Keeping busy has always been the way for Lawson Camm, hosting both cane and cattle on his property in the hills of Mount Julian.
Now a third-generation farmer, and working alongside two of his four sons on the farm, Lawson has continued to branch into both cattle and cane farming.
“Originally, granddad brought the cattle in,” Lawson explained.
“Back in those days, you used to get an assignment given to you to plant cane, so Granddad got an assignment and started growing cane.”
Since those days, the Camm family farm has evolved, encompassing properties out Collinsville and Moranbah way, as well as the central farm on Mount Julian growing now to about 400 hectares of sugar cane and running 1000 head of cattle.
“The two are interesting,” said Lawson.
“They’re not related but they fluctuate together; the price of sugar goes up when the cattle prices drop and vice versa.”
In particular, Lawson has taken to breeding primarily stock Brahman, with his cattle being sold and travelling across Queensland and the Northern Territory.
“We do a lot of artificial breeding; we buy genetics from all over America and we sell genetics to America as well,” he explained.
Becoming a big producer in Brahman stock breeding was a big move for Lawson.
“It’s taken quite a few years to establish, yes, it's been a big investment over a lot of years.”
Primarily selling out of Charters Towers and Rockhampton, Lawson and some Proserpine local cattle farmers were able to champion a Proserpine local cattle sale, even investing in the upgrade to the Proserpine Showground cattle yard refurbishment.
Lawson is often changing his procedures and practices to align with the demands of the industry.
“For instance, over the last few years, there's been a big demand from producers for horned animals, where we move away from horning.
“And the fastest way for us to do that is to breed animals that don’t have horns.
“We’ve embraced that more than others, so we’re ahead of other producers.”
On the cane side of the farm, Lawson is able to produce 30,000 tonnes of cane a season, however his passion lies on the production of cattle.
He is also on the Board of Directors, acting as Junior Vice President for the Australian Brahman Breeders’ Association, which has him communicating with members and collecting data analytics of his cattle for the breeder’s pedigree handbook.
Lawson is joined by his wife, Sophie, who owns and operates the children boutique store Cherrie Baby in Proserpine as well as helps on the property, and their five children.
Lawson Camm does not look away from a challenge, taking on both cane and cattle farming at his Mount Julian property. Photo credit: Bronte Hodge
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