We have two properties in South Australia: “Noojee” at Reedy Creek, where Mark’s brother David lives, and “Binnowie” near Greenways, where Mark and I (Melissa) live. Mark’s parents are also still a part of the business but reside off the farm. The two properties total 1,700 acres, with an additional 600 acres leased next door to “Binnowie”. We have 3,000 self-replacing breeding ewes, 124 cattle for trading at present with plans in the future to keep trading cattle, reducing some sheep numbers and finding some more balance to suit the lifestyle. We plant forage barley and other crops for our own seed and sheep feed. We also sow our own pasture for hay crops; selling excess when available. Additionally, Mark and I also operate Beggs Farmstay B&B, which has been running since 2014, and a mobile coffee van business, Beggs Bean and Bar, which started in 2022, involving our teenagers in the business too.
The farms are part of Mark’s family’s generational business, with Mark and his brother being fourth-generation farmers. I (Melissa) have been on the farm for 20 years together with Mark, but also grew up on a farm and have a passion for agriculture as well. Initially, Mark worked off the farm for many years, which included running a “Beggs Crutching” mobile trailer business, travelling around for 9 years seasonally, until we transitioned to a family partnership structure, and Mark returned to the farm full-time in 2016. Mark’s parents are in their retirement years and still part of the family partnership. Succession planning was discussed in 2024, with plans to implement changes in management over the next four years. Though Mark and his brother, along with myself, make most of the decisions now and manage the bookwork etc., this will make for a smooth transition.
We handle all the work on the farm ourselves, except for shearing time, where we seek a contract team to assist. We began getting contractors in about 9 years ago as our sheep numbers increased. Before that, it was a whole family team effort to get the job done. This has made the workload and process much quicker and easier, freeing us up to focus on other aspects of the farms.
We love what we do and are both very passionate about agriculture. Every year, we make small improvements to the soil, pastures, and plant trees. We all share a passion for regenerative agriculture and focus on improving soil quality across both farms through sowing multispecies mixes and using our Soilkee Seeder and Mulcher. The Soilkee helps us improve soil by aerating the topsoil while leaving 70% of it undisturbed in the rows. Ideally, we would like to run a workshop featuring the Soilkee Seeder in 2025 on the farm, to show others in the area what it is and how it can help change the soil structure.
Additionally, we’re also working to reduce chemical use on the farm, by mulching prickles and weeds, rather than spraying. We fertilise using the Tow and Fert to spray brews we mix ourselves out on the pastures, helping the plants to grow and thrive, and encouraging good bugs to the pastures and soil on the farm. This in turn will hopefully help eliminate the bad bugs naturally.
One of the biggest challenges we face as a business is the fluctuating prices for lambs and livestock, making it difficult to forward plan and forecast, which any farmer can relate to. Another challenge we face is the exposed, open flats on our property at “Binnowie”. With plans to plant more tree wings creating shelter belts for the livestock, we are hoping it will increase lamb percentages even more, by providing cover for the sheep and breaking up the wind speed across the flats in winter when it’s quite cold and wet. We lamb down in May, with lamb marking in late June/ early July each year.
We’re also exploring the possibility of growing hemp for fibre to diversify and create another income stream. We already have most of the plant and machinery to do this, except for the big Hemp Cutter. It will be grown, cut, and baled with a 90-day turnaround over the summer. The hemp fibre will be processed at the new processing facility being built in Mauoupe, near Coonawarra/Penola in South Australia, not far from us. Although hemp is expensive to sow, the returns sound promising, and it’s a growing industry in the southeast area of South Australia.
Mark’s parents have used Phoenix for approximately 25 years, and I’ve assisted my mother-in-law with the books for the last 10 years. I took over the books fully in September 2023 after feeling confident I could keep it up myself. When I took over, I considered switching to Xero, but quickly realised there was no need to change since Phoenix offers everything I need in one program, and it’s only getting better! Plus, I was already familiar with it and how it all works. We upgraded to Phoenix Live in August 2023, and it has been the best decision. Our accountant can log in anytime to complete the BAS and tax, which makes things simple and easier.
I love that Phoenix is user-friendly and allows me to easily generate reports on anything I specifically want to review. We also use Phoenix Financials for our Farmstay B&B and the coffee van. It’s a versatile program that helps me track everything in our family partnership enterprises and is simple to use.
