A humble farming beginning evolved into a thriving national agribusiness

Marie with freshly picked melons

What do grain cropping and watermelon growing have in common?

Very little, according to Marie Younghusband, yet it hasn’t stopped she and husband Kane from successfully running the unlikely enterprise mix concurrently, and at opposite ends of Australia, no less.

The Younghusbands have built a remarkable multifaceted national business, and today reap the rewards of the strong vision and intrepid decision-making of their youth.  

And it all began with a humble investment of less than $250,000, and a young couple backing themselves.

The pair, together with Kane’s brother Stewart, pioneered irrigated agriculture in the Northern Territory’s Mataranka region after carving off an uncleared freehold block from one of the local cattle stations close to Mataranka township.

“Kane had been working with, and eventually share farming, melons in Kununurra, so he knew there was a strong business case, we just needed to find a region that ticked all the boxes – and one that we could afford,” Marie explains.

With freight to the east coast a challenge from the Kimberley region they researched further afield and settled on the Mataranka region – brimming with underground water, good soils and opportunity.

“To be profitable we needed to be big, we needed water, the right sandy loam soil for melon growing, and easy access to the Stuart Highway between Darwin and Adelaide.”

“Mataranka was ideal, yet still undeveloped, and while we spent a lot developing the land, we paid cattle station prices, less than $250 a hectare, which made it a very attractive proposition and gave us our start.”

After five years in Mataranka the couple purchased an additional melon farm south of Broome, enabling them to expand their supply into the Perth market.

During these early years, Kane and Marie also worked with a group of melon growers from across Australia to ensure a 12 month supply into major Australian supermarkets.
 

Kane inspects melons on their Broome property

This grew and evolved into a marketing company, now based in Brisbane and owned by all the growers.

“Kane has been a board member since the company’s formation 11 years ago, and has been instrumental to its success,” Marie says.

The establishment and operation of this company, which handles the sale of their whole watermelon crop, is what Marie believes has enabled their watermelon business to thrive.

Watermelons from this group of growers are now sold into all states and major supermarkets around Australia as well as into the Middle East.

“This structure is a big part of why we’ve been able to make our melon business work,” Marie says. “You can’t store melons for when the market is right like you can grain – but you want to sell for the right price, so this enables us to have more control over the market 12 months of the year.”

Realising opportunity in the north, and south

Having grown up on a Banana operation in the Kununurra region, Marie was always at home in the north, however Kane, who grew up on a cropping property in Gilgandra, New South Wales, was a long way from his roots.

“After ten years in Kununurra, and ten years in Mataranka the draw of civilisation beckoned – our three children were in primary school and we started to talk about the next stage.”

The family purchased a grain property close to where Kane grew up, in the Baradine region, which they managed remotely, before permanently making the move south in 2013.
 

Marie and Kane travelling between paddocks – from one end of Australia to the other

And they landed in New South Wales with a thud, Marie admitting she almost cried when they arrived in January to 45 degrees and howling hot winds.

Not long after, they endured some of the dryest years on record.

“We had a couple of okay years and then it stopped raining, and didn’t start again until 2020 – we certainly had a few ‘what have we done’ moments.”

The diversity their melon business afforded provided a welcome financial buffer during those early grain growing years, helped further by an unexpected request from a purchaser keen to buy their Mataranka property, at a price they couldn’t resist.

“We were optimistic when we developed Mataranka that it was a great opportunity, yet we could never have anticipated the outcome, it was a terrific result after ten years of hard work.”

From the sale of Mataranka the Younghusbands continued growing their southern operation, and now own approximately 5,600ha in the Coonamble and Baradine districts – and despite the rocky start, Marie now loves her new region, and industry.

“Kane’s also loving being back on the tractor, and although he flies back to Broome regularly, it’s a reprieve from managing people 24/7.”
 

Kane in his canola crop

Canada Grains Tour helps provoke thought, and knowledge

Last year Kane and Marie participated in Rabobank’s Grains Knowledge Tour, joining 34 fellow Australian producers for a unique behind-the-scenes two-week trip through Canada’s cropping region, visiting farms from Alberta to Saskatchewan.

“Kane’s always had an interest in Canada and how their grain industry works, and this tour provided the perfect opportunity for a first-hand look, which doesn’t come along often.”

Their greatest insight from the tour was that Australian grain growers are just as good – if not better – than their Canadian counterparts.

“They have some handy government-backed insurance schemes over there, which means it’s a lot less risky,” Marie explains. “So their gear is good, and their on-farm infrastructure is enviable, but we’re certainly more efficient farmers here in Australia.”

Understanding the challenges of the season – spanning from snow melt to snow fall – was a fascinating learning.

“They have some tough conditions, it’s all hands on deck for four months or so until snow falls, then they just have to down tools and wait for it to melt.”
 

Marie and Kane during the Canadian Grains Tour, at the Calgary Stampede

Equally as valuable as the on-farm learnings was the opportunity to network with the Australian grain growers on the tour, Marie says.

“There were grain growers from each of the regions, and you learn a lot after ten days on a bus together.”

“Kane is 52 and I’m 49 and we were some of the youngest on the tour, with many at the point of succession, which made for really interesting conversations,” she reflects. “There weren’t any other growers who’d evolved from melons to grain, yet everyone had a great story.”

Marie also praised tour organiser, Rabobank’s Shayne Sice for the comprehensive and well executed tour.

“Shayne is amazing – trying to organise that many people, especially the blokes – she deserves a medal!”

Marie also welcomed the relief of getting off-farm and “not having to organise a thing”.

“The tour ran like clockwork and the Rabo team did such a great job, we didn’t have to think about any logistics, and having paid the initial tour cost, we didn’t have to put our hand in our pockets either the whole tour which was nice.”

“We will definitely be keeping our eye out for any future Rabobank Knowledge Tour opportunities, it was a terrific experience.”

Having moved across to Rabobank for the purchase of their southern farms, the couple also value the relationship they have with Dubbo based senior rural manager, Adrian Pirie.

“Adrian is great, he’s very approachable and easy to do business with,” she explains. “He’s also very clear cut on what we need to do when it comes to new developments or opportunities, which we appreciate.”

As clients who pride themselves on their business nous, including accurate budgeting, forward planning and a thirst for opportunity, Marie believes the success of the relationship is two-fold.

“It’s a great relationship – we’re good clients, and Adrian is a good manager, which makes every process so much easier.”

“If you don’t keep growing, you’re going backwards, and as we didn’t ever expect this to be our path, it’s exciting to think what more the future may hold.”