About Our Team

Justin and Amy Dickens, JAD Agriculture Pty Ltd, are passionate about Australian agriculture and look forward to many years of nurturing their slice of this great land.

Justin

Justin spent his earlier years on his family's pastoral property, Nardoo Station, at Wanaaring in Far West NSW, before relocating with his family to Coolah, in Central West NSW.

He managed an Angus cattle breeding property at Bingara, on the NSW Northern Tablelands, for eight years, before moving with Amy to Yeoval to manage a Merino sheep-based mixed grazing property (2008-2015) for 2008 NSW Farmer of the Year winners, Nigel and Kate Kerin.

Justin has completed considerable training in farm management systems since working with the Kerin family and is pleased to now be implementing his knowledge on his own 'turf'.

Justin was elected as a Director on the board of Speckle Park International (SPI) in April, 2018, and is dedicated to playing a major role in shaping a great future for the Speckle Park breed in Australia and around the world.  

Amy

Amy (nee Lawson) was raised on her family's Merino sheep-based mixed farming property at Delungra, west of Inverell - and just north of Bingara.

She completed an Arts/Science double degree, with majors in biology, journalism and public relations, and worked as a newspaper journalist at Inverell and Toowoomba before spending five years as a senior journalist with The Land newspaper.

Amy was a 2008 NSW Rural Achiever through the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW. In 2009, she established specialist agricultural public relations and media communications agency, Lawson Communications.

Justin and Amy met in 2005, when Amy interviewed Justin for a feature story in The Land newspaper, following him winning the 2005 Australian Cattle Dog Trialling Championships. They moved to Yeoval in 2008 and were married in 2010. They both often spoke of "one day" owning their own farm and were stoked when that dream became a reality in March, 2012.

Justin and Amy have two children: Jack, 4, and Mitchell, 3.  

"Coolah" and "Greenvale"

Justin and Amy purchased the 625-hectare (1545 acres) property, "Coolah", in March, 2012. They began leasing neighbouring "Greenvale" (395ha or 976 acres) in June, 2014 - following its purchase by Justin's parents - with a five-year lease-to-purchase arrangement in place. This was fast-tracked by one year, with Justin and Amy buying "Greenvale" in June, 2018. They have 1020ha (2520 acres) under management in total. Despite "Coolah" and "Greenvale" being 95% arable, they are managed as a 100% grazing operation and are undergoing extensive perennial pasture improvement, and a major wire and water project to enable high density rotational grazing.

Justin and Amy take a regenerative approach to managing their landscape and have both participated in a number of short courses/field days/workshops/conferences to become educated in this area. Their goal is to continue to expand their stake in agriculture in the future.

Speckle Park cattle

In November, 2012, Justin and Amy began their foray into the Speckle Park cattle breed with the purchase of a Speckle Park bull, which they started out by joining to Angus females. They have kept selected PTIC females along the way to build their own commercial breeding herd, and have been impressed with the progeny's growth rates, together with the breed's doing ability, maternal characteristics, carcase yield, and meat eating qualities. It really is something else! 

In October, 2016, they embarked on a new journey, using imported Speckle Park genetics in their first artificial insemination (AI) and embryo transfer (ET) programs. This resulted in 75 ET-bred purebred calves born in 2017, and these will be joined by a further 79 ET-bred purebred calves in 2018.  Since 2012, Justin and Amy have put the Speckle Park breed to the test in a commercial setting and have been continually impressed, time and time again. This has given them the confidence and commitment to the breed's future to go about investing in the establishment of a seedstock enterprise - JAD Speckle Park. Click here to view the JAD Speckle Park website.

Also in October, 2016, JAD Ag broke a national record for a pen of PTIC heifers of any breed, selling a pen of eight heifers for $5800 each at the Wattle Grove Speckle Park On-Property Bull and Female Sale, Oberon. In all, they sold 39 heifers to average $4892! Click here to read a full report in The Land newspaper. 

If you are interested in the Speckle Park breed, learn more by visiting the Speckle Park International (breed society) website at www.specklepark.org. If you're on Facebook, Amy established the Speckle Park Cattle: Info & Classifieds, Australia Facebook group in March 2016, and this has become a popular group among breed enthusiasts - with more than 3100 group members.