Clover Park Farm, Myocum
Mark and his daughter Maddie, with the dogs— overlooking Clover Park.
What’s Going on at Clover Park
Mark and Wendy Toon have recently moved onto and become stewards of the land at Clover Park, an old dairy farm that had become rundown over the past decade. Since their takeover of the land in July of 2019, the Toon’s have already seen the ecosystem come back to life. Every day they spot new native wildlife, including snakes, echidnas, koalas, parrots, kookaburras, possums, and kangaroos.
The Toon’s previously owned on a plot of farmland in SW Queensland, but the drought left the land too dry to viably have cows. The land in Northern NSW is so conducive to cattle farming, Mark highlights: the grass remains lush year round.
The Toon’s previously owned property in Queensland but it was not ideal for cattle farming . After spending 45 years in the banking industry, Mark and his family decided it was time to retire and settle into a farmland full-time. Their retirement plan involved settling down in Northern NSW, and they found a beautiful plot of 100 acres in Myocum. For those of you who aren’t familiar: farming is far from your typical ‘retirement’.
The property required a lot of work, and the Toon’s started off by addressing two invasive species that had taken over the property: camphor laurel and lantana. Kept unchecked, they can form deep impenetrable thickets which compete with resources of other plants in the ecosystem. They are considered a major threat to biodiversity, as numerous plant and animal species are threatened by it.
Next up was removing the collapsed fencing, clearing the property of rubbish, and installing some new fencing. The property itself is set up relatively well for rotational grazing practices; with five well-sized grazing paddocks. The cattle also have access to natural waterways, thanks to six dams, a creek, and a well on the property. The infrastructure needs some work, since some of the troughs aren’t yet connected to the water ways, and the camphor laurels are overgrowing along the creek… projects for the near future!
The farm truly is a family affair, their son Zach who has a degree in Environmental Engineering and is putting his studies to work by helping the Toon’s create a vision for how to restore the property to a thriving ecosystem. Their daughter Maddi, who is currently living on the property, has a passion to raise cattle humanely and ethically, providing premium product to nourish the community. Animal welfare is very important to the Toon’s, they want to know that the beef that they eat is raised and treated well. which is why working with Andrew at Byron Grass Fed has been meaningful to them, ensuring that the entire life of each cow is treated with dignity and care.
“From the time we get them to the time we sell them, our cattle are really well looked after. We do our part and we know how Andrew operates with the same values.
Knowing they are contributing positively to the community is important to us and Byron Grass Fed enables us to do that.”
Their driving force is raising a premium product through low stress stock handling practices and having full confidence that they are providing an ethically and humanely raised animal for consumption.
Clover Park is currently home to 20 Heifer’s, 4 calves, with another 6 calves on the way. In time they hope to have about 40 of 50 cattle on their property at a time, grazing through their 100 acres of grass.
The ‘nursery’ at Clover Park, where four newborn calves are grazing in the morning sun.
Maddi with her horses, two of four at Clover Park