WHILE many producers look to value add on farm with feedlots or diversifying crops, the McCord family of Mundubbera are selling Rosewood fence posts.
Well-known Santa Gertrudis breeders David and Virginia McCord owned the 6000 hectare property Deepbank, west of Mundubbera, but the couple now live in a Gayndah aged home and part of the property was sold leaving them with about 2000 hectares.
The remaining land is mostly timbered country and currently runs the family’s 60 breeders and 120 agistment cattle.
In a bid to keep the family property alive the decision was made to begin clearing the Rosewood from the untouched country and sell it as fence posts, strainers and stays.
Rosewood is highly sought after because termites can not eat through it meaning posts can be cut relatively thin compared to other timber.
Without any advertisement and just through word of mouth the McCord’s have already received an order for 4000 posts, something they weren’t expecting after cutting 2000 posts to gauge a response.
Deepbank manager Clay Kennedy said it was often hard to find someone to cut Rosewood due to the perceived difficulty cutting the tough wood.
“With these you can cut them three inches round and they’ll still be there in 100 years,” he said.
David and Virgina McCord’s daughter, Melissa, who helps run the property with her brother Jonathan, said she used to curse the timber before she found out the quality behind it.
“Every morning I used to stumble over the beautiful Rosewood timber and curse it where it fell and was just lying in wait for the inevitable inferno that would tear through our Rosewood forest and destroy it all,” she said.
“That was when I further researched the value of our cured and matured Rosewood that had not been touched by my father and only used sparingly by my brother Jonathan in his superb furniture.”
The posts range from $10 to $18.
For more information contact Melissa McCord on 0429 674 767.
