Organic Insights Magazine - Summer 2022

Organic Insights / Summer 2022 / 11

WE LAST (PUBLICLY) VISITED THE MURPHY’S IN OUR 1999 NASAA NEWSLETTER, WHERE WE TALKED TO THE FAMILY ABOUT THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF FARMING IN A DISTRICT THAT WAS EXPERIENCING (EVEN BACK THEN) A HIGHLY VARIABLE CLIMATE. murphy farming celebrating 30 years

Fast forward 20+ years, and the Murphy’s Farm in Capella, 30 minutes from Emerald in the Central Highlands region of Queensland, is experiencing a challenging harvest, with heavy rainfall and the district on flood watch for the second time this year. “We’ve never had a season like this, ever,” says third generation farmer, Paul Murphy. “But if I think about it, no 2 years have really been the same – and we are always dealing with something different.” A state that he says

yellowwood and bottletree softwood scrub and bluegrass. The property sits within a cluster of organic farms in the region that liaise regularly and collaborate; The Murphy’s farmwas closely followed into certification by neighbouring properties to the North, East and West. “At the time, there was no-one doing it [broadacre] on our scale of operation,” says Paul. “Certified organic ag at scale just didn’t fit with modern methods.” It was a period in the 80s when agriculture was at a crossroads, with many farmers advocating for the use of RoundUp and synthetic fertilisers, and State DPIs warning of its necessity for survival. It reminded Paul of early farming with his father…”there were no chemicals, and they were farming traditional wheat varieties,” he says. “It didn’t feel right to me [the use of artificial chemicals] and you could smell it on the farmers coming down the road.” Paul says he’s glad they took the route they did, “but organic is not for the faint-hearted and the first 10 years were hard!”

is “all part of a long learning journey in working with natural systems.” Paul, his wife Cherry and 2 children all work on the farm of just over 1800 hectares of cultivation, with crops including ancient and heritage

wheats and other cereals, pulses, and oilseeds. They have 420 hectares dedicated to native vegetation (the largest dedicated land mass in the area) – featuring predominantly brigalow,