00:02Among the rolling hills of the Kerry Valley, less than two hours south from Brisbane, Kay Tomerup is keeping busy.
00:10I feel like we've got everything going on here. We've got dairy and milk-fed pork and rose veal, pastured
00:17eggs and heirloom organic market garden and branching out into things like heirloom grains and pulses.
00:26Kay and her husband Dave are the fifth generation to work these 80 hectares.
00:32Their children, including son Harry, represent the sixth and the property at Tomerup's Dairy Farm has been feeding locals for
00:39more than 100 years.
00:41In that time, they've survived flood, fire, drought and all the pressures that go along with small-scale family farming.
00:49But lately, they've had to come to terms with a new problem.
00:52And it looks like this.
00:56Up until recently, this was an important abattoir for farmers on the scenic rim.
01:02It was a multi-species facility. It processed beef and veal and pork and lamb.
01:07But since the land was sold and the site was demolished, farmers are having to send their stock much further
01:12afield.
01:13It's a journey that some doubt they can continue to make.
01:18It's been massive for our business financially.
01:21It's a 130% increase in costs for us just in the transport and labour side of things.
01:28It's led some producers to push for new facilities to be built collectively or independently.
01:33But the capital outlay and the time needed to progress the development application makes the prospect of an on-farm
01:39abattoir a daunting one.
01:42In the southern downs, Randall Breen's already invested heavily in 243 hectares of the Goombara Valley, transforming the landscape with
01:52chemical-free, regenerative farming practices.
01:55Alongside hens kept for pasture-raised eggs, Randall tends to a small herd of Brangus cattle grown slowly on grass
02:02to an age of 20 to 24 months.
02:04At the moment, we're only 20 minutes down the road from our local slaughter facility, Abattoir.
02:09However, if that was to close, it would be multiple hours of transport, which we would find causes some welfare
02:16issues for us.
02:17In recent months, Randall obtained approval for an on-site boning and packing facility, meaning he's able to butcher their
02:24beef on farm and sell it direct to consumers under their Echo Valley brand.
02:29They can also provide finishing services to other producers in the region, a group they might one day need if
02:35their local processor shuts down.
02:38It's vital that we maintain that access. It's actually illegal for us to slaughter on-farm without an accredited abattoir.
02:46So that part of the puzzle, that bottleneck in our vision to feed people directly, it's vital that we maintain
02:53access to the current facility
02:55or find a way in which that we could do that either on-farm or in collaboration with other farmers.
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