THE TWEED HAS A DIVERSE AGRICULTURAL BASE WITH TRADITIONAL AND EMERGING NICHE SECTORS AND AREAS DESIGNATED AS STATE SIGNIFICANT FARMLAND. THE REGION IS BEING HAILED AS AUSTRALIA’S NEXT GOURMET FOOD DESTINATION.
We are one of the closest rural areas to Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Our transport links, temperate climate, average rainfall of 1600mm per year and variety of soil types enable us to support a diverse range of produce, with direct access to 4.3 million local consumers by 2030.
The Tweed’s unique natural and environmental values and focus on food create a credible platform for producers, with sustainable high-value agricultural and value-added products, to position and leverage their own brand credentials.
With solid local and national transport links and its proximity to Brisbane and Gold Coast airports, the Tweed’s high-value produce has excellent access to both domestic and export markets.
The Tweed has the right climate, the right location and the right soil. It’s as if nature has conspired for millions of years to provide us with the perfect location for agriculture.
Bob Brinsmead, Founder, Tropical Fruit World
The Tweed has some of the state’s most productive farmland, a subtropical environment, a clean coastal microclimate and excellent rainfall and water, which enable the region to grow a diverse range of produce and livestock.
Our region is traditionally known for its sugar cane, beef, dairy, bananas and sweet potatoes, with some farms dating back to the late 1800s.
In more recent years, new agricultural industries have seen the potential in the Tweed, with value-added dairy, organic vegetables, finger limes, avocados, alpaca wool, Moreton Bay bug aquaculture and agritourism among our more specialised offerings.
Sugar cane is one of the Tweed's largest agricultural crops, underpinned by a regional sugar mill in Condong, operated by the Sunshine Sugar farming cooperative. On site there is also a cogeneration power station fuelled by biomass by-products from the sugar mill and other sources, operated by Cape Byron Power.
We are one of the closest rural areas to Brisbane and the Gold Coast, with strong consumer demand for farm-direct produce seeing a resurgence of small fruit and vegetable growing and a widening of the scope of businesses, including poultry, tea, coffee, tea-tree and native bush foods.