Thorpdale in west Gippsland is renowned for producing top-class potatoes. However, engineer turned plant breeder Stephen Reynolds reckons its brown boronia that will really put the region on the map. He’s one of only two growers in the world currently growing this native Australia shrub for its exceptionally high-value essential oil. And he says Thorpdale is the perfect place to blaze a new trail.
The idea for growing brown boronia in Thorpdale emerged 12 years ago in a café at the Salamanca Market in Hobart.
“I was reading a book I’d bought about how we should be cultivating Australian plants and animals instead of importing European and American ones,” he said.
“There was a chapter about essential oils and the first sentence mentioned boronia. I’d grown this plant as young boy in my garden in Sydney and loved it. I had a lightbulb moment.”
After Stephen’s epiphany, he moved to Western Australia to work as an environmental engineer. He used this opportunity to also conduct research on brown boronia, a species that’s endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.
“I decided to bring select plants to Victoria in 2011 and quit my job to pursue plant breeding and farming full time,” he said.
“It was a brave move, but it’s worked out well because I’m now growing around 15,000 healthy plants on nine acres of my 40-acre property.”
Brown boronia has a beautiful fragrance and its flowers are harvested to produce an essential oil that’s primarily used as a flavour enhancer in the food industry, and as a top note in high-end perfumes.
Stephen says brown boronia is not an easy plant to grow, maintain or harvest but if you work out how to do it well then rewards are well worth the effort.
“It takes around 250 kilograms of brown boronia flowers to make one kilogram of boronia essential oil – known in the industry as boronia absolute. And one litre of absolute is valued at between $15,000-$17,000,” he said.
Once the crop is harvested, it’s chilled, carefully packed and sent to a processor in Tasmania who uses a solvent extraction technique (similar to traditional enfleurage), to coax the oil from the flowers.
Stephen said Thorpdale’s raw ingredients combined with his expert horticultural and engineering know-how have enabled him to create a thriving business called Absolute Native.
“The region has volcanic soils that provide great drainage, we get good rainfall during winter and have a Mediterranean type of summer environment too – all of which is great for growing essential oil crops,” he said.
However, harvesting brown boronia efficiently, without damaging the plant, can limit profitability and Stephen had to figure out a way to make the numbers add up.
“I decided to design and build a harvester of my own creation that picks flowers without stripping the main structure of the boronia plant,” he said.
“It’s a mechanical device that uses programme logic control to sense the pressures and rotation speeds of the picking components and it backs off and reengages automatically when it detects it has to protect the plant’s integrity.”
Stephen is protective of showing too many people his game-changing machine. It’s easy to understand why given the amount of time, effort and money he’s invested in nailing harvest automation.
Like all smart farmers, sustainability and stewardship are central tenets of Stephen’s philosophy because he wants a healthy, thriving long-term business.
“I get my water from the Narracan Creek Catchment, which is part of a potable water system, so I take land management practices seriously,” he said.
“I keep the interrow areas between the crops grassed and I tightly control the amount of fertiliser I apply. This minimises run off and reduces the amount of nutrients that go into waterways.”
Stephen bought his Thorpdale property in 2021 and successfully applied for a 24 megalitre surface water licence he uses to fill his onsite dam. He said Southern Rural Water made the process so easy.
“When I moved here, I had to get a new water meter, and Southern Rural Water organised the install so quickly. As a business owner, timely and stress-free service is worth its weight in gold,” he said.
Standing on Stephen’s beautiful, windswept property you can’t help but think he’s on the cusp of great things.
With plans to increase his boronia plantation and add another drought tolerant crop called Helichrysum Italicum, Stephen might just end up putting Thorpdale on the map for essential oils as well as spuds. Watch this space.