Poon Boon Lamb owner David Quinane at his Swan Hill shop. PICTURE: SANDRA GODWIN

HOW does a lamb producer build a financially sustainable business after suffering through more than a decade of drought conditions?

David and Janine Quinane embarked on a bold plan to reduce stocking rates on Poon Boon Station at Koraleigh and increase margins by cutting out the "middleman", selling directly to customers through a new shop at Swan Hill, farmers markets around Melbourne and online. David's family has lived at Poon Boon since his father Jack bought it in 1953.

The historic station, which once covered 91,300ha, was the first to ship wool from the Riverina by paddle steamer on the maiden voyage of Lady Augusta in 1853.

Explorers Burke and Wills visited Poon Boon in 1860 during their ill-fated journey from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. During the 1900s the station changed hands often and was subdivided into smaller blocks.

The Quinanes' holding is now about 4000ha, on which they mainly run sheep and grow some crops.

At 17, David started working on the farm with Jack, who continued to drove sheep on the "long paddock" most years until his death in 2011.

David now runs a flock of 2000 Merino-Border Leicester ewes, which are joined to White Suffolk or Dorset rams twice a year - in November and again in January - and shorn in March.

After selling the property's irrigation water entitlement to the Federal Government for environmental purposes, David and his son Baden began ruminating about how they could make the most of the business.

Baden, who works in Melbourne and has developed an understanding of the growing "foodie" culture, said he wondered why they didn't sell their product direct to consumers. After researching the concept, Baden convinced his father there was a market and the opportunity to generate higher margins from value-adding and selling affordable, premium lamb direct.

"We discussed it, and how we would do it, then the Swan Hill north butcher shop became available," David said. "So we took the plunge, and it has all happened really quickly. We work well together."

David and Janine run the Poon Boon Lamb shop at Swan Hill and a neighbour helps check water and move stock on the farm when needed. They recently acquired the services of full-time butcher-manager Patrick Burton to help grow the business.

"We had no idea what we were in for; the workload is enormous," David said. "We're only able to do this because our son Baden is in Melbourne running that side of the operation, which accounts for the bulk of the business we do. We use a company that picks up from the shop here, back loads it to coolstores at Springvale. Baden picks it up and does home deliveries to inner Melbourne."

There are several things that set the Poon Boon lamb apart.

All lambs are free range and finished on saltbush country.

They are not certified organic, but are free of hormones, accelerants or antibiotics, and are raised to carcass weights of about 20-24kg, before being taken in small lots by trailer to the Swan Hill Abattoirs, just 30km away.

"We believe that by doing the whole process ourselves, apart from the actual slaughtering, that there will be far less stress on the animal," David said. "That's one of the reasons ours is some of the best eating meat you can buy. Stress has a huge effect on meat quality."

The whole carcasses are hung in the shop coolroom for five to seven days to tenderise before they are hand cut and packed to order.

During the first few months after the shop opened last February, it sold only lamb products such as roasts, chops, steaks, cutlets, sausages and kebabs.

"We brought 21 lambs in for the opening and they were gone within a couple of weeks," David said. "We're hoping to grow the business so it takes all our produce. At the moment it's probably handling about 50 per cent of it."

The Quinanes have since added local beef to their range, under the new label Neighbours Paddock.

The best-selling item is the square cut shoulder roast, which is very popular in Melbourne, while Mallee locals opt for legs of lamb and prepared products.

A hot seller last month was the Christmas "lamb hamb".

Baden said he looked after the "fun stuff" including designing and running the website, ordering, social media, marketing and sales after work and on weekends.

"I enjoy talking to the chefs every week. It's very rewarding to get their feedback," he said. "Another perk of the job is eating at all of the fantastic establishments we supply. We've been lucky that . . . we've had full control over the product -- what is presented to the chefs and in the retail and wholesale market. We've all worked tirelessly on that area of our business, and I've got full confidence that if the lamb cut has left the shop, it's of A1 quality."

Baden said farmers' markets still accounted for the bulk of sales in Melbourne, but they aimed to grow the restaurant, wholesale and home delivery markets this year. The website offers nine standard packs priced at $75 to $143.95.

Feedback from customers was overwhelmingly positive.

"A lot of people say it tastes like lamb used to taste -- really tender, full of flavour, and we've managed to get a really consistent product," he said. "People will quite often try something at a farmers' market and come back and buy it again because they know what they're going to get, every time. As the seasons change, we can change the way we present the cuts. We might bone some of our shanks and use them in our lamb mince because in 40C heat no one's necessarily cooking shanks. But when it comes to winter we can't keep up with demand (for shanks)."

Baden said the family had set themselves targets based on the number of lambs that could be grown properly, given the dry nature of the area without irrigation.

"The aim is to have a good sustainable business, that doesn't overly stress the farm, by increasing margins and decreasing volume," he said. "We're not mass-producing lambs. We're producing to order."