In a picturesque valley on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, maremma guardian dogs keep watch as thousands of white ducks waddle over grass and splash around in dams.
Destined for the food service industry, including some of the country’s finest restaurants, these free-range ducks have helped Luke Winder earn a reputation as a serious farmer.
The former electrician from Sydney’s south started thinking about farming while caring for his terminally ill father more than a decade ago.
“He asked me some questions on his way out that made me really think about what I was deeply passionate about,” Mr Winder said.
Mr Winder grows Aylesbury-Pekin cross ducks at his farm near Taralga, NSW. (ABC Landline: Courtney Wilson)
With no family connections in farming, he turned to an unlikely source of inspiration.
“One hundred per cent YouTube farmer. I wear that like a badge of honour now,”
he said.
Mr Winder’s regenerative farming idols include Americans Will Harris and Joel Salatin.
“I think they’re forging the path for future generations of farmers and how we really should be treating animals and the way we should be growing food,” he said.
A ‘lucky break’
Mr Winder and his wife Pia bought the 48-hectare farm they now call Tathra Place 10 years ago.
“The reason I got this place so cost effectively and it was within my budget is it was kind of the armpit of this area, it was covered in blackberry,”
Mr Winder said.
The couple bought goats to clear the weeds, but when that failed, they turned to pigs, who happily ate the plants, roots and all.
Inside the carbon brooder, Mr Winder pushes a tiller through compost where he keeps his ducklings. (ABC Landline)
“We went from about 65 acres of blackberry, believe it or not, and we let the pigs do what they do naturally and without any chemical or mechanical means we were able to eradicate [it] all.”
Mr Winder is upfront about the circumstances that led to a change in career and lifestyle.
He bought and sold a Sydney property and bought the farm with the profits. He also didn’t pay himself a wage for nearly five years.
“And that’s only because I’ve got an incredible wife that just had a wonderful career and could support that financially and emotionally.”
Controlling the production chain
Mr Winder now leases nearby land as well, but this small-scale operation produces between 7.5 to 9 tonnes of protein each week.
As well as pork and duck, it includes beef, lamb and chicken.
Young ducklings are housed in a brooder that uses a compost-like system to keep the birds warm. (ABC Landline: Courtney Wilson)
Mr Winder said they must hit these figures to make his model work, not an easy task for a “chemical-free, pharmaceutical-free” regenerative operation.
The business is also a vertically integrated model, where they control nearly every stage of production, which Mr Winder says is also necessary to be profitable.
“The only process we don’t do is the processing of the animals [at an abattoir], and legally we have to output that,”
he said.
“We have our own butcher shops, we’re doing our own wholesale production. We’re breaking down birds and doing all the packaging.”
Pigs were introduced on the farm to control weeds and proved more effective than chemicals or machinery. (ABC Landline: Courtney Wilson)
Mr Winder and his staff also handle all live animal transport and cold-chain logistics after processing, including deliveries to Sydney and Canberra restaurants.
Direct sales to the food service industry are integral to the business model, especially for duck, an often difficult sell to home cooks.
From country paddock to the Opera House
Tathra Place is now one of the biggest free-range duck producers in the country and markets the fine dining birds as Maremma Duck, a nod to the 23 dogs who protect them day and night.
Mr Winder enjoys the support of well-known chefs who are enthusiastic about his ducks and his free-range farming methods.
Bennelong at the Sydney Opera House has served his ducks for almost as long as he has produced them.
“The flavour profile immediately jumped out and surpassed any other duck that we tried,” head chef Rob Cockerill said.
Rob Cockerill has had Tathra Place duck on his menu for nearly a decade. (ABC Landline: Mia Ginnivan)
“Luke’s ducks have a wonderful depth of flavour, a wonderful sweetness or richness to them,”
he said.
Mr Cockerill believes their free-range environment enhances the flavours and said diners were interested in the back story of menu items like duck.
Finding room to grow
While Mr Winder would like to steadily expand the operation, the increasing price of agricultural land is a major hurdle that he and other young farmers face.
“Unfortunately where I am here, it’s being essentially captured by hobby farmers and people that want their 100 acres or 200-acre blocks where it’s only two hours from their house in Sydney,” Mr Winder said.
Mr Winder started farming after leaving his job as an electrician in Sydney’s south. (ABC Landline: Laurence Curson)
He believes changes should be made to ensure land zoned by governments for primary production is used for that purpose.
“This is land that’s been set aside as a society for us to grow food; you should have to grow some food on it.”
Mr Winder is optimistic about the future of agriculture and plans to put together a training model of his practices for others to follow.
He said there was a simple goal.
Duck manure is quickly absorbed into the topsoil and has helped transform the land into productive pasture. (ABC Landline: Courtney Wilson)
“To be ecologically responsible, but still be able to earn a white-collar salary.
“We’re never going to attract young people into agriculture if there’s not a fair living to be had.”
Watch ABC TV’s Landline at 12:30pm AEST on Sunday or stream anytime on ABC iview.
