Less stress is best for Savannah

Her husband Phil also questioned the accepted 'get big or get out' benchmark for the viability for agriculture.

Both realised that taking over the mixed cropping and sheep farm which had been in the Lally family for more than a century would be difficult if they continued on the same path as Phil's forefathers.

They needed a new direction for the 600-hectare family farm in the Clare Valley.

Less than five years on, Michele and Phil have swapped feeding the masses using synthetic fertilisers and chemicals to connecting with consumers and delivering stress-free, ethically produced, free range lamb.

It was while following a draft of their lambs at Dublin market that the innovative young couple became enthusiastic about developing their premium lamb brand, Savannah Lamb.

"It never ceases to amaze me that as farmers we never knew where our product went, what the buyers thought of the product once it was processed, and that there was very little feedback, if any, from who purchased our lambs," Michele said.

"Not once did we get any feedback, and that is what gives you the opportunity to make better management decisions."

There were many critics of their venture, including some neighbours, but this made them even more determined to prove them wrong and set their own price.

The couple had successful careers before becoming full-time farmers, and drew on some important skills to get them started.

Through this business experience they understood the importance of quality and consistency, and from market research set about designing a product around what the market wanted.

This led them to grassfed lamb raised through good animal welfare practices and stress-free handling, and included hand-raising mismothered and abandoned lambs.

Their initial focus on the retail and butcher trade proved an uphill battle, with a big gap between consumers and 'the bloke behind the counter' understanding that the product's story would sell it, not the price.

Instead, they focussed on the restaurant trade.

To gain credibility for their brand, the Lallys entered as many carcase awards as they could. The Savannah Lamb was judged 2012 Sydney Royal champion branded lamb and won the SA Food Awards Sustainability Award three times in a row.

It was not long before demand was easily exceeding supply of up to 50 lambs a week, and they were gaining about 20pc more than saleyard prices.

More recently, the Lallys engaged Adelaide-based wholesaler My Butcher to distribute their product to food service outlets, including some of Adelaide's best restaurants.

Savannah Lamb is available at Days Meats in Clare and has direct farm sales. Haydon's Meat Store at Burnside has just started to stock the product.

* Full report in Stock Journal, April 17, 2014 issue.