When a severe drought forced Queensland dairy farmer Libby Rough to sell 40 cows, her family faced a frightening financial crisis.
asserted
family → force → crisis
Without the regular income from milk sales, everyday costs such as groceries and school fees quickly became hard to pay.
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costs → become → groceries
To keep the farm going, Rough opened just four unpowered campsites along the river that runs through her dairy property near Kenilworth, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
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that → keep → hinterland
By January 2022, those four grassy sites had brought in more than A$50,000 in extra income.
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sites → bring → income
What began as an emergency step became an important financial lifeline for the family.
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began → begin → family
Rough's experience is part of a growing trend across rural Australia.
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experience → grow → Australia
With changing weather, higher farm costs, and unstable commodity prices, farmers are turning to agritourism and private camping on their land to help keep family farms financially secure.
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farmers → change → farms
Emergency decision born from drought
The idea started because the family had little choice during one of the region's driest periods.
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family → bear → periods
As the pasture dried and the cost of feed rose, they had to reduce their herd.
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they → dry → herd
This meant losing a large share of their regular income from milk production.
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This → mean → production
Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Rough described how serious the situation had become on the farm.
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situation → speak → farm
"During the drought, and because we hadn't had a milk cheque for three months, we joined up to Youcamp to help pay for groceries and school costs," Rough told the ABC.
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Rough → have → ABC
Youcamp was an Australian private land camping platform that later merged with global outdoor booking company Hipcamp.
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that → merge → Hipcamp
It allowed landowners to advertise private camping spots for travellers who wanted quiet places away from busy commercial caravan parks.
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who → allow → parks
Simple setups yielding major returns
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setups → yield → returns
The Rough family kept the camping setup simple and low impact.
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family → keep → setup
Instead of spending heavily on permanent buildings, costly facilities, or concrete camping areas, they offered basic natural sites along the riverbank for campers who could look after themselves.
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who → spend → themselves
By August 2020, demand for outdoor stays had risen sharply as people travelling within Australia looked for outdoor breaks close to home.
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people → rise → home
By January 2022, the four basic riverside campsites had earned the family more than A$50,000.
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campsites → earn → 50,000
The money went directly toward maintaining farm equipment and infrastructure, buying cattle feed, and paying household bills during times when farming income was low.
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income → go → times
The extra money did more than help with immediate expenses.
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money → do → expenses
Hosting campers gave the family a financial cushion that helped them keep their remaining cattle and continue running the dairy farm through difficult seasonal periods.
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them → host → periods
Industry sector gaining official momentum
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sector → gain → momentum
The success of farms such as the Rough family's has attracted attention from industry groups and state agricultural agencies.
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success → attract → groups
As more regional landowners showed interest, the Queensland Farmers' Federation (QFF) published a discussion paper focused on the potential of farm tourism.
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Federation → show → tourism
The QFF said agritourism can give farmers another source of income.
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agritourism → say → income
This can make regional businesses better able to cope with natural disasters, changes in trade, and climate shocks.
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businesses → make → trade
Supporters say allowing farmers to host small numbers of campers needs little investment but can still bring wider benefits to local economies.
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farmers → say → economies
People staying on farms often spend money at nearby bakeries, butcher shops, fuel stations, and country pubs.
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People → stay → bakeries
This helps spread their spending across small rural communities.
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This → spread → communities
Even with strong interest from farmers, planning rules have often made it difficult for landowners to start short-term accommodation businesses.
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landowners → make → businesses
Planning rules in many parts of Australia have required farmers to submit complex and expensive Development Applications (DAs) just to host a few caravans or tents on properties covering hundreds of acres.
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rules → require → acres
In many regional shires, council fees and other requirements made small camping businesses too expensive to operate.
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businesses → make → shires
However, some local governments have started changing their approach.
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governments → start → approach
As reported by the ABC, councils such as Queensland's Gympie Regional Council took steps to reduce these barriers.
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councils → report → barriers
In December 2021, the Gympie council voted to double the number of caravans or tents that could be hosted on private rural properties without requiring formal DA approval.
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that → vote → approval
Supporters of the changes say low-density, unpowered farm camping has a small environmental impact compared with traditional commercial developments.
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camping → say → developments
They also say this can work well when landowners properly manage basic sanitation and rubbish removal.
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landowners → say → sanitation
For many farmers, hosting campers has two benefits.
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hosting → host → benefits
It provides extra income while also giving farmers a chance to show city residents where their food comes from and explain the challenges of modern farming.
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food → provide → farming
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
