Ernie and his wife Kylie own Floraville Station, a 94,000 hectare property on the banks of the Leichardt River, in the Queensland Gulf. Ernie and his family are fourth generation residents who manage approximately 8,500 head of cattle across the black soil plains of Floraville station in the remote community of Burketown.
The Gulf Savannah is an agricultural powerhouse for cattle industries and has a rich potential for cropping developments with an abundance of water and a functioning port providing potential access to Asian markets. With the increased focus on the development of Northern Australia, there is a wealth of opportunities for agricultural diversification into cropping. Ernie is a pioneer in the region, speaking with the ABC as livestock producers diversify with Ernie voicing the Gulf region’s potential to be the “food bowl to Asia”.
For the first time in history, Ernie Camp harvested 2,500 hectares of top-grade sorghum in the Gulf in 2022. Australia is one of the biggest exporters of sorghum, which is primarily produced in the northern regions of the east coast. After producing and harvesting high-grade sorghum, Ernie said that the future for grain production and cropping in northern Queensland is bright.
The crop was the first joint venture between Ernie and sharefarmer Harry Pye who is an experienced agronomist and crop farmer from Walgett in NSW. Ernie said cropping on Floraville was made possible by Mr. Pye and believes “there’s a great future in cropping, but it would be foolish of me to try to do it by myself; I’m not a farmer”. Ernie and Harry started by conducting a detailed evaluation of the farm design and layout including boundaries and area of each field or block that has potential for development; row direction; drainage areas; existing infrastructure such as buildings; access tracks; dams etc.
Following on from this Ernie and Harry conducted a land resource and capability analysis which involved analysing soil type across the site; topography; drainage; crop suitability; and potential water sources. Upon evaluation, both Harry and Ernie narrowed down the cropping options to either chickpeas, cotton, or sorghum. Drought hardiness was a major deciding factor, however, other impacts such as weather, rainfall and input and production costs were also considered
External factors such as demand from the local and international beef industry, and the protein drought in the natural grasses in the gulf region were also major determining factors.
Ernie went through a rigorous process with an ecological surveying and management company to identify all environmental impacts the development may have on native flora and fauna. This was conducted as per the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Ernie was successful in obtaining property specific regulated vegetation and essential habitat reports from the Department of Resources. These included detailed analysis of essential habitat, vegetation categories, regional ecosystems, watercourses, and wetlands that the development has potential to impact. Upon successful identification of the vegetation classification and the ability to clear the land, Ernie was able to apply for a permit to clear the remnant vegetation present on the development site. Ernie notes that you are not permitted to clear regulated vegetation without a development approval under the Planning Act 2016 (QLD). Prior to undertaking any clearing of regulated vegetation, it is strongly recommended that a desktop vegetation management assessment is obtained from a vegetation management expert.
In a similar process as that undertaken for natural resource features, Ernie ensured that all regulatory requirements regarding the potential for natural hazards were identified and that compliance was factored into the new development. Environmental experts are available to assist in gathering this information, as well as publicly available platforms such as Q-Globe[GD1] and the Development Assessment Mapping System[GD2] via the QLD Government website. The maps and information regarding natural resource features within the farm boundary provide context for farm planning and to identify sensitive areas and risks. Site considerations that were made at Floraville station prior to development included groundwater depth, salinity hazard, and monitoring points; flood risk; storm tide; bushfire hazard; erosion risk; acid sulphate soils; and other areas of concern. Ernie sought professional advice through a private Agricultural and Business Advisor as well as assistance from representatives at the Department of Resources Vegetation Hub.
