Farmer Stories: How Our Online Farmers Market Transformed Kent Rochester's Regenerative Beef Farming Operation
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Time to read 2 min
The Growth of a Unique Collaborative Partnership
Kent and Michelle Rochester of KM Farming in Manypeaks are Dirty Clean Food’s primary grass fed and finished beef producers. Being on the south coast, Manypeaks receives reliable rainfall and is generally a great climate for growing grass almost all year round.
Although one could say the climate for a grass fed and finishing operation is ideal at Manypeaks, the grass was at times always greener on the other side. In 2018, Kent came onboard as one of the four finishing producers for Dirty Clean Food. Kent’s first foray into holistic planned grazing was in 2018- in a particularly dry autumn when they were struggling for grass. They were overstocked with the cattle, and as the main source of their diet, the pastures were under pressure.
The Spirit of Learning
Many lessons were learnt, the resounding one being to keep the spirit of learning, testing and transforming in order to adapt. From that tumultuous autumn in 2018, Kent began by changing his grazing management, decreasing the amount of time cattle were grazing on one paddock and increasing their grazing density. They saw the pasture recover and bounce back, and this led to experimenting with different density and grazing techniques. It was also the gateway into multi species fodder crops, summer cover crops and biological stimulant and inoculants.
Kent loves to experiment and this is very apparent on his farm - there is always an interesting trial or project going on, and all lessons learned are applied to how they manage the farm. The success and failure of these ongoing experiments continue to build robust ecosystems capable of producing a reliable supply of high quality, authentic grass fed and finished beef that is commercially viable while remaining true to its regenerative process.
Business (not) as Usual
Kent’s operation was gradually expanding and provided Dirty Clean Food consistent supply that customer’s rated highly. In 2023, prospects for exporting regeneratively farmed West Australian beef were emerging from multiple markets, beyond any projections for demand that existed at the time. Kent becoming the main supplier for Dirty Clean Food beef came to fruition naturally in 2024. To keep up with demand, Dirty Clean Food connects regeneratively grass fed breeders and backgrounders to Kent, who finishes the cattle that move into the marketplace.
The demand for grass fed and finished regenerative beef has grown significantly, from 20 head in July 2022, where beef was sourced from a range of suppliers, to a staggering 45 head in June 2024, sourced from Kent, who supports a network of regenerative farmers as a buyer. They are connected in a synergistic supply chain process. Now, our team checks in with Kent weekly and quarterly, to ensure supply can be managed.
A Winning Formula
Beef is Dirty Clean Food’s top selling product category accounting for 34% of revenue on the online channel, outselling the second bestselling category, chicken, by more than double. Kent and Michelle’s farm is a beautiful place with a healthy farm ecosystem and some very happy cows, which is testament to the management style of Kent, Michelle, their team of workers, and the growth of his operation.
Kent's Farmer Story article was originally published in our 2024 Regeneration Report, featuring more amazing stories from our community - you can read the full report here.
