Meet Lucy Stocker from Crater Mountain Coffee

I headed through the mist to Crater Mountain Coffee in Upper Barron for their June Farm Gate Sales — a relaxed affair held on the first Sunday of each month. Locals and visitors sip their preferred brew at benches and tables, while shoppers sample and listen as Lucy enthusiastically describes her latest roast.

The farm grows Australia’s highest-altitude coffee atop an extinct volcano, where they receive 2–3 metres of rain each year. From the moment I wandered up the driveway, Lucy greeted me like an old friend, with a sample and a smile.

How long have you been farming in a way that considers the environment as central to your practices?

The whole 8 years of coffee farming! I grew up on an avocado and cattle farm and my family had a particular interest in sustainable farming, rehabilitating the creeks and sediment control. Despite being among the first farmers to grow avocados on the Atherton Tablelands, my family ended up getting out of avocados because of the required use of chemicals and limited varieties available at the time.

We’ve recently gotten Hort360 certification, which means we’ve gone through an audit around chemical use and preservation of water quality. I’m just a really practical person who wants the land to get better every year.

What was this land used for before coffee?

For raising cattle, and we still agist some cattle here.

How did you make these changes? What resources did you lean on to help you (courses, articles, people, etc.)?

We travelled in Central and South America and observed practices there, and did a lot of research. We have a very similar climate, soil, and altitude here. A farmer in Brazil was a very helpful contact and James spoke with him a lot. Other FNQ coffee farmers have a very different experience due to climate and soil variations, but they were also very encouraging, despite the differences.

What’s an example of practices you have implemented and modified to suit your property’s unique needs?

I’ve been working on the soil health here, particularly the top of the hills - adding rock dust and gypsum, etc. where it’s needed and can flow on to the slopes, rather than adding what isn’t needed to where it isn’t needed - so taking a scientific approach, I guess, rather than a standard practice. We’ve also trialled different ways to start the coffee trees - from no-till rows at ground-level through to full-till mounds and compared results. We’re still experimenting with practices like this, and harvesting begins from the third or fourth year when the trees are tall enough, so knowing which method is best takes time. We harvest for six weeks in October, and I try to wait for the first storms and work with the seasons, that’s a different way from a lot of coffee farms.

What challenges have you faced in regen farming, and how have you overcome them?

The cost of all the infrastructure and equipment was the initial challenge - I bought all my equipment second-hand. We use gravity and solar systems as much as we can for any fertigation and any irrigation we do. We converted our slashers to side-throwing slashers so the grass could mulch and feed the 40km of trees. Keeping it affordable to manage and using what we already have are important considerations.

What advice would you give to other farmers interested in transitioning to practices that centre the environment?

The Hort360 audit helped me to think about procedures a bit more, which is something we farmers often don’t do. Systems and processes can help lock in sustainable practices.

No one else is growing coffee commercially on the Southern Tablelands yet, but my advice would be: do your soil prep properly, plant some legumes if you want to, set that up first, then your trees will largely take care of themselves, and your use of fertilisers can be minimal. We don’t need to use pesticides here in Australia for coffee yet, so that’s one thing we don’t need to worry about. Weed control can be a problem, so plan to invest time or other solutions there.  Fungus can be a problem, but if you have good, strong trees, it isn’t too much of an issue.

What is your favourite brew?

A natural process black filtered coffee!

For more information about Crater Mountain Coffee visit their website or follow them on Instagram or Facebook.

Hort360 GBR is funded through the Queensland Government’s Queensland Reef Water Quality Program.