Willunga High School, Main Rd, Willunga SA 5172

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Farmers Scholarship

Cockatoo Creek Farm

Scholarship Winner 2019

Cockatoo Creek Farm

Where were you on your journey before applying for WFM Scholarship?
We had bought our 80-acre farm at Yankalilla and were in the early stages of building our food producing businesses. We had a small mob of ewes, big plans, and lots of enthusiasm.

What prompted you to apply?
The scholarship presented a good opportunity to receive financial support and mentoring from experienced leaders in our field during the start-up phase of our business and farm development. The other exciting opportunity was to be able to build our customer base by trading at the WFM markets which aligned with our ethics of local food production supplied direct to the customer.

What did winning the scholarship mean for your business / you personally?
Winning the scholarship gave us a feeling of being valued as local food producers. The financial assistance gave us a step-up to purchase some key assets for the operation of our business, enabling us to get up and running and trading within a year of receiving the great news. Having a trading premise at Willunga Farmers Market was invaluable as it gave us a well attended and regarded outlet to sell our products to a customer base who value the farming practices we employ, and helped to build our brand as a new business.

What does it mean to you now?
We have built some great relationships with the WFM committee, our mentors, and customers. We have the tools and resources to continue growing Cockatoo Creek Farm food production systems moving forward. We are now expanding into our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) venture launching in November 2020, where we invite people to become part of our farm by subscribing to a share of our grass-fed lamb, cold pressed olive oil and garlic. This will complement our stall at the Willunga Farmers Market.

How did the mentoring offered to you as part of the scholarship impact on your business?
Being able to draw on decades of experience from our mentors, helped us to refine our overall context, business direction, and practical skills. They helped us in areas of regenerative agriculture and land/stock management, direct marketing, finance, and record keeping. The ongoing catchups through the course of a year allowed us to discuss and have feedback on ideas/issues that arose as our business prepared for and started to trade. We feel that the mentoring was one of the most valuable parts of the scholarship and that it has helped set us up in the right direction, hopefully saving us years of mistakes and misadventure J

Chelsea from JCA accounting helped us to improve our financial skills, accounting programs, systems and record keeping, enabling us to keep track of our finances and use time saving apps more easily.

Ben Ryan from Deep Creek helped us to refine our holistic context, thinking outside the box, practical regen ag skills and information, increasing our confidence as decision makers, and animal caretakers.

Annemarie and Graham Brookman from the Food Forest shared their years of experience in farmers markets, direct marketing, managing a mixed farm enterprise with multiple products, record keeping, organic certification and much more.

What advice would you give to potential/future WFM Scholarship applicants?
It takes a huge amount of time and stamina start a food producing business that sells direct, as well as the day to day running of the farm. Make sure you prioritise time for research and business development, and to talk to your mentors as often as possible. There are so many opportunities and people within the Fleurieu region whom you can draw from their knowledge, experience, and skills. Follow your passions, be innovative, chat to other local producers, and look for a niche that aligns with your passions/goals. Start small and grow incrementally.

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