Lilydale Farms is a small family-run farm on 150 acres of fertile land located in the Lockyer Valley, Qld which is well known nationally for high-quality produce and supplying a large proportion of Australia with a wide variety of vegetables and premium varieties of hay.

Since I was a child, I have been surrounded by Farming and Agriculture. My passion for farming began on my grandfather’s farm in Mungindi, QLD where I would take time off school to rake hay and learn about the important role agriculture plays in our nation. This passion and interest continued throughout my formative years where I studied Agriculture in Highschool and later completed a bachelor in Agriculture Science and Rural Management at the University Of Queensland.

Farming of any kind is not easy. In fact, it is a constant challenge that I find incredibly rewarding when you get it right. It is equally frustrating at times, constantly trying to plan your next move around the unpredictable climate and our precious water resources.

I have learnt to always expect the unexpected and never count your chickens before they hatch. We believe that in order to consistently produce A-grade hay you need to love what you do and value your clients and their animal’s needs.

At Lilydale farms this means ensuring we have good quality equipment and machinery, we plan harvest times carefully, we rake hay when the moisture levels are just right and store all of our baled hay in a fully enclosed shed on a concrete floor to maintain colour and quality. This helps us to deliver produce that is of a high standard and perfect for feeding horses, cattle, sheep, lambs, goats, alpacas and deer.

– Ryan Folkard