David and Hugh Trevor-Jones must have one of the most panoramic offices in the region. On
a ridge overlooking Byron Bay – that particular sweep of loveliness which takes in
breathtakingly blue ocean, Julian Rocks, lighthouse, distant mountains, verdant pastures – is
home to the Hayter’s Hill farm and butchery, five generations of cattle and pigs regularly
rotated, free-ranging, around the paddocks.
The final result ending up at the farmers market, as it has for as long as the markets have
been running. Beef, pork, ham, bacon, schnitzels, sausages: ‘they’re all popular’, says David.
If you’re going to eat meat then surely you’d prefer its provenance to be a stress-free
environment, no hormones added, no chemicals or colouring, farmed sustainably, both
beast and land treated with as much respect as is possible – and that’s where Hayter’s Hill
Farm excels.
It's also a business for whom the farmers markets have never been anything less than
‘fantastic’ – David’s word. ‘As a small business’, he says, ‘ we’ve never had to do any
promotion or social media – the markets do all that for us. I’ve got a lot of gratitude for
them.’
When discussing most popular product I’d half-expected David to say the sausages –
whenever I pass the stall they’re the things that jump out at me, or maybe it’s just my
affection for snags. Mexican, French, German, South African, Kranskies, Chipolatas, Italian –
the latter used by the Byron Bay Pizza Company in their fabulous pizzas – as well as the
Aussies (‘always popular’, David says). A secret to the flavouring? Lychee-wood-smoked, the
lychees from the farm, traditionally used to smoke Peking Duck, imbuing the meat with a
sweet and mild flavour. ‘It’s unique’, says David.
Hayter’s Hill Butchery is at Mullumbimby Farmers Market every Friday from 7 – 11am
