Peter has about 1200 hectares just north of Moonie in South East Queensland, where he grows organic grain crops like barley and wheat, and fattens organic cattle. His background is in cattle grazing as his family hails from Windorah in the Channel Country further west towards the Queensland/Northern Territory border.
The idea to get into farming came through the option of growing crops to fatten the cattle from out west, thus fattening them for markets. However, it has also become very viable for him to grow cash crops like wheat, barley, and chickpeas.
Peter and his manager on the property focus on various organic methods for improving soil biology, which will have positive effects on crop quality and yield. Trialling new approaches such as the use of complex formulas of microbes and minerals (known colloquially as ‘magic goop’), as well as traditional methods like crop rotation has been instrumental in Peter’s rapid transition from cattleman to grain farmer.
Like most organic farmers he recognises that good soil management is the key to organic farming.