The Somerset region will soon be home to one of the first dedicated meat production hub in Australia, with the multi-million dollar Brisbane Valley Protein Precinct (BVPP) project now in its final stages of approval.
According to company director Duncan Brown, who is a fourth-generation farmer in the region, preliminary approval for the innovative project has been granted by the Queensland government and they are awaiting confirmation by local council.
The BVPP is a project of Brisbane Valley Holdings, majority owned by Mr Duncan with his sister Selena Gomersall, with South African-based company Safika Holdings, a significant minority shareholder in the initiative which is being developed on an 1100 hectare property at Coominya, west of Brisbane.
“The project aims to combine hatch to dispatch poultry, game bird and beef production with on-site training, research and development and food hospitality facilities,” Mr Brown said.
“We also hope to be a major supporter of employment in the region.”
Although still in its infancy, BVPP has started development at the property, with a fully integrated, export accredited quail processing facility already up and running.
“The birds are bred, hatched, grown out and processed on-farm.
“We are currently supplying the domestic market but as production grows, our focus on export markets will increase with the first orders for the quail product heading off to Hong Kong very soon.”
The current processing throughput comprises 1200 birds a week but Mr Brown is confident this number will grow to about 5000 birds a week by the end of 2019.
BVPP also operates an existing poultry farm and is in the process of developing another farm for RSPCA accredited, family-owned chicken company, Darwalla.
The third protein being grown is cattle with up to 3000 head a year backgrounded on pasture supplemented by a silage-based ration for local feedlots.
“The current focus is domestic but our strategy is to keep building our production capacity for poultry, quail and beef, hopefully positioning us to fulfill significant export orders quickly with the right investor support.”
Mr Brown said the plans also include training and development facilities along with a food tourism centre which will showcase local produce.
“The Lockyer Valley is known for its vegetable production, while the Brisbane Valley and Somerset region punches well above its weight in terms of meat production.
“I think a project likes this gives the region some self-belief, its contribution to global protein production is immense and I like to think we are adding to that in a modest way.”
