Cleve crowned 2019
Agricultural town of the year

With a rich agricultural history, the Eyre Peninsula town of Cleve has remained tight-knit as it tackles a sustained drought. Through creative farming practices and initiatives to support wellbeing, the community continues to punch well above its weight as a driver of agricultural innovation.

Cleve was an outstanding example of a community working together to support the growth of agriculture and this win is a true testament to its resilience in tough times.

The eastern Eyre Peninsula has been one of the hardest hit areas by drought and the small community in Cleve has been proactive in running programs to keep spirits up and bolster physical and mental wellbeing, as well as continuing to drive on-farm innovation.

“It’s our third year of drought – last year the winds arrived, as soon as we started seeding they kept coming. Sometimes the crop would just be poking its head out of the ground and the wind would come and cut it off, around Arno Bay there was so much drift it went into neighbours paddocks, onto roads.

Farming practices have changed so much, the way we put seed into the ground, not touching the soil so much, we are putting vegetation back and that’s having a huge impact.”

Angela Harris 
Cleve drought project officer and Darke Peak farmer