2016-07-12 - Item 12 - Att 1 - Agriculture and Agricultural Land in Noosa Shire

Appendix A – History of Agriculture in Noosa
   Shire
Pastures
Cattle were first run in the area now Noosa Shire in the mid 1800’s. While dairy farms became
popular there has consistently been grazing of beef cattle even at a smaller scale. In the 1960s
farms were being bought up by graziers for cattle pastures. In 1966 there were 200 producers of
beef cattle in Noosa Shire. This number had halved by 1992.

Commercial dairying started in the late 1890s and became the major industry in the Shire and
butter factories were established at Kin Kin, Cooroy and Pomona. The dairy industry in Noosa
Shire peaked in the 1940s and 1950s with over 27,000 head of cattle across some 413 dairies, but
then declined since the mid-1960s. The industry was based on butter production, a product which
has experienced a relatively poor market since the increase of substitute products. The Pomona
butter factory closed in 1970 and Cooroy closed in 1975. For some years whole milk from the
Noosa Shire was sent to a distribution centre in Gympie. By 1980 the number of dairies in Noosa
had dropped to 43 with less than 4,000 head of cattle and by 1992 there were 19 dairies.

The end of the 1990s saw the deregulation of the Queensland dairy industry which resulted in an
overall decrease in the number of dairy farms throughout the State and subsequently there are no
remaining dairies in Noosa Shire


Crops
Prior to the 1920s the main crops grown in the Noosa Shire were potatoes, maize and hay. During
the banana boom of around 1920, much land around Kin Kin was cleared to plant bananas.
Growers were able to prosper quickly using lots as small as five acres of fertile soils. The banana
sector declined rapidly in the 1930s due to falling prices and much cleared land was turned to
dairies. In 1966 there was still some 79ha of land committed to bananas which had decreased to
11ha by the 1990s.

Early on in Noosa’s history land around Kin Kin, Cootharaba and Cooran was found to be suitable
for sugar cane and various farms transported cane to the Moreton Mill in Nambour. While this
sector had a fairly limited history in Noosa there was a resurgence in the early 90s. At this time
cane grown at Cootharaba, to the north of Pomona and between Pomona and Lake Macdonald
represented about 4% of the assigned cane land in the Sunshine Coast and the Moreton Mill
expressed confidence in the expansion of cane land in Noosa Shire. With the closure of the
Moreton Mill in 2003 the local sugar industry dissolved.

Cooroy was a pioneer area for commercial green bean growing in Queensland and through the
1960s Noosa Shire produced up to 19% of the State’s beans. In 1966 some 575ha of land in
Noosa was committed to growing beans. This sector declined through the 1970s and 1980s.

Historical production of other fruit and vegetables in Noosa included noticeable quantities of
tomatoes, melons, papaws, passionfruit and zucchini. However all traditional crops declined
through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Since the 1980s there has been significant growth in less traditional areas of production, e.g.
ginger, macadamias and wholesale nurseries. A growing appreciation for fresh flavours in both
home cooking and dining out has led to an increased demand for salad greens, herbs, ginger,
garlic, native foods, tree nuts etc. Weekly farmers markets and the strong local restaurant industry
are markets for such produce.

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