Hewitt brothers on growth and challenges in industry

The Hewitt brothers are part of Australia's largest organic meat producers, with properties spanning across the Northern Territory and western Queensland.

Mick Hewitt said there is plenty of room for growth, particularly those backed with government support including improved roads, telecommunication service access and the growth of rural communities.

"These small communities are going to slowly die," Mick said.

"When my mother was taking me to the dentist in Rockhampton at 10 years old, it was a gravel road. I did that drive again on Monday lunch and I was a little confronted by the fact there was plenty of great accommodation and I think I counted seven houses with For Sale signs.

"How do we make people comfortable to (move into these rural towns)? We need critical infrastructure."

Mick suggested the government needs to do more to support these communities and look at ways to attract more people to live in rural towns.

"We're losing people...there's a great lifestyle, great people and value in housing...but I think there are so many complex issues. It breaks my heart," he said.

The brothers acknowledged that it can be difficult for people to transition to a life working in the outback especially for people from from urban areas.

"We'd love to have (people of all experience levels). But that's just not how it is," executive director and chief executive of agribusiness Ben Hewitt said.

"We get a lot of people; people who come to us looking for adventure, exposure and looking to take a few risks, unfortunately.

"People who come to work for us are regularly inexperienced but are looking for adventure and something different.

"They want to take away a story and much like us, build their career on the back of a story."

Ben said a recent road trip from Rockhampton to Roma was plagued with black spots - making it impossible to maintain a long distance phone call.

"A lot of people have frustration with those same things. I don't want to even get started on the roads," he said.

"We have two ways through the centre of the country. How on earth do we drive business in wider regional towns in Queensland and wider Australia with these road infrastructures? It's just madness.

"My passion is to live in regional Queensland which is why I have these things in front of mind.

"I want people to live out there with us and our kids to have same opportunities...be passionate about living in regional Queensland but we need to be supported.. for the same quality of life."

The co-owners of Hewitt Cattle Australia purchased four Northern Territory properties, totalling 1.1 million hectares, in 2023 for $96 million through a backing by a Canadian pension fund.

"We were lucky because we grew with our investor," Ben said.

"We've stayed dedicated to the vision we had and took the opportunities we saw."

The Hewitts have been collaborating with Meat Livestock Australia on a three-year Food for Thought project, taking a more "holistic" approach by providing scientists and environmentalists with access to measure and report on its production and land management.

"The Natural Capital Study is the largest capital study in the world," Mick said.

"(It will) study all the assets of the business which means soil and water quality etc and working out a way to...report on it holistically...to then talk to partners in a global market," Mick said.

"We are really getting to a point where we can match the science and the production and how that works together to quantify what we've been doing," he said.

The project utilises drone to collect soil samples of over 4m hectares of land to determine the best practices for carbon emission reduction and off-setting and what works to improve natural capital and biodiversity.

"Once you do that, you can relate (the information) back to the community, get them back into (rural) regions and show them what natural assets we have," Mick said.

Ben said it was about taking the guidelines and rules that have proven successful in operations and land management and showing customers the final product.

"It'll be recognise for being innovative," he said.

"The innovation is being recognised for what we've been doing for a long time. When the box of meat turns up with a story...that's how we get the message out there."

Mick had some pearls of wisdom for attendees and discussed the next generation, Generation Alpha, that he said will be the largest cohort of human beings in history and "the most influential full stop".

"Keep your eye on the prize. That's how I approach my life and career," he said.

"Sixty-five per cent of the jobs they'll be working are non-existent. That's an exciting prospect but a sobering prospect.

"I talk a lot about changes...(and) 10 years from now, it's plausible one (of these kids from Generation Alpha) will develop into the next Mark Zuckerberg.

"They will make changes and likely be CEO of the Fortune 500 companies...and it will impact us right on the ground."

The pair addressed attendees at a breakfast on May 8 at Beef 2024 where they helped reign in the beginning of a three-year partnership between Elders and the Royal Flying Doctors' Service.

They also shared their own experiences with Elders and RFDS and lauded the organisations for helping support their success story.

Elders Queensland and Northern Territory general manager Lisa Hewitt said her company was humbled to be partnering with one of the country's "most vital" services, RFDS.

"Our two organisations are intrinsically linked to regional and remote Australia and couldn't do business without each other or without our shared customer base," she said.

"It's wonderful to give back to the community who supported us for many years.

"We're supporting RFDS and there will be a campaign launched in the near future talking about allowing people to tell us their story of living adn working in regional and remote Australia and helping lift the presence and profile and shine a light on how important these people are."