Dearden family uses partnerships to expand to Eromanga

They form the centre block of their mission statement and they're how they've been able to make a mixture of enterprises stretching from Condamine to Eromanga work successfully.

Thanks to a conversation with his brother-in-law Matthew Durack, who said he'd be interested in being part of the Dearden's evolving business, the two men created the overall operating entity called 2DE.

That leases land back from various property partnerships.

Mr Dearden explained that he and his wife had been thinking of how they would be able to involve all four of their children if they were all interested in a career on the land.

"Liz and I already had country at Condamine and lots going on - I was at my limit," he said.

"This gives us flexibility, financially and operationally.

"We think of it as two separate businesses - the real estate and the businesses that happen on that real estate."

RELATED: Huge agistment gamble pays out for Moonie producer

The real estate consists of approximately 7285ha at Condamine, 3240ha at the home base at Roma, and 68,800ha newly purchased at Eromanga.

The Deardens have been at Roma since 1975 and background cattle, and grow forage crops and the usual grain crops at Beverley and Callitris.

The three blocks at Condamine, Beilberanga and Borally among them, are also used for backgrounding and cropping.

The sweet country of Yambutta, between Quilpie and Eromanga, was purchased 18 months ago, and Corowa Downs next door has since been added to that, and they host the cattle breeding operation.

That consists of crossbred cows with Charolais and Angus bulls over the top, and Mr Dearden said they'd been very lucky with rain and grass response since they'd been there.

"People wondered why we'd bought out there but we saw value for money," he said.

In addition to breeding, backgrounding and cropping, the fourth string to the operation's bow is contract farming.

Mr Dearden said it was a way of making full use of the farming technology they'd invested in - self-propelled spraying for example - and meant they had extra labour available for farm work.

A 500-head feedlot at Callitris was built as a drought relief strategy and the family is now in the process of getting it registered for 1000 head.

"We can store 2000 tonnes of grain - we always try to keep grain on hand - and have 1500 tonnes of silage as well," Mr Dearden said.

Different family members are responsible for different parts of the operation: the Dearden's youngest son Charlie runs the cattle operation of 2000 breeders and 2500 backgrounders, while their youngest daughter Rosie and her partner Angus Cooper work on Yambutta while studying externally through UNE.

Their nephew Angus Durack, based at Callitris, takes care of the operational farming needs, and their oldest son Jack is the operations manager.

Charlie's partner Jemma Hawker is making use of her agribusiness degree in the business, helping both in the office and the cattleyards, and at the wheel of a tractor.

That leaves their oldest daughter Kate, who Mr Dearden said had been a big part of the business but who had taken a step back to raise her four children with her husband in their own enterprise.

While they do want to grow conservatively, either buying, leasing, share farming or agisting, and find that scale is helping both geographically and in exposure to different entities, interest rates and input costs are putting the brake on now.

"Fertiliser and chemical costs are tripling, that's really affecting us, and transport costs," Mr Dearden said. "While we've got good seasons and commodity prices, we can sustain things."

Labour is another challenge but at peak times, everyone in the family pitches in to help each other out.

ALSO MAKING NEWS:

Want daily news highlights delivered to your inbox? Sign up to the Queensland Country Life newsletter below.