Posted by on
10/06/2026
The Parkinson family, Archer,Sarah, Emily, Rohan and Zoe.
Queensland’s Rohan and Sarah Parkinson are undaunted by big picture thinking, instead embracing the thrill of a business challenge - their vision supercharged thanks to a keen nose for opportunity.
Amongst the demands of raising a young family, succession, and seasonal challenges, this no-nonsense young couple has quietly grown two thriving businesses from their Dulacca property “Palardo”.
Realising business acumen, on and off farm
Returning to the Parkinson family’s Western Downs dryland cropping operation in 2012 as a newly married couple, both fresh off the back of corporate careers in Brisbane, Rohan says their initiation into a “typical family farming scenario” was not unusual.
“Like many intergenerational farms there was a bit of sorting out to do, we hadn’t discussed succession, and there was little structure to the business – it was certainly awkward finding our feet during those first three years.”
The couple took over management in 2015, immediately adopting some creative problem solving to manage the issue of grain storage.
“There was an unused GrainCorp silo complex not far from us, with 16,000 tonne capacity,” Rohan explains. “We approached GrainCorp a number of times to purchase it, and after about two years we eventually wore them down!”
The site is now a storage centre for local grain growers, with a number of grain traders also trading out of the site – with the Parkinsons solving their own grain storage problem in the meantime.
“It’s been a real game-changer, we can market our own grain and manage freight costs, and we can also store fertiliser which means we don’t have the worry of purchasing product at peak pricing, we can purchase in bulk and store it long-term.”
The Parkinsons are investing in infrastructure to help de-risk their business.
Building relationships with traders has also been a business and personal boon, providing Rohan with a welcome link to the corporate world he previously worked in.
A Marcus Oldham alumni, Rohan worked at the Australian Wheat Board in Melbourne, followed by a Rabobank career as a rural manager based in the Brisbane team.
These foundations, he believes, provided a framework and perspectives that today shapes his farming vision.
“I was never particularly academic at school, so the best thing about Marcus Oldham was that it helped me realise my ability – I was terrified going in, but soon realised I could handle the workload, and my confidence grew and grew.”
“Marcus was a platform to realise my potential, and it gave me the confidence and skills to dream big.”
Rohan’s Rabobank career also revealed insights into the potential of a well-run farm business.
“During my agri banking career I saw first-hand what moved the needle when it came to profitability – particularly businesses I never would have had exposure to, such as dairies or chicken farms.”
“These were businesses that were extremely profitable, and I was really fortunate to absorb these learnings, and now be in a position to apply them to our own operation.”
Having proven her own business acumen – building an on-line deli home delivery business well before the major supermarkets followed suite – Sarah is a valuable half of the couple’s business success.
With 15 staff, and a purpose of connecting farmers and Brisbane consumers, Sarah sold the business when the couple moved to Dulacca - and it didn’t take her long to find her next challenge.
Having dabbled in bookkeeping, yet conscious that doing the farm books wouldn’t quite satisfy her ambition, in 2015 she purchased Diverse Bookkeeping - a small Brisbane cloud-based bookkeeping practice.
Over the past decade she’s grown the business, and today it enjoys a national footprint, with 35 staff and 450 clients – and Sarah is not done yet.
“Why stop now? I have a system that works with 35 staff, I don’t see why we can’t get to 50 whilst ever I’m still enjoying it and building a culture I’m proud of.”
“It’s also reassuring to have an independent income stream for our family, it provides a valuable scaffolding during the dry times.”
Enjoying the season in Queensland’s Dulacca region.
Grateful to have a fulfilling and challenging career, all whilst raising her children in the bush, with 50 percent of Sarah’s staff rural and regionally based, this Roma-bred powerhouse is also proud of to be providing opportunities for others based on-farm.
Sarah works closely with Rohan on the farm finances, systems and management, laughing that she was never going to be the ‘rope and ride cowgirl’ farm contributor.
“Rohan and I both have a growth mindset, and love pushing ourselves,” she smiles.
“We love business, we love the challenge and we want to strengthen our farm business fundamentally and see what we can grow for our own children.”
