Ask Stuart Boydell and his family about how BOQ Agribusiness has backed their business and they will tell you that switching to BOQ has helped make their farm a more viable and sustainable business.
Find your Agribusiness ManagerAsk Stuart Boydell and his family about how BOQ Agribusiness has backed their business and they will tell you that switching to BOQ has helped make their farm a more viable and sustainable business.
Located 30 kilometres west of Moree in Northwest NSW, the 6,500-hectare property produces irrigated cotton, dryland crops and beef cattle. But that hasn’t always been the case. In passing from one generation to the next, the farm has adapted in response to changing market demands and climatic events.
In the early days ‘Cooma’ was a sheep farm until a severe drought in 1965 saw Stuart’s parents sell off 10,000 head of sheep in favour of a more drought-resilient source of income. From there the family produced wheat and beef until switching to cotton production as its main cash crop in 1982.
1982 was also the year that Stuart’s second daughter, Dimity, was born. Now working alongside Stuart and her brother-in-law, Josh Brown, in the day-to-day operations of the farm, Dimity says, “BOQ have opened doors that have helped to move our business forward more in the past three years than the previous 15.”
As part of their strategy to grow and develop their land for irrigation and cotton farming, the family acquired a number of neighbouring properties and now has approximately 1,200 hectares of irrigated land and 2,800 hectares of dryland farming for growing crops including wheat, chickpeas, oats, barley, soybeans and stock feed.
According to Dimity, although the soil quality of the property is exceptionally high, it wasn’t until the Boydell family started banking with BOQ that they were able to fully utilise the land.
“From our first meeting with BOQ they have trusted that we know our business, that they are willing to back us and that they are in it for the long haul. They took us on during dry times and the drought has only got worse since then, but they have stuck with us – even just mentally, that’s really important to farmers,” Dimity said.
“From our first meeting with BOQ they have trusted that we know our business, that they are willing to back us and that they are in it for the long haul.
After initially helping to refinance an existing loan and secure equipment finance for the purchase of new machinery, BOQ has since helped to provide cashflow support during the 2019 drought.
“Our finances have been stable, even during these tough times. But it’s not just the financial support that has made a difference. It’s been so dry for so long that we’ve been working with what we had, but BOQ also helped us to look at our business from a different perspective. In seeing the bigger picture, they have been so proactive in identifying our needs – whether its equipment to make our crops more efficient or extra funding to get through tough times,” Dimity said.
“With BOQ, we don’t feel like we are out here on our own,” Dimity said.
