From cane to beef cattle for Kurrimine producer

Following the sudden passing of his parents, Adrian, while working as an apprentice linesman with Ergon Energy, took over running the farm in 2013, while also supporting his younger brother through university to do his degree as a doctor.

"I have run the farm by myself since then on my own and my brother is down in Brisbane working as a doctor," Mr Azzopardi said.

"My father was a immigrant from Malta and started in north Queensland as a cane cutter and operating machinery both in the mines and his own backhoes.

"My grandfather on my mother's side had property and has been a cattle man his entire life.

"Grandad or old bull as he's known by is still around at 84 and still insists to work the back and in the yards when ever we're running cattle through."

In 2015, Mr Azzopardi started transitioning his parent's cane farm back to cattle which is what it originally was.

"I was able to start from scratch again in 2015 with 15 cows and one bull and have slowly built up my infrastructure and herd over the past nine years," he said.

To date, his family runs 130 Droughtmaster cattle with a breeding herd of 100 cows and two stud registered Warrina Droughtmaster bulls.

They still have a sugar cane farm which produces around 4000 tonne of cane a year.

"I've always admired a dark red soft Droughtmaster animal since I was a kid and this is definitely my choice of breed as the name suggests they are made for all conditions in Australia," Mr Azzopardi said.

"I try to turn my weaners out in 6-8 months from at foot of the cow, generally targeting that 200-220 kilogram weight range before weaning and selling."

At the moment, Bay Hill Beef sells direct to other farmers through word of mouth and advertising on Facebook.

As far North Queensland is known primarily for its wet tropical climate, Mr Azzopardi said breeding cattle on their Kurrimine property can be difficult at times, due to it's high rainfall.

"It can be difficult in a tropical climate breeding cattle," he said.

"Just like cattle struggling in hot humid drought conditions, cattle also suffer in monsoonal rain.

"Wet feet and three day sickness are a common challenge.

"It can be hard to maintain pasture when you have constant rain without breaks in between also. But without a doubt controlling of noxious weeds like Navua sedge is what I see as the biggest challenge in a tropical climate."

He described 2024 as a tough wet season.

"We got unusually high rainfall in January due to Cyclone Jasper," Mr Azzopardi said.

"I had planned to seed another 30 acres of old cane land to pasture but luckily due to the late finish to the crushing season I opted against it.

"With the constant rain since January, I would not have gotten a good strike.

"Whilst the rainfall has only been slightly above average, it's been rather constant since January without any breaks in the weather for consecutive days to allow the sun to dry the ground out and for the pastures to flourish."

The Azzopardi family's property at Kurrimine features a mixture of pastures on the farm which vary per soil type.

"I'm very fortunate to have red soil hills, sandy flat country and some river flat as well," Mr Azzopardi said.

"I try to apply the same theory from the sugar cane farming side of my business to my cattle farm.

"Your soil's health is your wealth. Each year I get a lab analysis of each soil type on the farm to best understand what applications I should invest in each year.

"If a paddock is deficient in something i often get custom made fertiliser blends to address the imbalance within the soil.

"This provides a benefit to the natural environment and improves both group and cattle production. It allows me to run one animal to one acre all year round."

Mr Azzopardi attributes his beef success to the support from friends in the industry.

"I have also been very fortunate to get a lot of support from Barry and Alison Smith from Tully as well as Darrern and Mellisa Pedracini from Lornevale station in Georgetown, whose family have been generational in the cattle industry," he said.

"Very few people will share there knowledge, but I've been very lucky to be able to pick up the phone and ask for help and guidance and they are always there at a drop of a hat."

Mr Azzopardi said a short term goal for his enterprise is to finish converting the existing farm back to cattle.

"Longer term goals are buying another property, set up a breeding herd on it as well," he said.

It is proving difficult to acquire a loan through a bank for a farming operation, given that my parents are passed away and i don't really have a safety net it makes it really tough.. and I'd be lying if i didn't say i find it extremely frustrating when you're a young fella trying to have a go.