Andre and Sheree Mills of The River Farmgate Products' use butcher shop, livestock to stay viable

This two-pronged approach followed the loss of Mr Mills’s The River Poll Merino stud in the Black Tuesday bushfire on January 11, 2005.

All the Mills operations are based at The River, located halfway between Tumby Bay and Port Lincoln.

They run 900 Merino ewes – of which half are mated to crossbred rams and half to Ile De France rams – and 100 Murray Grey cows.

Stock is killed at Port Lincoln and dressed at The River. 

The couple also process pork and chicken on-property.

Their butcher shop – The River Farm Products – was opened in July 2011 and is based on-farm. 

They sell premium meat cuts, and make their own sausages, burgers, patties and smallgoods including ham, bacon and mettwurst.

The offering also includes eggs, honey and jams from artisan producers.

They make and sell The River Farm Products-branded smallgoods and dressed meats directly to outlets at Tumby Bay, Arno Bay, Port Lincoln, Cummins, Coffin Bay, Elliston, Cleve, Kimba and Wudinna.

Last year they picked up contracts through EP-based Foodland and IGA stores for smallgoods previously supplied by Blue Ribbon, which ceased trading in 2016.

Mr Mills said the farm price for meat had doubled in the past few years, but the price margin at the butcher shop had not been able to be maintained.

“The butcher side is a tough game,” he said.

“At the moment we are getting $9 a kilogram for beef and lamb.

“When we first started, the butcher shop made a good return; now it’s on a greatly reduced margin.

“Because we supply our own meat, we pick up on the farm side of it by selling to the shop.

“If we only had the butcher shop, we would be struggling.”

In the past 12 months, the couple needed 400 lambs and 120 cattle more than they could supply to meet the demand of their supermarket contracts and counter sales.

Tourists can bring an influx of $1000 a week in counter sales during the tourist seasons of March to May and October to December.

The Millses enjoy being able to sell their product from the shopfront and having a more direct relationship with consumers.

“We get great pleasure out of producing good quality products and receive positive feedback from customers from across Australia,” Mr Mills said.

Andrew and Sheree Mills’s passion for producing lambs has a long history.

Mr Mills was raised on wool stations Myola Station, near Iron Barron, and later Katunga Station at Iron Knob. He bought The River – once part of a large property owned by SA’s first female parliamentarian Agnes Goode – in 1986.

Mrs Mills grew up on Marble View – a grain and Merino property near Cummins, owned by her parents Wendy and Les Schneider. She spent 17 years as a travel consultant in Port Lincoln and has been at The River with Mr Mills for the past 13 years.

After the Black Tuesday bushfire destroyed Mr Mills’s Poll Merino stud, the couple ran a trucking business while its owners were overseas.

They were unimpressed by the stress lambs experienced once they left the farm.

Also, they found lambs marketed were not to the specifications domestic buyers wanted.

Mr Mills became a buyer for Holco Fine Foods and educated local farmers to meet the specs required for premium product.

He then switched to Tatiara Meat Company and was inspired by its practice for vacuum-packaging lamb products.

“The meat had a longer shelf life, more durable packaging and a better presentation,” he said.

From here, the Millses decided to prepare and sell their own products. The River Farm Products was fully accredited and started processing its own lamb in 2011.

In the past 12 months, the Millses have doubled their processing area with another 60 square metres of production and refrigeration installed.