A Tasmanian family has built up a niche farm stay business to accompany its sheep operation, diversifying farm income and helping city slickers to learn about food.
Margit and Henry Smith, Longford, run a flock of 5500 breeding ewes and several crops on 1200 hectares.
Their farm was 20 minutes south of Launceston in pristine agricultural country.
The sheep were split between a 3000-ewe Merino wool flock and the remaining 2500 ewes were crossed to terminal rams to breed fat lambs.
The Merino flock was self-replacing and lambed out in September.
The terminal flock lambed a little bit earlier, in August.
"When we're full lambing we go around every morning and we put them in smaller mobs," said Mr Smith.
All fat lambs were finished at 45 kilograms and supplied to Minerva Foods, Tasmanian Quality Meats, Coles and Hardwicks.
The Smiths also grew about 500ha of crops each year, up to 11 different types.
These included red beet seed, carrot seed, peas for canning, beans for fresh produce, onions, chicory, grass seed, poppies, canola seed, clover seed, hemp, and sometimes potatoes.
"There's a whoopsies in one of those enterprises every year so it usually makes for a good average," Mr Smith said.
He said the sheep complement the cropping rotation.
"We grow 120ha of grass seed which we can graze and then that's locked up around October, November so the sheep can actually graze on that until they're locked up and the same with the clover and the bit of chicory, we get a bit of grazing," he said.
However, the real jewel in the family farm's crown was its two homesteads - Cressy House and Chatsworth House.
The first of these finely renovated and luxurious homesteads was attached to the Smith family home and the second was nearby, a short drive away.
With the accommodation business first launched in 2016, both houses have hosted an array of non-farming guests in recent years.
Ms Smith said the majority of guests came from New South Wales and Victoria, with a few coming from Brisbane following the introduction of direct flights.
She said they first renovated Cressy House to welcome visitors.
"Part of the homestead needed a bit of renovation and I just said to Henry, 'why don't we try and renovate it and be able to accommodate'," she said.
"The house is large enough that we can actually lock it from our side and they have a whole home.
"It's like a home within a home."
She said Mr Smith's grandmother used to have fly fishers come and stay so the idea was already there, ready to be built on.
Ms Smith, a native of Denmark, said the clientele like to "unwind, relax and get away from the busy life in the big cities".
"They get to experience big open paddocks, mountain views and rivers," she said.
"Families love that their children are allowed to roam the gardens, run as fast as they wish through the paddocks, pet a sheep or feed the chooks."
Ms Smith said many guests were keen to learn about the farm, the history of the place.
"They're certainly learning things about sheep that they never knew were happening," she said.
"It's a great way for me to communicate to city people what it's like in the country."
She said most guests were attracted to being surrounded by nature and the fact that there were so few people in the area.
"Everyone can unwind and they love to go for walks and do a bit of fly fishing," she said.
The Smith's guests were allowed to roam across the farm, pick crops, and observe day-to-day farm life.
Mr Smith said the transparency this brought to the operation was "great".
"Most people are really interested and if, for example in June, we're shearing, or whatever is going on, sometimes, they come and have a look," he said.
He said it was "fantastic" to see non-farmers learning about food in this way.
"A lot of our guests come from Sydney, the big cities, so just even picking eggs out from the chook's pen or seeing rams, and understanding the difference between rams and ewes and how it all works, they're fascinated," he said.
"The things we take for granted, they certainly thrive on."
Ms Smith said the way in which people learned about farming through staying at the homesteads could be replicated on all farms.
"Some people can't identify a potato crop so even me saying 'go and harvest any potatoes you might like for dinner' and they come and ask me 'what does a potato plant look like'," she said.
"There's lots for people to learn which is great."
