FARMER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Ridley Bell - 'Mountain Blue Orchards', Alsonville Plateau NSW 

Ridley Bell owns and manages the blueberry farm and nursery ‘Mountain Blue Orchards’ on the fertile, undulating Alstonville Plateau on the NSW north coast. Mountain Blue Orchards is 34 hectares in size, relatively large for a blueberry farm, with approximately 74000 plants planted across 20 hectares. Ridley has 30 employees working on the farm.

With 35 years of experience, Ridley has been a pioneer in the development of the blueberry industry in Australia. Today a number of varieties released by Ridley are being grown both in the Northern and Southern states of Australia and internationally. In 1978 Ridley was instrumental in setting up the Australian Blueberry Growers Association to service the blueberry industry.

With about one third of the Mountain Blue Orchards farm used for research and development, there is significant loss of opportunity to commercial production. Although this is a financial disadvantage, Ridley sees the value of this research in helping to develop a premium breeding program in the long term.

Ridley is the Business Manager of the Lismore Soup Kitchen, and has been providing support for homeless people for the last 20 years. He also provides paid work on his blueberry farm for the unemployed and homeless. Ridley has incorporated his business management skills into the development of the Lismore Soup Kitchen, which now has ownership of a seven bedroom house and a heritage listed Hotel which also houses 20 residents and runs community based activities.

Runner Up: Pepe Bonaccordo - 'Pepe's Ducks', Windsor NSW 

Founded by Pepe Bonaccordo in 1973, Pepe’s Ducks began in Pepe's backyard with a few Pekin ducks. Farms followed, production grew and after operating for over three decades, Pepe's Ducks in Windsor has become the largest producer of ducks in Australia and New Zealand, producing over 70,000 ducks per week and over 3.4 million ducks annually.

Pepe’s Ducks remains at the forefront of the duck meat industry in Australia by importing new genetic material, production techniques and processing technologies. The business now employs over 135 people with an in-house training system covering all aspects of the business.

Despite the inherent difficulties that come with maintaining a busy, expanding livestock business in an urban environment, animal welfare and livestock health remain two of the highest priorities for the business, with staff training in animal husbandry and biosecurity management an important aspect of the business.

As the duck meat industry in Australia is relatively small, Pepe’s plays an active and vital role in assisting with research initiatives aimed at improving the industry. For example, before duck-growing facilities were built at Young NSW, Pepe’s conducted trials that examined the impact of the increased transport times on live ducks, making the Young facility a viable option.

Pepe’s Ducks plays an active role in the duck industry and its local community, sponsoring local teams, competitions, races and charities and promotes the virtues of local produce through its membership of the Hawkesbury Harvest Trail and participation in local farmers markets. 

Runner Up: Phillip Lynn - 'Clancy Pastoral', Glen Innes NSW 

Philip and his wife Bettina own and operate two cropping farms in their home town of Glen Innes in New England, lease another two farms in Glen Innes and Ebor for their beef cattle business, as well as operating two goat buying depots in Glen Innes and Cobar.
 
Philip and Bettina have been managing their farms organically for 12 years. They fatten 400 organic yearling cattle, produce 100 tonnes of soybeans and 100-200 tonnes of spelt wheat annually. Believing strongly in diversity, they also trade 200,000 goats annually through Ausgoat.

The extreme diversity is intentional. In the late 90’s, the Lynn’s wanted to manage their farming risk by developing a rural operation that would give them more reliable cash flow. The lean towards an organic farming future was made after a number of trips to the organically minded Denmark.
 
In their operation, the couple don’t apply synthetic chemical fertilisers to soils, but fertilise using a variety of natural rock phosphates and organic phosphate fertilisers. They don’t apply chemicals to their livestock and don’t suffer from internal or external parasite issues.

The family has a vision for a more sustainable farming operation and a desire to eat clean, healthy and nutritious food, free of added chemicals or artificial promotants. Their next and imminent goal is developing their own organic compost and fertiliser.

YOUNG FARMER OF THE YEAR WINNERS - 2010