In April 2014 agribusiness entrepreneur Stephen Fisher became concerned that giant corporate agriculture conglomerates were limiting the opportunity for locals to come into the industry and have some ownership in it. His solution was to create Circular Head Farms. The entity raises funds from local investors to buy properties and then finds aspiring farmers to run them. Starting with very little, over time, these sharefarmers can raise their own cows and eventually buy a stake in the farm. The goal is to see them start to come into ownership of the farm.
The first farm was bought in 2014 and we now have sharefarmers with their own herds and property. Meanwhile, Circular Head Farms has grown into a network of 12 dairies, more than 5500 hectares of farmland and 9,500 milking cows. It has also featured on the ABC Landline program (read the article under the Media link) and as a case study for Dairy Australia.
