vintage and Bass Strait brands, which both require stringent audits for accreditation, including humane animal husbandry.
Tim and the Labertouche property were last year featured in a full-length cooking show, Farm to Fork, alongside a MasterChef star, in just another example of the family’s passion for the industry and desire to step up to the plate.
READ MORE ABOUT TIM AND ANNA WILSON
MORE 2020 FARMER OF THE YEAR WINNERS:
Inside one of the best beef cattle enterprises in Victoria
Tim Stokes from Karn Station is using science to find the best performing cattle – and it’s paying dividends. This is how he does it.
Farmer of the Year 2024 nominations now open
We are searching for the best farmers from across Australia to be honoured in The Weekly Times Coles 2024 Farmer of the Year awards.