A long-held pastoral goal realised

Julian Baillie and Jacqui Hockaday with baby Ocean.

Nostalgic tales of Australia’s pioneer era helped shape Julian Baillie’s childhood, and now, a long-held dream of owning a piece of this history has been realised thanks to the recent purchase of his own slice of history.  

A fifth generation farmer in the Eyre Peninsula, his forefathers were some of the first in the region, with the acquisition of pastoral station, “Puttapa Station” now part of Julian’s legacy of growth and diversification. 

Making every hectare count

Julian, together with his partner Jacqui Hockaday, run a Tumby Bay-based mixed operation consisting of cropping, sheep and beef, leveraging the land’s natural capital.

“Our family has been in the region for generations, and my grandfather drew “Yanta” as a soldier settler block – it was one of the largest holdings in the scheme, but also the hardest due to hills and rocks, much of it was non-arable which is why it’s traditionally been suited to grazing,” Julian explains.

“Each generation has improved and grown the enterprise so we’re now about 80/20 stock and cropping up from 50/50 – largely thanks to the new station. This helps optimise the land-type and spread our risk.”

Despite describing previous Baillie generations as “Merino people through and through”, Julian has introduced terminal sires and cross-bred lambs to complement the Merino enterprise, and while Merinos are still part of his program, a White Sussex Stud developed by he and his parents, Don and Bev, 20 years ago, has added further strength to the business.

However, Julian cites one of the game-changers to his operation as the redevelopment of his existing land.

“With today’s resources, a lot of our land deemed non-arable by previous generations is now productive, we’ve cleaned up rocks and had a real crack at developing what we’ve got – I’m gaining acres I already had and it’s a cheaper way to expand compared to purchasing additional land.”

The reduction in repair and maintenance costs on machinery has been instantaneous, and the increase in production thanks to the ability to sow permanent pastures, and cereals crops “in a straight line rather than around twisty country”, has added to the bottom line.

Yet growth through purchasing additional land has also been part of Julian’s strategy, and for the past 15 years the business has been in a growth phase – with the recent acquisition of a remote station the final piece of the puzzle.

“Station country has long appealed to me, I grew up reading books about the pioneering barons who opened up the north, and it really sparked something in me.”

The pastoral property south of Leigh Creek will enable Julian to send the majority of his cattle north, enabling further improvements on his higher production country at Tumby Bay.

“We’ll be able to better value add lambs and calves here at home, and the new property beautifully complements our business, and allows for a genuinely holistic program.”

Julian believes it also helps with the longer-term intergeneration succession, and while his family is still young – daughter River is 17, Willow is six, son Storm is four and daughter Ocean is one, he said he’s looking forward to the kids one day potentially jumping in the truck and carting sheep the 500km to the station.
 

Julian and Jacqui are looking forward to an exciting farming future for their family.

He’s also grateful to share the experience with his father Don, who himself still lends a hand on-farm, and had similar aspirations to run an outback station, yet, as Julian chuckles, “didn’t quite have the same risk appetite as me”.

“I feel like I’m in the trenches at the moment with a young family and a growing business, but I can see the vision, and the flow-on effects of a more streamline, efficient operation will be massive.”

 “We’re all very excited for the future, this last purchase feels like a feather in the cap – the hard work has all been worth it and this will allow for the viable continuation of the family business.”

Rabobank on the growth journey

A client of Matt Goodwin, out of the Kadina Branch, Julian said he and Jacqui were grateful for the ongoing support of Rabobank in helping them achieve their business ambitions.

“Matt is a great manager – professional and attentive, and yet at the end of the day it’s a mateship.”

“In the past we’ve been with a ‘Big 4’ which over time became a faceless, non-personalised lender, so to regain that relationship-focus with Rabobank is something we really value.”

“We no longer feel like a number in a phone line – we have Matt’s mobile in our contacts, he visits us on farm to see how things are going and we have confidence that he is genuinely interested in getting the best outcome for us.”

Rabobank’s agri-focus is another major drawcard, Julian believes.

“With an operation like ours there are so many variables that on paper can seem difficult to grasp – I may spend a lot on ‘x, y, z’ for a farm of this scale, and it’s only when you know farm businesses, and why we incur certain costs, that you get it – and Matt gets it.”
 

Julian with Rabobank’s Kylie Stoddard.

The All in One product has also simplified their business, and Julian admits that at previous bank during growth stages their overdraft facilities led to so many different accounts, things became over complicated.

“The All in One’s name speaks for itself, it’s simple, and you can maintain insight and clarity on exactly where you sit financially, which has greatly helped our decision making during expansion.”

Thinking outside the box for opportunity

With a personality as big as a work ethic, Julian laughs that he’s never been afraid to think outside the box, nor shy from an opportunity – the small screen included.

While locals delighted at Julian’s rise to fame as a contestant on Farmer Wants A Wife in 2015, it also paved the way for Julian and Jacqui’s love story.

“I didn’t find love on the show, but I made lots of mates, and got a few dates out of it,” he laughs.

“Jacqui is from Port Lincoln and definitely has more of a water-based background than land, but we were old friends who began chatting during the wake of the program, and here we are today, growing our business and our family.”

“Farmer Wants a Wife was a very fun experience – it was perhaps a bit more wholesome back then, and it was a whirlwind year off the back of it but I embraced it all and had a really good time.”

Julian also graced screens last year as part of Rabobank’s partnership with Channel 10’s Farm to Fork program, where an episode was filmed on-farm and host Michael Weldon incorporated his Angus beef into a simple Surf ‘n Turf recipe.
 

Farm to Fork host Michael Weldon and Julian filming on farm.

“It was a terrific opportunity to promote our farm, and region, with viewers across Australia, and it’s a credit to Rabobank that they have this opportunity to showcase their clients to consumers, helping promote ag and educate people on where there food comes from.”

“It was a lot of fun, and definitely not quite as nerve-wracking as Farmer Wants a Wife!”