Humble in their farming success, Rohan describes their strategy as “nothing extraordinary”, however initiatives to improve efficiency, benchmarking, and clear processes all contribute to a more streamlined and profitable business.
“We’ve pulled all the obvious levers such as zero till farming, camera spraying, and variable rate urea application – which has made a huge difference in ensuring our nutritional value is correct, yet it’s the team piece that has been equally valuable.”
“The relationship with our contractors, our agronomist Nick Fritz, and our operations manager, Sam Muller, underpins much of our success.”
Small tweaks to give the business a ‘polished feel’ also help create a path for growth.
“Farm businesses are complex and sophisticated, and we want to reflect that externally, we use a videographer to help attract staff, which is a bit confronting, but it all aligns with the professionalism of our business.”
Rohan admits he didn’t initially intend on returning to the farm, “I was always interested in the bigger picture rather than driving tractors or chasing sheep”, and the couple has now built a team that enables them to grow the business strategically.
The Parkinsons are passionate about agriculture, and contributing to rural Australia.
As Rohan transitions out of the paddock, his operations manager Sam is taking the lead.
“Sam is more than just a farm manager, he is part of the business – our financials and benchmarking data are an open book, he knows it all and we want him to grow with us, and hopefully we’ll be in a position soon to help him invest in a business with us.”
Sam is also being supported by the Parkinsons to take part in Rabobank’s Executive Development Program, helping provide him with knowledge and tools to further contribute to the growth of the business.
Benchmarking, through AgriPath, has been another game-changer for the Parkinsons, with Rohan admitting that without comparison data, he had very little understanding of the farm’s financial strengths and weaknesses when taking over management.
“Without data, I didn’t really have a clue as to what was right or wrong for profits, and how to really make money off a farm, but now being able to be part of a group of quality farmers, drilling down into costs and savings based on data, and how our business compares, gives us confidence in the decisions we’re making.”
Rabobank supports growth ambitions
The Parkinsons focus on team building extends also to Rabobank, and having recently purchased their first additional property - a rare 700-hectare property in the Jandowae region – Rohan says the bank was instrumental in getting the deal done.
Like many, the greatest challenge to the Parkinsons’ growth is the tightly held nature of their prime farming region.
“We’d been looking to acquire more land for a while, and had missed out on a few places, so to have secured this farm was terrific.”
“Thanks to Rabobank, the transaction was seamless – we signed the contracts on the Friday and were planting into a full profile of moisture on the Tuesday.”
“Having that timeliness and flexibility from Rabo was so valuable, it set us up for a successful winter season for that block, and we just harvested a cracking Sorghum crop, and double cropped Mung Beans into the winter crop, so it’s been an excellent run that we may not have enjoyed if not for Rabobank’s nimble execution.”
Laying the ground work for success
Returning to the family business in his early 30s, Rohan is clearly grateful, and ambitious to make the opportunity count.
“During my off-farm career I worked with many people who would have loved nothing more than to have had the opportunity to go home to a family place.”
“I reflect on this often in my daily job, and how significant the privilege really is – from smoko with the kids when they were young, being in a financial position to send them away for a private education, and working in an industry with a purpose to feed the world.”
“Furthermore, I’m a big believer that in most instances someone else before you has always worked much harder than you for what you are now enjoying.”
A quintessential bush kid, Archie Parkinson.
Rohan’s father Bryan is 86 ‘and still working as though he is 50’, and while he now lives on the coast, he goes back and forth between properties as he pleases.
With Rohan and his siblings Kirsten, Megan, Matthew and Sam, growing up on the family’s Cunnamulla sheep property, Sarah and Rohan are the first Parkinson’s to live at “Palardo”.
As such, the most significant contributors to the family’s Dulacca holding were Ted and Trish White, who worked for the family for over 30 years, followed by John and Peta Stevens, who worked for the family for over 20 years.
“Sarah and I will be forever grateful for the work done by both Ted and John,” Rohan says. “Recent times have been a purple patch in regards to both yields and commodity prices, and while they did not get to witness a great deal of that success during their tenure, we’re forever grateful for the strong foundations they lay for our farming future.”