Theres and Jamie Drake believe they were called to work on the land, whether that be milking cows or planting vegetables, writes RICK BAYNE.
Although Theres was born in Switzerland and Jamie in New Zealand, they have come to call Australia home and they are carving out two successful businesses and a self-sufficient lifestyle at Boorcan, in south-west Victoria.
It’s a real family affair spread over several sites, but it’s all working well.
The Drakes moved into the former Model Barn site on the Princes Highway at the start of August where they will concentrate their fresh produce business, while the dairy business will continue from one leased farm and two leased out-paddocks.
They also have chooks and beehives, bake and preserve just about everything, and home-school their three children — ensuring it’s a sustainable family affair.
Theres was an exchange student when she met Jamie working on a New Zealand farm. They travelled together to Australia in 2003 after Theres obtained another visa. She started working with Barb and Jeff Collins at Ecklin and Jamie got a job with a stockfeed company.
They also lived for 18 months in Switzerland, giving Jamie an opportunity to experience where Theres was raised, and they married in August 2005. Theres worked in an orchard picking apples and pears and later in landscape maintenance, while Jamie got a job in a horizontal directional drilling business
In February 2007 they returned to the Southern Hemisphere after Theres gained permanent residency in New Zealand and were head-hunted back to the farm where they met.
However, the long hours on a 1400-cow farm proved too much so Theres got a job at a cut flower nursery, returning to her horticulture roots, and Jamie moved to a nearby farm.
In May 2010 they returned to Australia to take up a farm management position with the Collins family. During this time, they were supported to attend programs learning more about dairy and to build their own herd, rearing calves and buying a few heifers.
However, when Barb and Jeff’s son Brad returned home and the milk price crashed, they needed to look for other options.
“Buying a farm wasn’t an option, we weren’t keen on sharefarming so working for someone else or we were happy to pursue leasing because of the cows we had,” Theres said.
A chance meeting with a hairdresser whose brother wanted to lease his Boorcan farm was the turning point.
“We saw the potential of the farm and the opportunity for us,” Jamie said.
“It was suitable for 120 cows and we were very close to having that number so it was a good stepping stone.”
They leased the Roycrofts Rd farm and house on July 1, 2013, milking 120 head.
“We bought a few heifers and budget cows to get to the 120; that was a good time to buy cows,” Jamie added.
They milked on that farm for five years before being approached by the owner of a nearby farm, their current landlord, and leased that property in Batemans Rd in 2018, while retaining the original property as accommodation and an out-paddock.
They grew the herd to about 240 crossbred cows using their own breeding program rather than going to the market.
They also leased another out-paddock north of the Princes Highway and more recently added another out-paddock where they run all of their young stock, replacements and a small herd of beef.
Jamie follows Dairy Australia’s Feeding Pastures for Profit system and regularly creates a rotation tool to set out the paddocks to graze.
“We wanted to get bigger so we could employ someone, so Jamie wasn’t 24/7 on the farm,” Theres said.
“It wasn’t because bigger is better, we just wanted more time as a family.”
In the meantime, the family’s love of growing fresh produce was turning into a business.
“We always enjoyed growing our own food and always grew as much as we were able to,” Theres said.
“We gradually added more and more to becoming more self-sufficient. We didn’t even realise we were doing it. It just gradually snowballed.
“We added an orchard, chooks, beehives, a cream separator to then make butter, started making our own cheese and preserves and added more strips for the patch, with bore or tank water being used for the produce.
“We were giving away surplus produce but then it became a market. We had a fridge and table on the side of the road and we’d go to the Terang market and people started knocking on the door or ringing me.
“Not long into our vegie venture we built a small shop on the side of the road.”
In March 2020, the owner of the Roycrofts Rd farm decided to sell, putting the Drakes in a spin about what to do for a home and for the vegies.
Luckily the new owner didn’t want the house immediately so while the dairy was closed, they could continue living there and producing fresh produce while dairying off the other land.
The Model Barn shed, house and surrounding four hectares came along at a good time, with the Roycrofts Rd lease coming to an end.
They continue to dairy off a combined 225 hectares of leased land while Theres has completed agrifood evolution and digital harvest courses and they formally launched Drake’s Fresh Produce’s website in January.
While the family couldn’t live off the produce sales, the combination of two businesses is working well — though they both face similar seasonal challenges.
“Once it gets dry, you have to be quick with the planting,” Theres said.
“We’d get up at five and we’d be out in the patch. We’d do breakfast, then orders and schooling, and back out planting.
“It’s a very busy life but it’s good — the kids have less opportunity to do rubbish. It’s a real blessing to do the vegetables because we can entertain them with something meaningful.
“It’s 100 per cent a family business and we discuss it all with the kids and they’re all on board.”
Planting seedlings clashes with silage making, but they are managing to balance the competing interests.
“As the vegies get quiet, we also get quieter in the dairy so there’s time in April for family holidays,” Theres said.
“The vegie patch is quiet during calving in May and June. We’re together for that.”
During quieter times, Theres hopes to run sustainability or cheesemaking workshops in the Model Barn shed, and they are looking at other options in addition to selling the fresh produce.
“I’ve got a passion to pass on my knowledge,” Theres said.
“We are a family that home schools their children, runs a business and is socially interactive in the community.
“We’re doing it together, as a family. I truly believe we were called to work on the land.
“We enjoy what we do and we’re excited about the future. If you chip away, things fall in place.”