Paddock to plate thrives at Hallston Valley Farm

The couple moved to their 62-hectare Gippsland property, Hallston Valley Farm, five years ago.

They started with 14 sheep and have since grown the flock to about 300 head, and also run a seasonal Angus herd.

Ms Noble said the paddock to plate model offered a stable market and worked well for the property size.

"I've got a HR business, my husband's in sales, so we were always very aware of the issues with selling, especially with a small acreage, trying to compete and sell live sheep as a commodity," she said.

"The paddock to plate was a way of having consistent prices, not being an audit taker I suppose, and making 155 acres in Gippsland work in terms of making the profit/loss equation balance a little better.

"All you need is a good breed and business skills."

The Wiltshire Horn breed was chosen for its taste, hardiness and its low maintenance, but having horns and being slow to mature meant it was unlikely to bring returns at sales.

Product is sold direct to customers, with lamb offered as either half or whole packs and beef in 10, 20 or 30-kilogram packages.

Animals that have reached the end of their lifespan are sold as sausages or mince.

Ms Noble said they still lived in the city and traveled a lot for work, allowing them to carry out deliveries, while local customers traveled to the farm to pick up their cuts.

"I have a lot of customers from a lot of different cultural backgrounds as well," she said.

"I had someone here on the weekend from Mauritius, who wanted the ox tail - I said, 'sorry, my Indonesian customers have already got dibs on the ox tail'."

"A lot of customers want heart, want liver, want bone marrow... that really works."

The farm also has about 80 fruit trees and a veggie patch, which grows a range of seasonal produce that is then offered for sale, along with eggs.

Jerusalem artichokes are grown too, with the tuba used for cooking and the greenery given to the stock to eat.

"We use regenerative farming principles here, so very low input," she said.

"So no tilling, no bare soil, no chemicals, we don't have any tractors or anything like that."

Sheep are vaccinated against Barbara's Pole as an alternative to being drenched and stock are used to keep weeds at bay, rather than spraying.

"I find that a lot of people are much more educated about sustainable farming practices," she said.

Mr Tie said the goal of the business was to nourish the community with healthy food that was affordable to eat everyday.

"Our tagline is 'food for eating' - it's a bit of a provocative idea to highlight that a lot of food is produced to sell," he said.

"The classic thing for a small farm is you can't out-manufacture China, you can't compete against a big farm by using the same methods that a big farm uses.

"You can't hope to sell to a supermarket and be profitable as a small farm.

"People are buying into the whole thing, the environment, the nutrition, the animal welfare, the whole welfare of the community.

"And that's what they're buying into - it's not just the product."

Ms Noble said many of the the customers were very removed from the agriculture industry and one of the early challenges was educating people on what to expect when they received an order.

Some customers would phone back to report their whole lamb package only contained two legs, and others would be surprised to find the lamb was delivered frozen.

"We put together an educational piece that we send to customers which helps them understand the different cuts of lamb," she said.

"When I deliver I offer to unpack it with the customer, particularly if it's their first time."

Having a good butcher and abattoir were crucial for paddock to plate businesses to succeed, Ms Noble said, and Hallston Valley Farm worked with Country Style Meats in Garfield and Radford's Warragul.

She said there were a range of strategies to market the business too, such as attending expos, promoting the meat when selling stud animals, a podcast, sponsoring local events, and giving out samples.

Going forward, they have plans to carry out more infrastructure upgrades to the property, as well as expanding the flock and potentially getting more land.

Ms Noble plans to keep marketing her podcast, The Sheep Show, and hopes to educate more people about the possibility of running a paddock to plate business.

"You can do a paddock to plate on 25 acres," she said.

"I know a lot of lifestyle farmers think you can't make any money or there's no revenue.

"There is - you just need to be smart."