When considering our story, we had a few earnest conversations about what it was that we do and how that compared to what other producers were able to showcase. While in awe of the efforts of our colleagues, the reality is that we don’t have a project of significance to share in terms of sustainability. Instead, we quickly realised that our story, while admittedly not unique, is a simpler one, and primarily that of a guiding principle – stewardship.
Stewardship for us is a philosophy with real world application. On reflection, it has been this way for the 50years that our family have been here, and something that informs our approach across the three generations that live and work with Meadowbank to this day. We of course must focus on the season and financial year immediately in front of us, but stepping back the question we often ask is, “will this make Meadowbank better?”
“Better” is an interesting term though, and everyone has their own definition of what “better” actually looks like. Is it better yields, better use of inputs, industry accolades, efficient power and water consumption, better team happiness and retention, increased profit, better health (of soil, water, air, vines, animals, cash flow, balance sheet), or simply being able to sleep at night? The truth is it can, and probably should, be all of these things and more. But for Meadowbank, to keep things simple, we will say we measure “better” through the completely subjective KPI of whether things are “in balance”.
As producers we are in constant pursuit of balance. Sugar-acid, power-finesse, grower-maker relations…the pursuit is constant. Again though, if we step back, we see that the pursuit on the wine front is a reflection and result of that same pursuit more broadly. There is nothing specific to shout about, other than to say it helps guide us.
We have listed a few examples below that point towards how stewardship and the pursuit of balance helps make Meadowbank what it is for us today…and hopefully for generations to come!
- Meadowbank has 61Ha of grapes – a mono-culture of a crop in anyone’s language – but we also maintain several hundred hectares of private forest reserve with native vegetation and animal thoroughfares.
- We have some forestry on the farm, but also maintain a 100yr carbon-sequestration plantation in conjunction with UTAS/CSIRO to monitor the uptake over time
- We irrigate by drawing directly from the Derwent, while also sponsoring and supporting Derwent Estuary Program initiatives that monitor water quality.
- We use a reasonable amount of power to pump water from the Derwent up to and across the vineyard, but off-set this with solar.
- We ask a lot of our team (and ourselves), but try to create a positive work environment and pay comfortably above award rates.
- Technically we are in competition with our fellow producers, but have always maintained that the best way forward for us all is to work together and champion TASMANIA!
- And most importantly, while we do not shy away from hard work, we do this knowing that when the time comes, we will enjoy the literal and figurative fruits of that labour…even if only for a brief moment.
While we could try to redline the farm and business – making it look here and now that everything is absolutely humming along – we know that this cannot be sustained. To borrow a stockman’s phrase, we must respect Meadowbank’s carrying capacity. So balance remains an integral focus, and stewardship is what helps us to achieve this goal. Not only as a business, but as people and for the place that we call home. Long may it be.
