Twenty beautiful brown-eyed jersey cows that produce rich milk where the cream floats on the top are the reason behind Tommerup’s Dairy Farm in Queensland’s Scenic Rim, just an hour’s drive from Brisbane, once again taking the spotlight to show smart-heart farming as the way of the future.

Kay and Dave Tommerup put their faith in their sixth-generation 80-hectare Scenic Rim dairy farm, which has turned it’s back on mass production. Instead, they mix innovative farm practices with old-fashioned passion and a genuine love of the land and their animals to create a rural haven with a circle of life loved and respected every day.

Tommerup’s Dairy Farm was the Queensland winner in From the Dairy, 2022 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards, a title they have held for three years running. Now they have been named of one of just 18 finalists in the Australian Farmer of the Year Awards.  What makes Kay’s heart sing is that they are one of three finalists in the Innovation category. Without innovation, Tommerup’s Dairy Farm would probably be closed, and not the shining example of regenerative, sustainable farming with heart.

 

Tommerups Dairy feeding calves
Tommerup Farm sign

Regenerative farming at Tommerup’s Dairy Farm

“The focus of everything we do and every experience we offer, is our dairy, our farm, and our desire to build a farm business that can be taken on by our children, and their children on this beautiful property that’s been farmed by Dave’s family since 1874,” said Kay who now sits on the Boards of eastAUSmilk and the Queensland Farmers Federation.

There are just 20 cows on the 200-acre property. This is a deliberate strategy to focus on quality over quantity. It also helps regenerate the farm for future generations. Kay says there is no waste on the farm thanks to the support of conscious consumers.

“It is becoming a focus with chefs. They want to be part of the whole cycle by taking vealers. This allows us to raise all our calves and not sell any as bobby calves. Instead, we focus on cream product production using our milk-fed pork for the waste skim milk product,” she said.  We are not wasting any animals. We are not wasting any product that comes from the creamery. All these animals are rotated around the farm to positively impact and repair the land.”

Tommerup Farm calf

Tommerup Dairy Farm products

What is produced at this gorgeous sixth-generation family farm? The list includes double cream, cultured butter, crème fraiche, cultured butter with red gum smoked salt, full cream natural yoghurt, cultured buttermilk, full cream natural yoghurt with bush honey and ice cream.

Tommerup Farm products

​Boutique dairy products

After establishing Tommerup’s Jersey Girl line of boutique dairy products in 2019, Kay and Dave decided to leave processor Norco in January 2021.

It was not a decision taken lightly. They had supplied Norco since 1984 when the company took over the former Logan and Albert Co-Op. Kay said they hoped to encourage others to have confidence in their product and succeed without a middleman.

“It’s essential that we encourage other farmers who might be thinking, ‘we can’t keep doing this. We need to let them know there are other ways to do it,” she said. “There is support out there. There needs to be a community of people who are doing it alone who support each other to be viable.”

She said the award was a win for the Scenic Rim and for conscious consumers everywhere.

Tommerup Butter
Tommerup Farm pigs

More than just the taste

“This award means so much because not just recognition of the quality of our product, but also recognises the extra effort that goes into making a clear choice to regenerate our farm for future generations,” she said. “By building these relationships with our customers, and chefs, in particular, we can show the actual value of our product. When they use our product, they remember those connections with us, our story, our farm, and our animals. When a higher value is placed on products from farmers choosing a regenerative journey, it allows more resources to be allocated to regenerative practices and helps us continue down that path. The whole story, from raising calves right through to the end product, means something more than just the product and taste.”

Tommerup Farm Larder

Diversification is the key

Tommerup’s Farm has key strategic pillars – The Dairy, Farm Stays, Meat Sales and Farm Experiences – and they are passionate and highly focused about the future. Their farmstay includes The Cottage and The Homestead, both built in 1888 and steeped in family history and both booked well into the future with cancellations snapped up within hours. “In the eyes of our guests, our farm is their farm; it’s a genuine place to connect with the land and the farmers, to with where their food comes from, and to make lifelong memories.”

School group excursions are a particular passion of Kay’s. “We’re creating a connection that will shape their future opinions and consumer choices. And perhaps, they might just see something that draws them to a career in agriculture – bringing a new generation of enthusiastic, passionate people to our industry.”

During the recent drought, when another round of dairies shut down, Kay and Dave dug in, dropped their herd numbers to focus on quality, and launched their Jersey Girl brand. As Kay speaks about the milk, cream, butter, milk-fed pork and rose veal they produce, her eyes light up even more because as a micro-dairy – they shouldn’t be surviving, but because of their passion and support from chefs and customers, they are.

“We now process all of our milk and cream within a micro, on-farm creamery – an investment funded by the success of our farm tourism. We separate the cream in our century-old dairy with an Alfa Laval separator of the same vintage. The skim milk is fed to our pigs, and the cream is processed into our award-winning artisan dairy products, including our handmade cultured butter and the long-awaited Farmer Dave’s cream top jersey milk. Every part of the process is done by us here. Our products are boutique, extraordinary, and command a premium price.”

There’s no wastage on the farm, and the animals are rotated around the farm to positively impact the land itself, because the land is part of their family too.

“Whilst we do have a Farm Gate, most of our dairy, pork, and veal products are supplied to high end restaurants in Brisbane.  These chefs have become part of our family. They know us, our farm, and our ethics intimately. Our farm, story and produce are respected and showcased across their menus.”

“It’s really important that we encourage other farmers who might be thinking, ‘we can’t keep doing this’, that we let them know there are other ways to do it,” she said. “When a higher value is placed on products from farmers choosing a regenerative journey, it allows more resources to be allocated to those regenerative practices and helps us continue down that path.

“The whole story, from raising calves right through to working with chefs, schools, visionaries and the organisations creating policy for the future, means our role is more than producing products that taste great. We are moving the dial for the future.”

Tommerup Farm welcome to visitors