Olive Vale is a progressive North Queensland enterprise developing new product lines for export to North Asia. Currently, Cape-York-based Olive Vale has just under 300,000 ha of land and runs livestock on most of it. While only a small percentage is devoted to cropping, the station has become self-sufficient with respect to livestock feed, successfully harvesting hay even in drought conditions. Owner Paul Ryan, an advocate for Top-End cropping, runs university and QDAF trials on the property and is looking to expand his cropping acreage to include various drought-tolerant, indigenous and commercially viable species.
Olive Vale will collaborate with tropical crop experts at Charles Darwin University (CDU), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Regional Development (DPIRD) and local Aboriginal communities on a CRC project under Research Program 3 exploring the commercialisation potential of native wild rice and other indigenous crops in Northern Australia.
Video of Olive Vale owner Paul Ryan: https://www.olivevalepastoral.com.au