Farm or plantation? Understanding the land behind Australian-grown coffee

WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT WHERE COFFEE IS GROWN, TWO WORDS OFTEN APPEAR: COFFEE FARM AND COFFEE PLANTATION. THEY SOUND SIMILAR, AND IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD THEY ARE USED INTERCHANGEABLY. BUT DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU STAND, WHETHER IN A ROASTERY, A CAFE OR OUT ON THE PADDOCK, THE WORDS CAN CARRY SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT MEANING.

AT JACK MURAT COFFEE, BOTH WORDS APPLY. WE OPERATE A COFFEE FARM IN THE DAY TO DAY SENSE, WALKING THE ROWS AND TENDING THE TREES, WHILE ALSO RUNNING WHAT MANY WOULD FAIRLY CALL ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S MORE SIGNIFICANT COFFEE PLANTATIONS. WHAT MATTERS MOST IS THE INTENTION BEHIND THE LAND WE LOOK AFTER.

FARM AND PLANTATION DIFFERENT WORDS SHARED PURPOSE

IN GLOBAL COFFEE, THE LANGUAGE SHIFTS FROM REGION TO REGION.

A SMALL GROWER IN CENTRAL AMERICA CALLS THEIR LAND A FARM.
A LARGE ESTATE IN BRAZIL CALLS IT A FARM AS WELL.
IN PARTS OF ASIA AND AFRICA, THE SAME LAND IS OFTEN DESCRIBED AS A PLANTATION.

THERE IS NO STRICT TECHNICAL DIFFERENCE. HISTORICALLY, A COFFEE FARM SUGGESTED CLOSE HANDS ON WORK, WHILE A COFFEE PLANTATION REFLECTED LARGER AREAS OF PLANTED LAND SET UP FOR LONG TERM AGRICULTURE. TODAY, ESPECIALLY IN SPECIALTY COFFEE, THE LINES OVERLAP. SMALL FARMS CAN OPERATE WITH THE STRUCTURE OF BIGGER ESTATES, AND PLANTATIONS CAN BE RUN WITH THE SAME CARE AND ATTENTION AS ANY FAMILY OWNED FARM.

WHAT MATTERS IS LESS THE WORD AND MORE THE VALUES BEHIND THE WORK.

THE AUSTRALIAN SETTING

AUSTRALIA HAS BEEN GROWING COFFEE FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, BUT THE INDUSTRY NEVER TRULY ESTABLISHED ITSELF. EVEN TODAY THE FOOTING REMAINS HUMBLE, THOUGH WITH THE RIGHT GROWERS AND THE RIGHT CARE WE HOPE THAT WILL CHANGE OVER TIME.

BECAUSE OUR COFFEE LANDSCAPE IS SMALL AND YOUNG, MOST PRODUCERS NATURALLY DESCRIBE THEIR LAND AS A COFFEE FARM. IT FITS OUR AGRICULTURAL CHARACTER. BUT SOME OPERATIONS, INCLUDING OURS, ARE LARGE ENOUGH THAT THE TERM COFFEE PLANTATION IS EQUALLY ACCURATE.

FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND GIVES US THE CONDITIONS TO GROW CLEAN AND TRACEABLE ARABICA. WINTER COOL, VOLCANIC SOILS AND CONSISTENT RAINFALL ALL SUPPORT HEALTHY TREES. BUT AUSTRALIA HAS NEVER CHASED COMMODITY VOLUME. OUR INDUSTRY LEANS TOWARD SPECIALTY BY NATURE, BUILT ON CARE AND PATIENCE.

WHERE JACK MURAT FITS

AT JACK MURAT, WE SIT ACROSS BOTH DEFINITIONS.

WE ARE ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST COFFEE FARMS, WITH SEVENTY HECTARES PLANTED AND ANOTHER TWENTY HECTARES BEING PLANTED NOW. IN AN AUSTRALIAN CONTEXT, THIS PLACES US AMONG THE COUNTRY'S SIGNIFICANT COFFEE PLANTATIONS BY SCALE. BUT WE DO NOT MEASURE OURSELVES BY AREA ALONE.

DAY TO DAY, WE WORK AS FARMERS.
WE CHECK FRUIT.
WE TRACK RAINFALL.
WE MANAGE FERMENTATION.
WE WATCH THE SEASONS SHIFT ACROSS THE PADDOCKS.

EVERY CHOICE WE MAKE CENTRES ON ONE INTENTION. TO GROW SPECIALTY COFFEE ON AUSTRALIAN SOIL AND LET THE LAND SPEAK IN THE CUP.

OUR SCALE ALLOWS US TO INVEST IN TRIALS AND PROCESSING WORK SUCH AS RAISED BEDS, FIELD EXPERIMENTS, FERMENTATION LOTS AND VARIETAL SPLITS. BUT NONE OF THAT REPLACES THE NEED FOR CAREFUL FARMING. THE LAND RETURNS ONLY WHAT YOU PUT INTO IT.

WHY BOTH WORDS MATTER

WE SPEAK OPENLY ABOUT BEING BOTH A COFFEE FARM AND A COFFEE PLANTATION BECAUSE THE STORY OF AUSTRALIAN GROWN COFFEE NEEDS BOTH IDEAS.

COFFEE FARM SPEAKS TO CARE, CLOSENESS AND THE AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL IDENTITY. COFFEE PLANTATION SPEAKS TO SCALE, STRUCTURE AND THE LONG TERM COMMITMENT NEEDED TO GIVE THIS YOUNG INDUSTRY A FUTURE. TOGETHER THEY EXPLAIN OUR PLACE IN THE LANDSCAPE, A GROWER WORKING TO BUILD SOMETHING STEADY AND LASTING IN A COUNTRY WHERE COFFEE IS STILL FINDING ITS SHAPE.

WE BELIEVE AUSTRALIAN GROWN COFFEE HAS A ROLE TO PLAY GLOBALLY. EVEN IF WE BEGIN FROM A HUMBLE FOOTING, THE POTENTIAL IS THERE IN THE SOIL, IN THE TREES AND IN THE WORK WE PUT IN EACH SEASON.

A FINAL WORD FROM THE PADDOCK

CALL US A COFFEE FARM. CALL US A COFFEE PLANTATION. BOTH ARE TRUE.

WHAT MATTERS IS THAT EVERY PADDOCK WE PLANT, EVERY TREE WE TEND AND EVERY LOT WE PROCESS IS DONE WITH THE SAME INTENTION. TO PUSH AUSTRALIAN COFFEE FORWARD AND TO OFFER CUPS THAT REFLECT THIS PLACE IN FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND, THE CLIMATE, THE SOIL AND THE QUIET WORK BEHIND EACH HARVEST.