“As competition intensifies, the need for creative thinking increases. It is no longer enough to do the same thing better . . . no longer enough to be efficient and solve problems” — Edward de Bono

Our farm in Central West NSW was overcleared, farmed with chemicals, burnt and continuously cropped for decades. When my parents Richard and Florence Statham sold their previous farm and moved to ‘Rosnay’ in 1995 the lifeless soil was either talcum powder or cement.

My parents are not afraid of change, and they tackle it with creativity. I have had the honour of working with them to create a model for sustainable rural development using the tools of organic farming and community title.

Florence, a French emigrant, shows that everyday life is a creative opportunity, and whether in the arts, writing, cooking, mothering, and developing new ideas and products for the farm, she never ceases to blend and mix the palette of possibilities. Richard is a bush carpenter, agricultural accountant and mechanic, who cut his teeth in the harsh farms of the Ord River before buying his first farm over 30 years ago. When I suggested organic farming as a way forward on the new farm, they were open minded when they looked at the other farmers who were doing it, and saw that it worked.

We renovated the land that has become the livelihood of four generations of our own family, plus several other families, by doing a whole farm plan and redesigning it into a certified organic community title development which was renamed ‘Rivers Road Organic Farms’, that would allow others to join us in the creative process.

By using organic farming methods, we have increased the organic matter of the soil, returning it to the porosity and water-holding capacity it may have had before modern chemical agriculture. Using community title, akin to strata title, we have attracted people with the same goals, and there have been four strawbale houses constructed on the property with two more in the pipeline. These new neighbours, mostly professionals who have made the jump from city life, have become new sources of creativity, and together we are achieving our individual dreams, working cooperatively but with the aim of sustainability, profitability and commercial self-reliance.

We believe that the success of a creative, community based, regenerative business model is reflected in its products, and the wines, olives, figs, vegetables, grain and meat being produced on this farm speak for themselves.

Rosnay’s medal winning wines and olives are available widely in northern NSW, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. To find out more, visit www.organicfarms.com.au and www.rosnay.com.au and feel free to contact us for help on similar projects.