Peter's millet brooms

His grandfather George grew his first millet crop and made his first brooms in 1934 and the business was subsequently taken on by Ernie Sturt, Peter's father.

"My grandfather started growing millet when it was a very big industry in the Tumut district and my father inherited the farm at Tumut Plains before the land was taken over by the Snowy Hydro project when they were building the Blowering Dam," Peter said.

"The little farm we had at Tumut Plains was a grant from explorer Charles Sturt to his brother and it stayed in the Sturt family until 1965."

Peter continues to trade as Tumut River Millet Brooms, growing and seasoning the millet on four hectares of the families ten hectare property on the banks of the Tumut River.

Millet has the appearance of a corn plant but without the cobs, and only the very top part of the plant is harvested.

"These brooms will last for years if you look after them," Peter said.

"We have carefully harvested and dried the millet, to ensure the brooms longevity but unfortunately it is a dying industry.

"The brooms we make are the only brooms in Australia that are made out of Australian millet - the other brooms in Australia are either Chinese or made out of imported millet."

Peter said all the millet he grows is used in the brooms he manufactures.

"We carry the Australian-made label, we meet the criteria and that's how we operate here," he said.

"I had a soft spot for growing millet and manufacturing brooms and still have and retirement is on the agenda.

"We have a stockpile of millet which could last us for five years and I don't sell the millet to anyone else."

Peter's latest harvest was completed during six days in February, where the heads are cut by hand and there was sufficient millet gathered to manufacture 6000 brooms.

"The head is what makes the brooms," he said.

"The rest is slashed and once the cattle have been allowed into the paddock and cleaned up the leaf part, the rest will be ploughed back into the soil."

The crop takes around one hundred days from planting to harvest, and the seed for the next crop is saved from the better heads.

"We only need one kilogram per hectare so we look for the best heads each year from which to save the seed," Peter said.

"Millet is a pretty tough crop, but we can irrigate it if we have to."

Peter can remember the time when all of the river flats around Tumut grew millet among the other land uses, but he has seen the industry decline during the past half century.

He and his wife Shirley bought their farm about 50 years ago, after a long period of share farming in the Tumut district.

"I took on growing millet here carrying on the family tradition and went into manufacturing brooms 28 years ago," he said.

He had been able to purchase the machinery from the Blind Institute (SA), when that charity folded their business.

It was bought 'sight unseen', but Peter was able to start the manufacturing process with the able assistance of Roger French.

"So we got into the broom making and Roger stills works part time for me," Peter said.

"People don't realise the work that goes into producing these Tumut River Millet Brooms."

Other than sowing and harvesting, the making of each individual broom begins when the millet is graded and bundled, and takes about 15 minutes per broom.

There is a special machine for fitting the handles and another for stitching and trimming.

The finished brooms are then placed in fresh air to ensure they are sufficiently dried naturally.

"We make eight different varieties of millet brooms which are made from our millet grown here on our Lacmalac property," Peter said.

"And they all carry the Australian Made Logo."

So next time you are using a broom to sweep your floors, check to see if has the logo and you will then realise the broom's provenance.

And proudly, Peter has a collection of photos of his father and grandfather out in the millet paddocks.