Arundel Farm – Derwent Valley
First to the location of Arundel Farm! Arundel Farm is located in the Derwent Valley, just over 50 kilometres north-west of Hobart. It is not very far from the Two Metre Tall property and quite close to the town of Bushy Park, but on the other side of the river.
If you are visiting the Derwent Valley it is quite a good idea to do the circuit from New Norfolk to Two Metre Tall to try their sensational natural beer and then cross the river at Bushy Park to admire the view then drive back down the other side of the Derwent River through Plenty and the Salmon Ponds to the Agrarian Kitchen in New Norfolk. It is a pleasant drive.
The farm is owned by Fiona Hume whose family have owned the farm since 1893. It is an interesting farm because it runs both cattle and sheep with the flock of English Leicester sheep being possibly the largest in Australia. They also run Cormo sheep for wool and a flock for lamb meat.
Their Web site contains some history of the property:
The Hume family first arrived in Tasmania in 1823. James Hume, a merchant, tried his hand at distilling and tanning before moving to Piccaninny Point on the East Coast, where he and his wife Martha started farming. Two generations later, the family moved to the Derwent Valley in 1894.
The farm site was settled by Europeans in 1820 and named Arundel by John Cawthorn, the original title holder. Prior to European settlement, the area was home to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people, the Big River Tribe.Now, Arundel Farm is run by Fiona.
Arundel Farm is a mixed operation consisting of Cormo and Merino sheep for wool production, cross-bred ewes for prime lamb production, a small herd of black Angus cattle and Australia’s largest flock of heritage English leicester sheep.
We also like what they are doing to provide shelter for their animals by planting lots of trees on the property. This has also provided shelter and homes for native birds (white bellied sea eagle and wedge tailed eagle as well as the occasional swift parrot) which have been attracted to the farm due to the presence of these trees.
The following paragraphn fromtheir Web site gives you an idea of how they are managing their farm with the needs of their animals and native animals front and centre!
We are using regenerative agriculture practices to improve our soil health and to provide better nutrition to our livestock. Since 2021, we have been planting both multi-species summer forage crops and perennial pastures. These multi-species crops comprise up to 12 plant varieties including oats, clovers, buckwheat, turnips, lucerne, millet, chicory and sunflowers. Our perennial pastures comprise up to 8 plant varieties including cocksfoot and phalaris varieties, plantain, clovers and medic.
2023/24 was an exceptionally dry time (driest on record). Like so many farmers in the State, we relied on supplementary feed to get us through the dry times (high protein pellets and hay). It was an exhausting and costly experience, but it allowed all our stock to be in top shape for the lambing and calving season of winter/ spring 2024.
You can buy their lamb products from the farm by arrangement or they do drop-offs in Hobart of half lambs or whole lambs which have been slaughtered at a nearby facility to the farm. You can read about the options available and the types of lamb they provide on their Web site below.
Additional information
Name: Arundel Farm
Town: Macquarie Plains
Postcode: 7140
You can find more information on their Web site here.
We have included Arundel Farm in our story about ethical producers in Tasmania here.
