Snowy Mountains
Big Yard Farm is set adjacent to the Kosciuszko National Park in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains, around 15 minutes’ drive from the town hub of Jindabyne, and around 40 minutes’ drive from the snow fields and summer activities at Thredbo and Perisher.
The farm is on 100-acres of lush grazing land well protected with native trees, especially Snow Gums and Black Sallees. There are four sizable dams on the property which connect via creeks and feed down to the cool, fresh Mowamba River which runs alongside the national park.
Guests can walk around the farm following mowed-in tracks through the pastures, and as a working cattle farm it’s important to always shut the gates between paddocks.
Big Yard Farm is located 6.96 kilometres along the single lane dirt road Big Yard Road from the main road Barry Way turnoff near St Thomas Catholic Church. Cows – especially calves – from neighbouring farms often gather along the road and drivers need drive to slowly in general and to wait calmly and patiently while any lingering cows make their way to the side.
Big Yard Farm is managed in a regenerative way, with a small number of cows agisted on the property Jindabyne butcher Mick who is careful to move them around between paddocks so as to keep pasture loads down while minimising impact on the natural environment.
Sustainable Farming
At the same time, the Shields family who bought Big Yard farm in 2023 has embarked on works to improve the farm’s already established native biodiversity. This includes the planting of local native flora along creek beds to prevent erosion from fast-flowing waters, the planning of a native shelterbelt along the northeastern boundary as a wind buffer and to attract birds and wildlife, and the removal of blackberries which are a spiky pest, and which thrive in wet conditions. Fallen trees are being removed and woodchipped, with the resulting mulch returned to garden beds to retain moisture and nutrients in the soil and reduce weeds.
Wildlife
Birds
Guests at Big Yard Farm wake up to the peaceful sound of birdsong. In fact, most of the time the only surround sound is of birds singing, the occasional cow mooing, the wind occasionally roaring through century-old pines and the river running at the end of the paddock.
The house garden, with its perennial gardens and fruit trees, provides a lovely home for alpine birds. Guests might see Willy Wagtails which like to nest in the sheltered alcove outside, King Parrots, Crimson Lorikeets, Glossy Black Cockatoos, Blue Wrens, Hooded Robins and the rare Speckled Warbler.
Fauna
Emus, kangaroos, deer, wombats, rabbits and hares can be spotted variously in the top paddocks or by the river and creeks. Cows are par for the course. The fresh clear waters and hidden nooks of the Mowamba River might provide a sanctuary for the shy and precious platypus; any sightings win a prize!
Fish
Trout may be caught fly-fishing in the large dam by the house garden or better still, in the mountain stream-fed river. Brown, rainbow and brook trout are the key target trout for the Mowamba River, and the season runs from the October long weekend to the June long weekend. Successful fishers need to adhere to the limitations set by the NSW including that: Bait, fly and lure methods are permitted in general trout streams, with a daily bag limit of 5 fish and 10 in possession. Bait is prohibited in fly and lure only waters and trout spawning streams where a bag limit of 2 (4 in possession) applies (more details here).