Ethical Produce

Gleneden farm produces Certified ‘Naturally Farmed’, organically and ethically farmed pasture fed beef & lamb, pastured pork, traditionally wood-smoked nitrate free ham and bacon, hand-twisted gluten free sausages, handmade soaps, jam and preserves. Our produce is free of artificial chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, gluten, MSG and nitrates and is grown and made by hand without chemicals, with care by our family for yours.

All animals at our farm live naturally and free-range on our regeneratively and organically managed pastures. We don’t follow commercial trends but instead have a mixed variety of rare and traditional pig, sheep, cattle, and chook breeds that are selected for meat quality, mothering skills and tolerance to the harsh and variable Australian conditions. This means we don’t need to use methods such as mulsing, drenching, de-horning, de-tailing, de-tusking, debeaking, hormone treatments, constant antibiotics and medicines (in feed) and sow crates. We also use holistic planned grazing to balance optimal animal and landscape health & happiness. Our animals are locally processed and butchered to minimize stress.

Gleneden Family Farm products can be purchased directly from our farm shop or through our Gleneden Community Supported Agriculture membership.

Interested in seeing exactly how our food is produced or just want to check out our farm? We provide farm tours for individuals and groups (please book ahead). For more details see our Farm Tours page.

For our community members farm entry, self-guided tours and camping is free.

Find out more below...

100% Pasture Fed Beef

Our mob of mixed Angus, Shorthorn and Santa Gertrudis cattle graze and browse on their natural diet of plants – pastures, shrubs etc without any supplementary grain feeding (100% Pasture-Fed). For an optimal healthy herd we rotate the mob (on foot) to paddocks of fresh pasture regularly and provide free choice natural minerals including seaweed, salt and use cider vinegar and diatomaceous earth to reduce pests and diseases. During drought, we feed organic grassy hay – not pellets or grain. This produces low stress, contended cattle with high nutrition, rich tasting and naturally tender meat.

Gleneden Farm gluten-free Beef Sausages are handmade by our local butchers at Allora Butchery using beef or lamb casings with a mix of real herbs, spices, organic brown rice flour and are free from MSG, preservatives, colours or artificial flavours. We also make nitrate-free low salt Corned Beef using an organic brine of panela/rapadura sugar, sea salt, and pickling spices.

100% Pasture Fed Lamb

Our small herd of Damara x Dorper x Wiltshire horn shedding sheep are bred for their high quality rich tasting meat, excellent mothering skills and resilience to the unpredictable Australian conditions. Similar to our cattle, they are moved regularly into fresh paddocks and provided with minerals to maintain optimal herd and landscape health.

Pastured Pork

Born and raised in the paddock, our heritage, rare breed (classified endangered by the Australian Rare Breeds Trust) Wessex Saddleback pastured piggies can wallow, frolic, snooze in the sun and chomp on their natural diet of pasture, roots, bugs and are ‘as happy as pigs in mud’! As Omnivores, our piggy’s are also given a sustainable pig ration which is tested for chemical residues, to maintain their high protein needs. Our mummy pigs (sows) are free to roam in their paddock near their fellow piggy friends and have lots of space to make nests and have their litters naturally. This produces high quality, amazingly flavour-some fresh and cured pork (and pork fat!) high in natural omega 3, vitamin A & D without the factory taint.

Our nitrate-free ham & bacon is made using our special brine of panela/rapadura sugar, sea salt, and pickling spices, then traditionally wood-smoked and thick-cut by hand. Mmmm baaaacon!

Seasonal Produce

We also supply other Gleneden and locally made produce and other goods as they become available with the changing seasons. This includes handmade Gleneden Soaps, fruit & vegetables, honey, preserves and jams.

"Let food be thy medicine....."

Gleneden Farm Shop

The Gleneden Farm Shop is literally a little shop we have setup on our farm. It is open daily by appointment only. Please call ahead to avoid disappointment. We stock a range of Gleneden Family Farm produce and local arts and crafts.

Whole_Hog_Soaps_Gleneden_Family_Farm

Frequently Asked Questions

Regenerative farming is a new/old and exciting farming method and we are often asked questions about our produce. Here are the answers to a few of the most common ones. We are more than happy to answer further questions via phone or by contacting us online and/or you are welcome to visit the farm to see what we do for yourself.

Where is your meat butcherd/processed?

For ethical (animal welfare) reasons we have chosen to use a small family owned local processor (20mins drive) and butcher rather than a certified organic butcher (closest one is 1.5hrs drive). This means we only have to take a small quantity to be processed each month and support a local business. We would however, prefer to process organically on-farm and we are currently researching costs, infrastructural, equipment, approval and licensing requirements to do this. Watch this space!

Which animals and how old are they when processed?

We process each month the approximate amount we need to our Community Shares and stock our shop freezers. Generally were process pigs when they are approx 50-60kg. This is the time when the males especially naturally start to fight for dominance (in the wild) and its time to thin them out. We generally process steers (castrated male cattle) when they are around 2yrs or 200kg and weathers (castrated male sheep) when they are about 1.5 yrs old (30kg).

Do you eat your meat?

Yes! That’s why we produce it. We are very particular about eating the highest quality organic meat, fruit and veggies preferably produced ourselves. In fact we started this food journey to feed our family as we could not buy the high quality chemical free food at a reasonable price. We want to know exactly what’s in our food (no chemicals, preservatives, colours etc) and how it was produced. All our recipes are tested (quality control) by us and we love trying traditional recipes from other cultures.

What do you do when your animals get sick?

Firstly we try to prevent our animals from getting sick by keeping them healthy. We do this by using many techniques including choosing suitable breeds for the outside conditions, moving them regularly, providing a varied and rich natural diet (lots of pasture species), supplementing with natural mineral licks (like a multivitamin), and checking them regularly. If they do get sick (and we can’t figure out why) we call our local vet to diagnose the problem. First we try using a natural treatment eg. homeopathy, essential oils (buffalo fly), diatomaceous earth (internal and external pests). If it is a life or death situation for the animal, for ethical welfare reasons we have to provide medicine (e.g. antibiotics). This means this animal is no longer ‘organic’, is quarantined for a period and will no longer be sold as ‘organic’ in our food production system, as per the Organic Standard.

What is the Gleneden Farm Community and how do I join?

The Gleneden Farm Community (GFC) is a group of people who share the ethics of organic, ethical and regenerative farming, want high quality delicious meat and choose to source and support our farm. It is based on a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) model which forms a direct supportive relationship between the farmer and the eaters of their food rather than a simple purchasing transaction. As a member of the GFC you receive your nominated Produce Share (min 4kg) of the meat every month as well as free camping, farm entry, free farm tours and discounts to farm events. The GFC is a 12-month subscription. We currently deliver to pick up locations in Brisbane (south, east, west), Ipswich, Boonah, Toowoomba and Warwick. For more information about Gleneden Farm Community Produce Shares contact us directly.

Do you host volunteers or offer Internships?

Yes we do host volunteers and offer Internships. To find out more please visit this page of our website.

Contact Us

To find out more about us feel free to follow us on Facebook or read our blog. For all bookings and/or meat purchasing enquiries please phone us on (07) 4666 1273 or send us an enquiry via our contact us page.