The Producers, a Food Podcast. · A Deep in the Weeds Production

AgriCULTURED Special Series Episode 1 - Bec Rumble (Lone Goose Farm) - a fascinating farming story

·25 min·1 clip

They chose Tasmania over Victoria because they couldn't afford land in Victoria and needed to go all-in on farming without financial pressure

The episode opens with Dani Vallant placing Bec Rumble's farm inside the broader collaboration between Deep in the Weeds Producers Podcast and Agricultured, which showcases produce and people from Northern Tasmania, or Lutruwita. Bec introduces herself as the female half of Lone Goose Farm, where she and Paul farm Muscovy ducks in the Meander Valley. The farm sits on 50 acres of pretty flat land, with cold winters and views of the western tiers. That setting matters because the episode is as much about place as it is about produce. Bec explains that she and Paul came from Melbourne and did not expect their lives to include abattoirs. They now head to Scottsdale to work with Hanslow Game Birds, where Paul holds his meat processing licence. Sometimes they hire the facility, and sometimes they work with Eddie, the owner. Their scale is tight and deliberate, with a maximum of 60 birds processed at a time. The ducks are sold fresh and go to restaurants two days later. The episode spends real time on the hard edge of that decision. Bec says the first few birds were hard. She does not soften the fact that taking a life is not pleasant. The point comes through because she is so direct about it. If people eat meat, then they should know where it came from, what kind of life it had, and what kind of death it had. For Lone Goose Farm, being involved in the abattoir is part of protecting the quality of life and quality of death for the birds. There is also a practical story about how the market found them. Bec says the path to selling their ducks was much easier than expected. Muscovies are rare enough in Australia that chefs already familiar with them from Europe began reaching out. A segment on ABC Radio Hobart and a follow-up on Tasmania Country Hour brought inquiries from around Australia. Even so, the farm chose early to keep its birds in Tasmania. They grow about 900 birds a year, which is small enough to stay local and serve the restaurants already there. The episode keeps returning to that word: small. Small, fresh, boutique, special. Bec frames size as a strength rather than a problem. She and Paul do not need to chase the mainland. They can stay in Tasmania, work with local chefs, and keep the business close to home. The conversation makes room for the tradeoffs, but it does not treat them as failures. Instead, it turns them into a different way of living and working. By the end, Lone Goose Farm reads as both a business and a personal bet. It is a farm built from a city escape, fast learning, and a willingness to do the unglamorous tasks. It is also a statement about food systems: smaller can be more connected, easier to understand, and more satisfying. The episode closes with that same sense of steady conviction. This is a story about ducks, but it is also about the life that grows around them. The core idea is that scale is a choice, and a small farm can still be ambitious.

As heard by us

A small duck-farm story that treats scale, ethics, and restaurant supply as one practical conversation.

Bec Rumble's duck farm in Tasmania reads as a small, deliberate operation where scale is a choice rather than a goal. The episode tracks her move from Melbourne, the steep learning curve with Muscovy ducks, and the day-to-day reality of processing and selling birds to…

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You want a small farm story that opens into real questions about food, work, and place.

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