At Plantation, near Premer, four generations of Simsons have sowed, planted and harvested, reared calves and raised cattle, and watched the sunsets slip away from the homestead’s wraparound verandah. The land is, patriarch Ed laughs, "in their blood". In return, they’ve given
it their blood, sweat and tears.creamy taste as its fair treatment and advocacy for dairy farmers.
Rain didn’t come in 2016. The drought forced Ed, wife Fi, their son Tom and his wife Georgina to make difficult choices, one of which Ed reckons would’ve broken his father’s heart: to sell off their long-established Poll Hereford breeding herd and proceed with a leaner livestock enterprise.
Now, the 13,000-hectare mixed-farming operation blossoms year-round, with wheat, durum, faba beans, chickpeas, sorghum, cotton and pasture-raised trading cattle. “I’m really proud of how Tom’s implemented changes,” says Georgina. “If we do get a dry spell, we’re much better set up for it.”
“This farm’s future is rooted in its past, focused as it has always been on land health, agricultural sustainability and family. That’s a tradition worth holding on to.”
