North Queensland veggie farm offers unique leafy opportunity

Set in the agricultural food bowl powerhouse of the Atherton Tablelands region, 90km southwest of Cairns, Tableland Hydroponics in Tolga is attracting plenty of interest.

The 4.65ha vegetable and herb farm contributes toward the region’s growing horticultural sector, which was valued at $530 million in Mareeba Chamber of Commerce’s latest economic snapshot 2021-22.

While its annual turnover is undisclosed, Tableland Hydroponics  is definitely not immune to the growing interest in the region’s agriculture sector, including from major national buyers such as Coles.

The family-run farm spread across two separate allotments enjoys almost all-year-round plantings of bok choy, Chinese broccoli or gai lan, butterhead lettuce, silverbeet, parsley and coriander, which are sold directly to Coles as well as national fresh food provider, Simon George and Sons.

The 4.65ha property grows hydroponic bok choy, Chinese broccoli or gai lan, butterhead lettuce, silverbeet, parsley and coriander. Picture: realcommercial.com.au/for-sale

RE/MAX Cairns’ director David Murphy explained Woolworths is also highly interested in the farm’s produce while there’s also the chance to expand the farm’s second lot further.

“The farm can’t keep up with the current demand for fresh produce, and there’s always demand for more, which is good comfort to new owners coming forward,” Mr Murphy said.

Fresh produce sector soars

Recent prime crop production and the highest prices for Australian agricultural produce in three decades saw the sector’s production value soar to a record $75 billion in 2020-21 with an expectation of $81 billion in 2021-22, according to a report produced this month by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences.

Meanwhile, Hort Innovation’s Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook 2020-21 revealed Australia’s vegetable sector produced $4.9 billion of the country’s total $15.6 billion fresh food production, in the year ending June 2021.

While potatoes and carrots lead the sector when it comes to production value, Tableland Hydroponics’ lettuce, silverbeet, Asian vegetables and herbs are highly popular with Australian households.

Queensland is now second only to Victoria as the country’s highest producer of leafy salad vegetables, with 68% of Australians buying lettuce, while 38% regularly buy fresh herbs and 27% purchase leafy Asian vegetables.

AusVeg national communications manager, Shaun Lindhe, described northern Queensland as a major producer of several vegetable lines, particularly winter crops for commodities including tomatoes, capsicums, pumpkins, corn, beans, zucchini and chilli.

He said Tableland Hydroponics’ produce of lettuces, leafy Asian vegetables and fresh herbs were also a widespread crop in the region.

Strong be-leaf in future

While northern Queensland veggie growers haven’t experienced the recent flood damage of their south-east neighbours, Mr Lindhe said they’d been impacted in other ways.

“There have been flow-on effects throughout the broader supply chain along with road closures and disruptions to a wide range of businesses,” he explained.

“Growers in the region, and all over Australia, have also faced significant hardship and challenges over the last two years due to COVID-19, especially with supply chain disruptions and input cost rises.”

Simon George and Sons’ general manager Francis Wakeham, who has worked with Tableland Hydroponics’ owners for over 20 years, agreed the floods and the pandemic had resulted in a challenging few years.

“Together, the floods and COVID have resulted in higher demand, higher prices and supply shortages,” he said.

There’s a four-bedroom main residence plus a separate five-bedroom workers’ home on a second allotment. Picture: realcommercial.com.au/for-sale

However, Mr Wakeham said a gradual return to normal was resulting in a significant demand for fresh produce.

“Despite all the challenges we’ve had, we have seen growth in our Cairns operation and there’s optimism about a very busy winter period ahead,” he said.

Mr Wakeham added that demand for Tableland Hydroponics’ leafy Asian vegetables, lettuce and herbs was strong.

“The supply of this product is still light on the back of the challenges we’ve faced, but this farm’s products require little preparation and are quick and easy to cook, therefore the demand for them is high,” he said.

Farm suited to professionals and beginners

Mr Murphy said there had been plenty of interest in Tablelands Hydroponics, mainly from large Brisbane and Sydney suppliers keen to buy smaller operations to “fill in the (demand) gaps.”

“If suppliers with a contract for Coles or Woolworths can’t supply all produce all year round or keep up with the demand, they often try and get little operations such as this farm to fill in the gaps, rather than buying another whole big operation,” he explained.

Mr Murphy added that amateur veggie growers could also easily purchase the farm, with the owners happy to assist such buyers through a transition period of up to six months or more to ensure the change was a smooth and easy one.

“The current manager and workers also want to stay on with the new owners of the business, so if someone was looking to break into the industry, they could give it a go,” he said.

“Obviously, this is not a huge scale operation so it’s not something that would take a considerable amount of time to get your head around.”

The farm’s main house comes with a heated inground pool and an enclosed patio. Picture: realcommercial.com.au/for-sale

Owned by the same family since its inception in 2005, the property’s senior owners are now retiring from the farm but at the same time, are experiencing pressure to expand it further.

Mr Murphy said it was for this reason that the couple had recently purchased the Arbouin Rd allotment where there is plenty of room to expand the property.

Adding to the farm’s appeal is the relative rarity of hydroponically grown produce in the Atherton Tablelands.

“A lot of the crops up here are avocados and citrus fruits but you don’t get a lot of hydroponics, so there’s not a great deal of competition up here which is good,” Mr Murphy said.

As well as the main four-bedroom house plus an indoor pool and a tennis court and the five-bedroom workers’ home, the property also features an extensive 56kW solar panel system of 212 panels, resulting in significantly reduced operating costs, Mr Murphy said.

As a final boost to the farm’s appeal, Mr Murphy explained that two buyer options were available, the first being the chance to acquire the entire freehold business including equipment plus the four and five-bedroom residences on their separate allotments for $4.95 million.

Alternatively, buyers may choose to only buy the business and just the main residence on the Kennedy Highway for $4.2 million.

Tablelands Hydroponics is for sale via expressions of interest.