Ballantyne's Strawberries, near Mackay, is the only farm producing the berry in the region and is owned by married couple Margaret and Allan Ballantyne. While the produce is only sold locally, farm visits and pick your own is a major part of the business.
"Our people love our strawberries because we are the only farm that would pick on full colour," Mrs Ballantyne said. "We have got a really good reputation for our strawberries. People go looking for them - so they've got taste. Stuff that is picked down south, are all too green. My pickers are taught to pick on absolute full colour - they are not allowed to pick green fruit."
Photo Courtesy: Ballantyne's Strawberries Instagram
“In 2016 we had three major rain events here with 150mm,” Mrs Ballantyne said. “Three times in three months and we were never open, and we had no berries and we made absolutely no money. My husband had to go back out to work to make this happen, work in coal mining.”
Mrs Ballantyne says conditions have been perfect this year.
"It's been excellent," she said. "We've had no rain and it's been dry. That's why. We only produce around 200,000 punnets - we are only a small farm. We've got Red Rhapsody, Scarlett Rose and Parisienne Kiss - as well as Suncoast Delight, which is an old one and we've had that before."
But it is not only production that is proving rewarding, but the farms patronage. Mrs Ballantyne says the farm is open from Wednesday to Sunday and during the recent school holidays "thousands of people" visited, meaning they had to close for two days to let the berries ripen.
"One Sunday alone a few weeks ago, we had over 800 people here and it was full on - they picked everything," she said. "We are the only strawberry farm around here. It is all sugar cane."
The family owned business has also expanded into raspberries, with blueberries on the way.
"We've only got 600 blueberry trees which were planted using tissue culture last September," Mrs Ballantyne said. "They have got flowers on them now. We've got a whole block of raspberries and we are expanding even more later in the year. When we managed the farm on the Sunshine Coast, I learnt all about raspberries down there, and blueberries - so we got pretty keen. They have these varieties that grow in North Queensland, but people cannot wait for that to start here."
For more information
Margaret and Allan Ballantyne
Ballantyne's Strawberries
Phone: +61 7 4958 8674