For three decades Clifton local Chris Bazley was at the forefront of seed development and distribution as managing director of Pacific Seeds. Today he keeps his finger on the pulse of his farming community whilst sharing his generous spirit through the Can Do Cottage.
Every small town has members of the community who are known to just about everyone, with big hearts and even bigger personalities. For Clifton, on the Darling Downs of Queensland, one of those people is Chris Bazley. The Bazley family have been farming on the Darling Downs for generations. For Chris, he has solidified his name and legacy in agriculture in his farming ventures, and a career with Pacific Seeds that spanned three decades. His work in the seed industry saw the development and distribution of some of our most popular varieties and even saw a high yielding sorghum variety named in his honour in MR Bazley. For Chris, his dedication to agriculture runs deep and is seen every day in his love for his family, the farm and the Clifton community.
Early Career
Before starting his studies at Gatton Agricultural College in 1976, Chris embarked on a year of exploration in ag, or what we might now consider a gap year. Young Chris spent the year as a contractor driving headers and carting grain across the countryside. Here, his love of all things ag only continued to grow. Before long, it was time to start applying for more permanent employment, when two job vacancies caught his eye. The first being a role with the Bank of Papua New Guinea and the second being a job with Pacific Seeds. As he hadn’t heard a word back from his first application with the bank, Chris took the role with Pacific Seeds. Not two days later an acceptance letter came in the mail for the job with the Bank, a role that would take him overseas. Chris’ mother encouraged him to stay in Australia and take the role with the smaller company (at the time) Pacific Seeds, a decision that would lead Chris to a career spanning decades with the growing company and one that would see him be at the forefront of a company breeding seed varieties that would become staples to growers in Australia and across the globe.
Chris Bazley at his home property, Crestview, on the Darling Downs of Queensland
In the early days, the Pacific Seeds team consisted of just 27 employees, one of those being a young Chris Bazley who started his career in marketing, looking after growers in a large portion of Queensland. At that time, Pacific Seeds offered plant varieties limited to summer cropping, and so in the wintertime, Chris would be put to work in any other department that would have him. All except administration, which was not suited to his particular skills but who loved his personality and enthusiasm, nonetheless. Over time, this exposure to all facets of the company gave Chris a thorough grounding in the needs of the company and its customers. Before long, Chris was propelled through the ranks at Pacific Seeds, becoming Regional Marketing Manager, before Managing Director.
Career Highlights
Throughout Chris’s career he took a particular interest in plant breeding and development, even honing quite the knack of picking out what would become the next leading variety from early trials. An early indicator of success for one particular variety was a small 10ha trial block that, when it came time for Chris to harvest the block using a rather small grain bin, he had to stop and restart a number of times due to the astronomical and unexpected yields. This variety being MR Buster, which at the time of the early trial, produced over 10tonne to the hectare, a 20% higher yield than any other variety at the time.
Chris continued to enjoy seeing the plant breeders work, showing particular interest in the development of sunflowers. He would spend time in the paddock and at trials ran by Alan Scott, learning the skills needed from him to select what would become the next leading variety, some of those being Hysun 32 and Hysun 33 which proved popular across the globe.
These roles would take Chris across the world, consulting with growers on how to improve and refine the varieties offered by Pacific Seeds. It was on one of these trips overseas that Chris would pick up a rare infection in his foot, one that would eventually lead him to stepping down as managing director of Pacific Seeds after 14 years. But Chris left with a lasting legacy on the brand in more ways than one, even having his name attributed to a grain sorghum variety in MR Bazley. Chris’ only stipulation when he heard the team may be selecting a variety to name in his honour was not that it had to be the highest yielding, but that it had to be an honest and dependable variety, qualities that aptly describe Chris himself. MR Bazley has since been in circulation for the past 15 years and continues to be a strong sorghum variety for Australian growers.
Retirement and the family farm
When it came time to retire, life didn’t exactly slow down for Chris. He was quick to take positions on a number of boards including community organisations, not-for-profits and a role on the board of the Australian Agricultural College. Before long he moved to positions on the board of the University of Southern Queensland, then on to the board of Intergrain. Chris has kept his finger on the pulse of Australian Agriculture, though he looks to 2025 when his time on the boards he currently sits on will draw to a close. Then Chris looks forward to spending more time with his wife Lou, his sons Will and Tom and his grandchildren.
Back at the family farm, Chris surveys the property, managed by his son Tom, with pride. He takes great joy in seeing Tom and Will work together on the family property, Crestview. Will has also undertaken a career in seed marketing and distribution, with a very successful career with the thriving seed company AGF.
Chris’ love of sunflowers has seeped into the crop rotation back at the family farm. Each year he looks to plant 20% of the land dedicated to barley, in a two to three year rotation double crop program, back to sunflowers. With a favourable 2022 and 2023 season, Supersun 66 was planted at the property at Crestview. Though a successful commercial crop in their own right on the Darling Downs, sunflowers have a new-found following from the wider community due to their attractiveness and photogenic qualities whilst in full bloom.
Earlier this year, the Bazley family threw open the farm gate and welcomed members of the Clifton community to visit the sunflower fields, and also raise money for the Clifton hospital. Over 500 visitors attended, taking the opportunity to pick a few sunflower heads of their own and take some glorious photos of the plants and paddocks. The day raised around $3000 for the local Hospital.
Can Do Cottage
Charitable activities are nothing new to the Bazley family, in fact they are widely regarded as some of the most generous people you can find on the Darling Downs. Sadly, this generosity is partly borne out of their own loss. Chris and Louise sadly lost their middle son, James, to neuroblastoma at the age of 12, after a two-year battle with the devastating disease. Chris described James as his red headed Wallaby, who didn’t like to come second in rugby or cricket! It was not long after James’ passing that Chris was looking out of the window at an old outhouse on the farm, that housed just the mower and a few garden tools at the time. He turned to his wife, Lou, and said ‘I might grab the dozer and knock that shed down’. To which Lou replied that she had something a little different in mind for that shed.
The cottage had originally been a shepherds hut for the first outstation from Clifton. Over time, it had then been reinvented into the kitchen for the house at Crestview, which was built in 1956, before falling in to disrepair as many outbuildings do on busy working farms. Lou had an idea that would breathe life back into the little cottage and benefit families like her own who were dealing with the trials and tribulations that came along with caring for loved ones battling long term illnesses. A builder friend was invited to survey the condition of the cottage which, to everyone’s surprise, remained rather good, with the original timber frame and iron roof still going strong. Before long, the call out was put to local tradies and the wider community who gave their time and skills to restoring the cottage. A tradesman even came from Inglewood to re-stump the cottage. And over time, Can Do Cottage came to life. For the past 20 years, Can Do Cottage has been a place of respite for carers or those suffering from a long term illness. Here they can escape the rigorous routine of hospital treatments for as long as needed. Some stay just a couple of days, or for others it might be a week, but Can Do Cottage offers the time and tranquillity to recover and enjoy the slower pace of life that the farm has to offer.
Can Do Cottage at Creatview, Mt. Molar QLD
It would be rather difficult to find anyone in the industry quite like Chris Bazley, with his dedication to pushing the boundaries of plant varieties, producing the best product possible for Australian growers. But to the Clifton community, he is more than a farmer, he’s a father, grandfather, a friendly face always up for a chat and a larger-than-life character. He embodies the community spirit that is unique to regional towns, and we are privileged to have spent time with Chris, and to have shared his story with you in the Your Rural Success Magazine.
This story was taken from edition eight of the Your Rural Success Magazine. Read the full edition at www.pursehouserural.com.au/your-rural-success-magazine