Entrepreneur Greg Cromwell finds purpose and passion putting food on the table

"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

With a resume that includes starting a brewery, exporting Blundstone and RM Williams boots to Canada, setting up his own branding and marketing company and co-founding an espresso machine business, the Canadian-born entrepreneur has certainly forged plenty of his own paths.

But of all his ventures, the one that's given him the greatest sense of purpose and pleasure is Cromwell Farms, a mixed farming enterprise he began with his family in the Byron Bay hinterland more than 20 years ago.

Starting with a few chooks, Cromwell Farms now comprises two properties, a herd of Dexter cattle, heritage breed pigs and chickens, horses, kelpies, plus a citrus orchard, fruit trees and a market garden. Coffee and olives are also in the mix.

"I hadn't anticipated we'd end up with two farms, 30 head of cattle, 35 pigs, 40 chooks, five dogs and four horses, but it all just kind of kept on growing," he said.

Mr Cromwell moved to the Northern Rivers with his Australian-born wife Alison about 20 years ago, with two young daughters and a third to be born soon after.

Coming from a long line of farmers (his family have farmed in Canada since 1853) the idea of sustaining his own family from the land appealed.

"My mum told me her grandpa once said to her: 'As long as we have this farm, you'll have a roof over your head and food on the table. And what else do you need?'"

With that in mind, they found a 16ha block at Goonengerry, bought some chooks and got themselves a few Dexter cattle, setting up the Three Girl Dexter stud.

"I thought: 'we're not going to be able to compete with Angus or any of the mainstream breeds,' so I did some research on heritage breeds."

He said the family-friendly size and temperament of the dual purpose breed was a good fit.

Their three daughters learnt to show cattle with the Dexters, while Alison used them for milking and cheesemaking.

"They're really good foragers, good natured and tough little buggers," he said.

English Large Black pigs came next - another heritage breed.

"They're a good free range pig and again the temperament is really key," Mr Cromwell said.

"They've been bred to be more hands on and they're also really good mothers. They just tick all the boxes for a smaller family farm."

Berkshires were added to the mix a few years ago.

Mr Cromwell says he 'was not backwards in coming forward' when it came to approaching restaurants, and they soon built a solid customer base for their pigs and other produce.

North Byron Hotel, Barrio Byron Bay, Eltham Hotel, You Beauty and Ciao Mate in Bangalow, and the Stockpot Kitchen in Lismore are now among their long term supporters.

Farmgate sales have been part of the mix too, but the Cromwell's recent purchase of a Mullumbimby butchery with fellow small producer Jay O'Harae will make it even easier to get their product to the public.

The vision for the butchery was to "be able to have a constant source and supply for people to try our meat and get it through what I call a 'regular' channel, rather than sell animals ad hoc when they're done," Mr Cromwell said, "I think the market's there for food with a real tasty story."

Having outgrown the farm at Goonengerry, the Cromwell's have recently embarked on another adventure, purchasing an old farm at Glenugie in the Clarence Valley, which they are bringing back into production.

The 16 ha property is well suited to horses as well, something Alison is passionate about.

Leaving the land better than they found it has always been important and they plan to put the same amount of effort into improving the soil health and pasture as they have at Goonengerry.

There, they planted 10,000 rainforest trees and have taken the organic waste from the region's three major music festivals - Bluesfest, Splendour in the Grass and The Falls Festival each year to convert to compost.

Glenugie is their new headquarters now, and they're using Goonengerry as farm stay accommodation.

"It's very hard to make money from farming in general but especially at a small scale, and especially doing things regeneratively," Mr Cromwell said.

"So we've branched out into farm stay experiences."

Mr Cromwell remains involved in other off-farm businesses and says he "spends a fair bit of time in front of a computer screen" managing them.

So getting out and working with the animals and the land is something he relishes.

"It's just nice to be able to unplug and do stuff my great grandparents would have been doing," he said.

The farm has also provided Mr Cromwell and his family with customers who have become lifelong friends

"We have a really strong connection with the local food and restaurant community," he said.