The effects of deregulation of the dairy industry in 2000 threatened to destroy our family farm; in 2008, the move into agritourism saved it. Kay Tommerup, together with husband, Dave, and adult children, Harry & Georgia, runs a 6th generation dairy and mixed farming business in the Kerry Valley, Scenic Rim. Not only has agritourism created a viable future for the farm, it provides a life filled with variety – from milking cows and feeding pigs, to sharing the farm with 50 excited school kids, before a board meeting in the afternoon – life is never dull. The farm business now value-adds to all farm produce, selling direct to customer, with high-end restaurants across Brisbane and Scenic Rim taking the majority of their product. Kay and Dave were awarded the Coles/Weekly Times Innovative Farmers of the Year 2022 for their achievements in diversifying the family farm.
At Tinaberries we have been making sweet things happen since 2006! It started with growing the sweetest strawberries and moved to the sweetness of watching families come together and experience the immense joy of picking strawberries on the farm.
Bronwyn is from Lilydale, Helidon in the Lockyer Valley. Married to Dave, they have 5 adult children and 13 grandchildren.
Bronwyn along with her husband and son Brenton operate an award-winning 4th generation farming enterprise, 9Dorf Farms, consisting
“You pay rates on your parcel of farmland so diverse income streams make good business sense if you can work it”.
“Don’t go into farm accommodation unless you’re happy to be woken by a guest with a gecko at 2am”.
Commencing in 2018, David & Genevieve Counsell through their pastoral livestock grazing business, commenced offering a private campsite at their wool shed on their property Dunblane, just west of Barcaldine on the Waltzing Matilda Highway.
Improved connectivity and an increased sophistication in communication technologies has allowed growth of campsites across the property.
