Top award for couple who rose from ashes

A TASMANIAN family who battled through the devastating Dunalley bushfires have been named 2019 Australian Farmers of the Year.

Potato growers Sue and Gerard Daly spent hours battling to save their home, factory and crops at Marion Bay during the 2013 fires.

Now their perseverance and focus on innovation to reduce food waste in their Daly Potato Company business has been recognised on the national stage.

Since the fires, the Dalys have picked up a major supermarket contract for washed potatoes, employed more staff and lifted production.

"In one way the fire made us take stock and look at what we were doing,” Mrs Daly said.

“It made us more determined to try to grow, to create employment and support our staff and our community."

The couple, who are fourth generation farmers, also won the Award for Excellence in Innovation for the work they have done to improve sustainability of their business.

Over the past few years, a focus on diversification has seen the Daly business grow from producing fresh market potatoes, to a wide range of value-added products.

Their product list now also includes vodka, gin, limoncello, coffee liquor, sloe gin, potato salads, potato bake, roast potatoes, potato mash and roast vegetables.

Each year the Dalys produce about a 4500 tonnes of high-quality washed potatoes across 603ha.

They employ 38 staff, produce 4800 bottles of alcohol a year and more than 300 tonnes of potato salad plus an extra 200 tonnes of value-add products.