Woodstock Flour produces wholegrain, stoneground flour, from cereal grown on the family farm, at Berrigan, NSW.

Ian Congdon and Courtney Young buy the grain off Ian's parents, Bob and Jenny, who converted the 810 hectare Woodstock farm to a certified organic operation 24 years ago.

Ms Young said Woodstock Flour was established in 2016, as a way of the couple getting involved in the farm.

The couple met at the University of Melbourne while studying landscape management and agricultural science.

Ms Young said they both wanted to be involved in working on the land, seeing farming as a means to environmental restoration and community building.

There was also an opportunity to supply the local community with fresh flour, of known provenance.

After testing the waters with a small benchtop flour mill at farmers markets, they imported a New American Stone Mill in early 2018.

Since then they have been supplying freshly milled flour to bakeries, restaurants, shops and families in the local region and into Melbourne bakeries and retailers.

"We buy the grain of Ian's parents, mill it, and sell it directly to bakers, restaurants and families in the region," Ms Young said.

"There's a barrier to getting into farming when you don't have capital or access to land, and we saw flour milling as being involved in the family farm.

"We help with decision making on the farm, where we can, but we do want our own farm."

That led them to involvement in the Cultivate Farms Cultivator scheme, the farm investor accelerator program that aims to attract and build a relationship with investors to co-own a farm.

Cultivate Farms is a social enterprise, which matches the next generation of inspiring farmers, with retiring primary producers and investors, who then own and operate a property together.

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Ms Young said the couple was about halfway through the Cultivator program.

"We were looking to buy the family farm, but we have since decided to buy 100-200 ha, locally, so we are still nearby.

"We are looking for financial backing, and how much it might cost to expand the flour mill."

The farm integrates sheep, cattle and crops.

Currently, Woodstock was growing Spitfire and Rosella wheat, spelt, rye, Khorasan and triticale

The couple said they were also growing out heritage wheats, and selecting varities for flavour and suitablility for the farm, pasture cropping and changing climate.

"In terms of our cropping practices, we've been experimenting with no-kill and pasture cropping techniques to help restore our soils," they said.

"In partnership with Yarkuwa Indigenous Knowledge Centre and Corowa District Landcare, we're looking at native edible grains and trialling Australian native grasses Panicum decompositum (Native Millet) and Paspalidium constrictum (Box grass)."

Since starting out, Ms Young said they had built a profitable business, turning over more than $115,000, in the first year of commercial operation, despite the drought.

This profit has provided the couple with a comfortable wage allowing them to remain debt-free.

And the coronavirus pandemic may provide the opportunity to get more young farmers onto the land, through the innovative funding model offered by Cultivate Farms, according to co-founder Sam Marwood.

Mr Marwood said the coronavirus pandemic had sharpened the focus on provenance, with many more consumers wanting to know where their food was coming from.

"Farming is a sound investment, in a post-COVID world," Mr Marwood said.

"What I want do is to reach people who have money in the bank and want to invest in something substantial, out of COVID-19.

"Farming was probably down the bottom; now it's going to be right up the top."

He said farming would provide stable returns for investors.

"I've got thousands of the best farmers in Australia, so don't go and buy a holiday home on the beach, or invest in the stock market, invest in the best farmers in Australia."

Under Cultivate Farm's model, one entity owns the property, and the other runs the primary production business.

The farmer pays a lease to the landowner, which increases over time, at an agreed amount, as the business grows.

Mr Marwood said he currently had 1200 aspiring farmers on Cultivate's books, seeking investors.

'If you want to back Aussie farmers, don't just complain, spend a few thousand dollars supporting them," he said."

Ms Young agreed it was an ideal time for investors to get involved in agriculture.

"Our flour mill has been going gangbusters since this whole pandemic - it's definitely given us the confidence to start talking to more people about it," Ms Young said.

"People have a renewed confidence in Australian food and agriculture in general - farmers are worth investing in, at this point."

Cultivate co-founder, Tegan Hicks, Hicks Country Beef, Albury, said while it was easy to attract aspiring famers to the program, finding investors was tricky.

She, and husband Tim, were involved in Cultivate from the start.

"We had four cows and a borrowed bull, and when we came back from our honeymoon, we bought 21 dairy cross cows," Ms Hicks said.

Now they raise cattle on a lease block in the Albury area, and have started Hicks Country Beef, which supplies direclty to customers in the area.

They are hopeful of buying their own property soon.

Ms Hicks said she felt the coronavirus pandemic would see greater investor interest in agriculture.

"We can see the faultsin the system, where we have to rely on importing and exporting things," she said.

Consumers also appreciated knowing where their food came from.

"It feels good when you know where you are buying from."

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