When an innovative young farmer met an English-born Royal Flying Doctor GP at a pub in Charleville 15 years ago it was both the start and continuation of a Queensland farming story which has stretched from Germany to South Australia, Cunnamulla, Charleville and now Allora.
In April 2019 Stephen and Claire Schmidt added the Victoria Hill property at Allora to the 140,000 acre property “Cairns” they own north west of Charleville
Allora has now become their home with Claire becoming a General Practice owner in the town and the couple’s two children starting at the local primary school while it allows Stephen, a fifth-generation sheep grazier with 30 years in the industry, to continue to innovate.
Since moving to Allora, the Schmidts have set up a state-of-the-art feed hub that has become the heart of their small business, Victoria Hill Lamb. This lairage facility not only supports their own lamb production but also stands as a crucial resource for fellow producers in Cunnamulla, Charleville, and neighboring regions, especially during times of drought.
Because Allora is also where they have built a state-of-the-art lairage facility which has become both the hub for their company Victoria Hill Lamb and their own lamb production and also provides an essential resource for fellow producers in Cunnamulla, Charleville and surrounding areas, particularly in times of drought.
Keeping it in the family, the marketing and sales coordinator for Victoria Hill Lamb is Stephen “Stevo” Schmidt’s cousin Charlotte Smith who says the company, what it does and is aiming to do is something very close to the family’s heart.
“This facility offers the flexibility to rest and supplement feed lambs before distribution, ensuring that the lambs are in prime condition and delivering exceptional quality,” she said.
“Victoria Hill Lamb’s story is one marked by passion, innovation, and a love for the land. Stephen and Claire’s unwavering commitment to quality and sustainability fuels their desire to see local Queensland lamb on menus across the state.”
The vision now is to be known across the globe as the leading producer of prime Australian lamb.
Charlotte said the company’s mission was to produce lamb that is consistently tender and flavoursome.
“We source quality genetics and ensure our animals are expertly nourished whilst being treated in accordance with the RSPCA’s Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare,” she said.
“We are committed to being leaders in sustainable lamb production by continually looking for better ways to care for our livestock and the land on which they graze.
“Our lambs are raised on grass for their first 150 days, on family farms throughout western Queensland, then fed a carefully formulated mixture of grains and silage for a minimum of 21 days. “Finishing our lambs at our feed hub guarantees a more consistent, high-quality product for resellers and consumers, which is particularly important when pastures aren’t performing well in dry spells or drought conditions. Not only does controlling the diet of our animals allow us to produce a more consistent product, it gives our award-winning meat a deliciously buttery flavour, brighter colouring and whiter fat.”
Stephen and Claire’s story is just the latest chapter in the Schmidt family’s farming history in Australia which started when the Schmidt family came from Germany to South Australia in the 1840s.
Johann Carl Heinrich “Henry” Schmidt, born in Mt Gambier in 1862, brought the family name to Queensland, forever altering the course of his family’s history. In his youth, Henry worked on his father’s property, Compton, as well as the family’s second holding, Drop Drop. However, he dreamt of establishing a farming empire and when he heard the Queensland government was resuming large pastoral leases to foster agrarian settlement in the colony he came north and secured two blocks near Cunnamulla and despite the adversity that comes with farming, he managed to double his land holdings in eight-nine years.
And now in the 2020s his descendants are working hard to preserve their heritage of sustainable farming practices with Allora as their base.
For more information head to www.victoriahilllamb.com.au, Facebook: @victoriahilllambqld, Instagram: @victoriahilllambqld, Tiktok: @victoria.hill.lamb linkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/victoriahilllamb.
