MEMBERS

BECOME A MEMBER OF MARY VALLEY COUNTRY HARVEST COOPERATIVE

Mary Valley Country Harvest Co-operative is a community operated co-operative for growers and producers in the Mary Valley region.

Find out more about how our cooperative operates in this downloadable brochure:

Membership enquiry brochure_email

The management of the cooperative is governed by Rules, registered with the Office of Fair Trading (Qld). They can be read here:

Rules_Mary Valley Country Harvest Co-op

Interested in becoming a member? Please download and submit the application form at the bottom of this page.

MEMBERS BENEFITS

At the heart of the Mary Valley Country Harvest Co-operative is the idea that small growers and businesses involved in the local food supply chain can benefit from sharing information and working together in practical ways to make more efficient use of their time and capital than what they can achieve by ‘going it alone’ in every aspect of their business.

Apart from the co-operative marketing, sales and distribution of members produce, some of the other ways that the co-op members support each other are:

Organising joint training and education activities so everyone doesn’t need to “reinvent the wheel” when developing or refining their own production system
Organising the shared bulk purchase and delivery of materials and services.
Organising and administering joint accreditation and licencing schemes for growers (eg. registered egg production , CareFarmed certification)

TRAINING & EDUCATION

Members get the opportunity to attend training and workshops to help educate and inform about food and agribusiness practice, safety and regulatory legislation. We also organise a number of field days and farm visits where growers and producers share their knowledge and farming practices. Read more.

ACCREDITATION

Listed below are some opportunities that the co-op is investigating for administering a joint accreditation process on behalf of members. If you can suggest other opportunities where it may be cheaper, more efficient or more convenient for members to co-operate in achieving joint accreditation, rather than members simply “going it alone”, then please let us know.

Administering the Mary Valley Country Flavours accreditation of businesses which feature locally grown food.
Formally accrediting the Co-op as a registered egg processor.
Administering the local use of the CareFarmed registered trademark by those members who agree to grow according to those specifications.

COOPERATIVE PURCHASING

Plastic packing/handling crates (December 2013)
Spent mushroom compost in bulk bags
KTek organic fertilizer

Listed below are current opportunities which have been negotiated for co-op members to get a better or more convenient deal by working together. If you know of an opportunity where you think it would be cheaper, more efficient or more convenient for a number of members to co-operate on purchasing and transport of materials, please let us know.

Become a Member.

DOWNLOAD MEMBERSHIP FORM

MARY VALLEY COUNTRY (MVC) FLAVOURS

Mary Valley Country (MVC) Flavours is designed to support small tourism businesses and promote the use of local food by enhancing the visitor experience.

When registered with the ‘Flavours’ program, whether you are a grower or food provider, you can utilise the logo and benefit from the promotion it will provide.

Get local is the message, as there is strength in working together to create a regional identity for food grown or made in the Mary Valley.

Regional Australia report on agritourism in 2010 found that Australia’s urbanised populations have an increasing desire to connect to ‘the farm’, such as knowing where and how their food is made.

Through agritourism and food tourism experiences, consumers increase their knowledge of primary production and farming techniques. They can appreciate the aesthetic experiences—what they see, taste, hear, smell, and feel—and the learning opportunity. This kind of tourism increases their connection with growers and rural landscapes.

Agritourism and food tourism enterprises can allow farmers to increase their farm-related income with the general aim to help farmers stay on the farm. This project was initiated by peak community organisation Mary Valley Inc. Mary Valley Country Harvest Co-operative now administers the program.