AFTER selling his sister’s organic sweetpotatoes at his Brisbane market stall Nathan Wulff decided it was time he had a go at the horticulture game too.
Nathan, along with his father, Ole Wulff purchased a 16 hectare property with an 800 square meter greenhouse at Churchable, outside of Gatton in February this year and have started planting capsicums, eggplant and tomatoes.
The produce will be graphed to better understand the plant’s growth and soil conditions and the duo are currently in the process of becoming organically certified.
They are by no means farming rookies with Ole working on a mixed farm operation in South Africa before moving to Australia in 1975.
Plans for expansion are already on the duo’s list but Nathan said the soil needed improvement before anything further could go ahead.
In a bid to overcome the issue, 1300 chickens will soon call the property home with the first batch of 450 to arrive soon.
The chickens will also be used for their eggs.
Nathan has been selling his sister’s sweetpotatoes at a market at Norley Street in Brisbane.
He said he hoped to do the same with their new produce along with selling direct to restaurants.
“It feels like it fits (this new venture),” he said.
“I have a little wholesale business in Brisbane and we sell direct to health food stores and stuff like that so we will probably start doing that again.”
The Wulff duo were at the Fairfax Agriculture Media’s Food Heroes event at Koala Farms, Gatton to understand and look at what goes into large scale operations as they build their own property.
Fresh Select CEO, John Said, spoke at the event’s forum and discussed organic food within horticulture which is currently reaching a premium of between 10 to 20 per cent.
He said fads and diets could see the popularity for organic food increase in the coming years.
“We produce the best cleanest food amongst the world,” he said.
“I think that Australian farmers are heavily engaged in the best practice especially if you look at all our residual levels that we test food to.
“Is organic going to offer extra value? It won’t offer any extra nutritional value but it is going to make you feel really good.”
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
