About Us
Since the 1920’s, five generations of the Lowe Family have now been producing quality grain and hay at Roseworthy on the fertile Adelaide Plains near the edge of the Barossa Valley. Harold & Ruby Lowe, with their 3 young children, Eric, Cyril & Doris took up land there, after farming in Loxton and Noarlunga to seek a better life and brighter future for their family.
An enduring partnership was formed when Cyril Lowe (CJ) and Jean Mackereth were married in 1942. Together they farmed with Jean’s parents Alf & Gladys and purchased property to increase their own farm. This later included land which had been first settled by the Mackereth and Condon families in the 1850’s. Cyril, Jean and their son Trevor produced sheaved hay for supply to chaff mills in Roseworthy, Wasleys & Hamley Bridge for many years. The demise of this industry, and mechanization soon saw them trading in the binder and horse, for tractors and small square balers.
In the early 70’s we saw an opportunity to complement our fodder supply business with a baled straw product for horse and animal bedding. Not long after, the line of products produced expanded to include baled pea straw and baled wheaten mulch straw. It was also at this time Trevor & Janet purchased Perce & Daph Matter’s farm at Pinkerton Plains, thus adding to the Roseworthy land
In 1998, after consultation with specialist straw bale builders and architects, we produced our first “Construction Grade” bales for Mrs James at Wistow. To date we have supplied construction bales to families across South Australia and interstate to build their homes, as well as to commercial projects such as “Christie Walk” in Adelaide, The Adelaide Zoo and Rawnsley Park Eco Villas to name a few.
Darren has brought a new level of innovation to the Lowe Farms operation since he took over management of the farm some 20 years ago. Always striving for excellence, he is committed to improving soil health, yields and quality of product produced. This is achieved through direct drilling, an integrated pest and weed management system, land and crop monitoring and outsourcing expertise from specialist agronomists.
We are members of Trees for Life and have been raising and planting our own seedlings to re-vegetate roadsides and areas of the farm. This helps provide a habitat for local wildlife and we have seen a significant increase in the number of native birds on our farm since we commenced a planting program 25 years ago.
Trevor (TJ), his son Darren (DJ), and now Darren’s children Cameron (CJ), Patrick (PJ) and Emma, assisted by Lyall, continue to produce grain and around 80,000 small bales of hay and straw each year, at Roseworthy and Pinkerton Plains. These bales are supplied to fodder stores, market gardeners, field days & expo's, construction sites, intensive animal farms and domestic gardeners across the metro area, throughout South Australia and interstate.