NEWSLETTER #20 6 Months in Review - Operational, Ag Business and Exciting Family News

https://mailchi.mp/fourdaughters/newsletter-20-6-months-in-review-burger-delivery-is-back

It has been quite a time since we sent a newsletter! Our sincere apology.

 Life on the land has been busy as per normal, so no excuse other than that.

 We have been sharing why we do what we do through videos on our socials, (Facebook and Instagram) but we know that not everyone follows that, so trying to make up for that today!

 Today is a new day, and we are excited to share we have had ‘dam loads’ of much needed rain!

 We are feeling incredibly lucky, as the tough part of getting rain after being so dry, is that rain doesn’t fall every where, and we are so  aware some have still missed out.

 Can I tell you that is the worst feeling. I remember when we first moved to Bombine and we had no water in dams, no feed and a storm was coming. We stood on our verandah, glancing west. It was night time. We could see the lightening, smell the rain, feel the wind it was generating, but received not a drop, when only a few km’s away 100mm fell and filled dams. It is still vivid – 18 years later.

 All we can hope and pray for is that by the time this change finishes, everyone does get a good soaking, the earth is full of moisture and the grass bounces away. There really is no more amazing colour change than that of green after brown. I swear you can hear the grass growing some days. That is what we are now waiting for!

 The last few months have been full and overflowing.

(I feel like this is starting to sound like a family Xmas letter! )

• Matilda finished her private pilots licence (PPL) and headed to the cape in Queensland mustering and doing stock and station work. An amazing experience that she learnt a lot from and grew personally from.

• We have had the pleasure of sharing our world with Charlotte from Devon in the UK. Charlotte came to us as “a backpacker” but grew up on a dairy farm, is actually a “show jumper” that has spent time on the grand prix circuit in Europe and came to a “non horse” business to work cattle. She has fitted into the crew here so well. It didn’t take long for her to pick up on Dan’s humour and give back as good as she gets.

• It has been very very dry so we have been paddock feeding cotton seed to all of our cows (only breeding animals) to ensure they stay in good health and condition to raise their calves and get back in calf again. The girls have built 17 cotton seed trailers and they hook together so they can be “road trained” around the paddocks, dropped off, picked up, re-filled, and delivered again. Quite a time consuming process but our animals are our world so we need to look after them first and foremost. We have fed everything. Cows and calves are getting cotton seed and weaners, steers and heifers on our two home blocks have been getting fed feedlot mix in the paddock as well. So yes, the girls have been busy, and the bank account has taken a bit of a hit as we have had to buy more commodities to feed them all. Whole cotton seed is an excellent supplement to poor quality grass as it provides both energy and protein. What our animals need!

• We have sold old bulls and bought new younger Black Angus bulls. They have been put to work with the cows and we hope they get busy on the job! There are loads of calves on the ground and we plan to get these in between Xmas and New Year to mark and brand.

• Jemima found a baby kangaroo and decided to do her best to save him. She had to ‘fund’ the purchase of the mammal milk and teats, (which she has found out was not cheap and needed to buy a number of boxes) plus dedicate to ongoing care for a “baby animal”. Great to practice on a demanding animal before consideration of parenthood! Happy to report she has been very successful and roo now lives his best life hanging out with “Red, the cat”. (A video of this is on Facebook and Instagram – it really is amazing.) He comes and goes at his own will. Hopping back every few days to let us know he still likes us.

• On the Ag Business side of things we have been continuing to work on our ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) requirements. We have been involved with TSBE and the Shell QGC Agri-Emerging program where we have continued to learn about the implications of Net Zero and CN30 commitments on our long-term business growth.  As landowners we know we need to manage our environment, and have been doing so for many generations. Now we are working out how we can prove/evidence this, so we can maintain and grow our supply chain opportunities as these expectations are passed on down the supply chain to the food producers. One very very big challenge for all.

• Continuing on with our “Social” aspect, Bonnie and Karen travelled to Canberra to take part in the National Farmers Federation Conference and be interviewed in a live podcast with Angie Asimus from “Australian Farmers – Telling Our Story”. It did take a bit of convincing to get us onboard, but we decided that if we really did want to connect city and country, then this would be another opportunity. Neither of us have actually listened to it, but if you would like to, search any of your podcast apps for the above name.

• While in Canberra, we also met with The Honourable David Littleproud MP, Senator The Honourable Murray Watt and The Clean Energy Regulator to discuss our experience in the Net Zero / Carbon accounting and baselining space, as we have found the process very challenging for food producing farming families who want to produce food for not only the next 25 years but 100 years.

• To top it all off, there has been International Rural Women’s day and National Ag Day. We are proud to fly the flag as a family that is full of Rural Women in Ag, supported by Dan (Dad) who believes the girls can do it too. As mentioned in our podcast interview, we had 4 children and they happen to be girls. They have chosen to make a career out of living on the land as they love their wide open spaces and producing food for you!

 And on a very personal note, we have exciting news to share that Molly said “Yes”. We look forward to welcoming Tom into the family as he will inherit 3 sisters-in-law who might just come in handy. Now we are planning a bush wedding in our garden for 2024 and have a new shed to build. “The Wedding Shed”.

Four Daughters Beef Update:

The Farm Shop based just out of Toowoomba are stocking and delivering our FD Beef Burgers direct TO YOUR DOOR!

 The Farm Shop is owned and run by Damo and Indea. They have 3 young children and they are busy! Busy with kids and running am AMAZING business all from their home.

 They have trucks on the road (even a hot pink one) and they deliver pretty much everywhere.

 We hope to get our beef going through them again next year.  We did try to get this sorted for the end of year but our butcher is flat out and cannot fit us in.

 So…the good news is that you can order our FOUR DAUGHTERS BURGERS!!!

 They are now in cartons of 38 (as they are 125g) and are $75. They also have made an offering of a “10 Pack” that you could add to a mixed order. To make it viable for delivery though, Damo and Indea do havea minimum order so it would be a great opportunity to get all your other produce direct from them too.

 So jump on the links below and order today!

https://thefarmshop.au/products/four-daughters-black-angus-beef-burger-patty

Or

https://thefarmshop.au/products/four-daughters-premium-australian-angus-burger-10-pattys

 Check out all they have to offer!

https://thefarmshop.au/

 So yes, FD burgers are back in time for the Xmas season, bbq season and family gatherings.  Even if you are grandparents, I can guarnatee you need these burgers for when the grandkids come to visit. So easy to feed the hoards, no need to defrost, just pull direct from the freezer and create your own FD burger creation.

 Please share why we do what we do with your friends and family and we look forward to connecting through food once again!  (And more beef next year.)

 To keep up to date with our antics through weekly videos why not FOLLOW us on Facebook orInstagram and you will see just how we work to connect city and country. (We have just shared our rain video!)

https://www.facebook.com/fourdaughtersbeef

https://www.instagram.com/fourdaughtersbeef/

The Penfold Family

Dan, Karen, Bonnie, Jemima, Matilda, Molly and Tom.