A large-scale hay enterprise initiated by Townsville-based doctor de Wet Potgieter is gearing up to commence production in what is expected to be a major boon for struggling northern graziers.
Mr Potgieter and his wife Daleen migrated to Australia from South Africa in 2002 and since moved they’ve loved every minute living in the tropical north.
It was after seeing the hardship the drought is causing for many graziers in the region the couple decided to make use of their strong farming heritage and wide agricultural knowledge for the benefit of the community they love.
Mr Potgieter purchased a 230 acre property located at Woodstock near Townsville which was originally used as a market garden.
“When I bought the land there wasn’t a single blade of grass on it but there was 50 head of cattle moving around, so I sold off the cattle so that I could focus solely on hay production,” he said.
Beginning in 2015 he started the time consuming procedure of working the ground until it was flat to allow the natural grass to grow through unimpeded.
“Over the last 12 months we’ve been removing debris to clear the land for the Rhodes Grass variety hay we’ll be producing here.
“We’ve just finished the first stage which involved the land leveling and we’re now in the midst of creating the irrigation infrastructure.
“We’ve connected our natural dam via channels that we’ve cut to a man-made dam which will feed into the 368m long half pivot which will irrigate the entire growing area which cover a 40 acre trial to begin with.”
He said if the operation proves to be successful the grassland will be expanded to cover 68 acres.
Mr Potgieter is also a firm believer in being responsible for the local environment.
“I’m fully utilising the natural resources of the land and I’ll in no way be damaging the local ecosystem.
“It’s quite important to me nor to create a negative impact on the land.”
To reduce costs and damage to the land a series of solar pumps are being installed on-property.
“The solar panels have a switch so that the pumping doesn’t occur if the system is overheating or if their isn’t enough sunlight to pump efficiently.”
He said by using this method it will eliminate the need for expensive diesel pumps, and by making the channels wide and deep water evaporation will be kept to a minimum.
Mr Potgieter said the need for feed all across the north is so high at the moment that he thinks by offering local graziers hay while eliminating freight costs will create a mutually beneficial arrangement.
“If graziers want to move their cattle I can provide them with feed, which will allow them time to prepare their cattle for sale in a condition that will hopefully net them a better price than they would otherwise receive.
“I’m not a city slicker looking to come out here and make a quick buck and I’m not here to tell graziers what to do with their own operations because to put it bluntly without their support our business venture will fail.
Mr Potgieter said if all goes according to plan the operations first bales will be ready once the grass is sustainable which he’s hoping will be around May or June.
“That timeline will work in well with the beginning of the dry season when hay gets harder to find.”