You have to go back a long way to find the beginnings of this family farm. The year 1880 to be exact when a Mr Charles Coddington dreamt of creating the finest sheep stud in Australia, travelling down-under from England. Now the 5th generation is running with his vision and winning awards along the way. The current custodians are Mathew Coddington and his wife Cherie. Together they are still breeding top Merino sheep throughout NSW, south of Dubbo.
Within minutes of speaking with Matthew, you can tell family is everything. There are many special places on the property from creeks to wide vistas. But as a father of five, and now grandfather, the best memories are made around the house.
Prior to moving to Australia in 1880, the Coddington family farmed in England for 500 years, calling the area of Nottingham home. “Maybe some of us farmers had to pay taxes to the sheriff of Nottingham – maybe Robin Hood helped us out,” he laughs. When his ancestors moved to Australia, they tried their luck in the gold fields. No one knows exactly how that went, but they did make enough money to start farming in the Young, Harden area. “Cherie and I were only at the age of 32 when we took the opportunity to buy half the farm and the merino enterprise business from the family.” His children are interested in continuing the tradition, and it’s something they openly discuss regularly.
“Out of 100 family farms, 30 farms will pass on to the second generation. 12 farms will make it to the third generation, and fewer than 3 family businesses will make it to the fourth generation, out of 100.”
Matthew explains his father is 79 years old and still farming but credits his parents with having the foresight to build the business and expand the business to assist their children in taking over certain components, when the time came. Matthew purchased the Merino stud side of the business. And now his own son runs a free-range chicken enterprise on the property producing 8000 to 12 000 eggs per week.
“We’re open-minded to what the kids want to do as well… We never say no. We encourage everything they do. And we’ve always had conversations with the kids from a very young age, about what our succession plans would be.”
That conversation often took place on family holidays, away from the farm where real talks were had about the future and what everyone’s role may or may not be.
Technology stands out as a big part of that future, but above all else, Matthew says their success comes down to open-mindedness. An attitude that has won them, the 2013 Farmer of the Year Award, the Supreme Merino Award – among others.
“We don’t fear being left behind. Our fear is not being in front and leading the industry.”
Part of that strategy is thinking about the future. The family is currently building a feedlot to assist landscape management. “When the groundcover gets below that 100%, we sort of always want to retain ground cover… We’re very mindful of our landscape,” he shares.
Roseville Park merinos are also not mulesed. This was an expectation from their markets and surprisingly easily executed. “It hasn’t changed any managerial factor of what we do. It’s been a simple process and it hasn’t changed any other chemical treatments or anything.” Matthew says it hasn’t cost anything to implement and shearing twice a year certainly helps with the sheep’s management.
“Basically, we just decided to rip off the band aid.”
Matthew knows there will be plenty more challenges along the way and is keeping a keen eye on artificial intelligence. His wish is that the disconnect between the city and country improves and farmers are valued by society and government into the future.
As for his own future, he’s as prepared as he possibly could be through open-conversations and open-mindedness.
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