George Greenwood cuts a forlorn figure as he walks through the empty stalls of his once-thriving piggery. Fewer than 1,000 pigs remain and they'll be gone by Christmas.

Key points: Once a mosaic of corn and sorghum crops, Atherton Tablelands now has an established avocado industry

Once a mosaic of corn and sorghum crops, Atherton Tablelands now has an established avocado industry It means grain can no longer be sourced locally for piggeries, sending production costs up

It means grain can no longer be sourced locally for piggeries, sending production costs up Imported, cheap pork and the drought have been the final death knell for many established piggeries

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 8 minutes 48 seconds 8 m George Greenwood says at 77, he couldn't keep up the battle against spiralling grain prices and low pork prices ( Charlie McKillop ) Download 4 MB

For the best part of five decades, the enterprising farmer rode the highs and lows of phenomenal growth in production and equally dramatic price downturns.

Many of the changes were embraced at Greenwoods' piggery.

He built the sheds, stalls and silos with his own hands and ensured his piggery, outside Mareeba in far north Queensland, kept pace with rapid advances in technology, genetics, and farm practices.

But times have changed as has the agricultural profile of the Atherton Tableland, where a mosaic of corn and sorghum crops has been replaced recently by avocado orchards.

The value of avocado production in far north Queensland has leapt from below $30 million to $172 million in a decade and has shown no signs of slowing.

The last pigs to be farrowed and grown out at Greenwoods' Piggery. ( ABC Rural: Charlie McKillop )

It has meant the former cropping hub now imports grain from thousands of kilometres away to service the local poultry, beef and dairy cattle, and pork industries.

Coupled with a crippling drought, Greenwood's piggery found itself fighting a losing battle with spiralling grain costs in an ever-tightening market.

But at 77, the veteran pork producer remains philosophical about the decision to wind up his life's work.

"I'm not distressed. I just think it's a sad moment for us the way we've exited, these [empty] sheds are pretty confronting but it's almost inevitable. Nothing stays the same forever," Mr Greenwood said.

"We were honest producers and honest traders, we didn't hurt anybody getting here and we'll eventually leave this land in a better state than we found it."

Hundreds of thousands of high value avocado saplings have replaced broadacre grain crops, which previously fed pigs and other livestock. ( ABC Rural: Charlie McKillop )

Price spike too little, too late for some

Pig prices recently have started to claw back to levels not seen in several years as the industry emerges from a devastating oversupply.

There is renewed confidence pork is finally on the rebound with existing high, global demand for protein still to realise the, as yet, unknown economic impact of African Swine Fever, which has already claimed one quarter of the world's pigs.

Mr Greenwood admitted it was a bitter pill after struggling to compete against corporate producers and a steady flow of imported pork products.

"From now on pork meat in Australia will become very expensive, it's starting to kick already," he said.

"If people want Australian product, they're probably going to have to spend a bit more … the product we turned out of these sheds was absolutely brilliant, you wouldn't get better anywhere else in the world."

Victor Byrnes has seen a dramatic decline in the number of pigs being processed at his Rocky Creek Abattoir. ( ABC Rural: Charlie McKillop )

Owner of the nearby Rocky Creek Abattoir, Victor Byrnes, said the processing sector had been hit hard as pork producers succumbed to the economic squeeze.

Rocky Creek's throughput had declined from up to 500 pigs a week when he started in 1983, to fewer than 200.

He said the loss of supply from the region's largest piggery would leave a huge hole in his kill sheet and may force him to reduce his twice-weekly service to once a fortnight if the numbers continued to decline.

"Am I worried about the future? Yes, but there's nothing I can do to change it," Mr Byrnes said.

"[Pig] prices have jumped 30 cents in the past eight weeks but my other biggest producer is 75 years old. Are there younger people ready to take on a pig farm? I don't know," Mr Byrne said.

A young George Greenwood took a hands-on approach to developing his piggery from scratch on the Atherton Tableland. ( Supplied: Greenwood family )

End of an era

The feed bill at Greenwoods' piggery today is a fraction of its normal operating costs — and the quiet, empty sheds are a far cry from the frenetic activity of farrowing, weaning, and growing around 3,000 pigs in a constant, nine-month rotation.

It is hard to imagine the fully developed site was nothing more than a ploughed paddock when Mr Greenwood and his wife, Terri, started out on Morganbury Road 49 years ago.

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Pork production was just coming 'out of the paddock' as a more intensive farming system was widely adopted in the 1960s.

"Instead of just having your skim milk being pumped out on a pipe into a hollow log out the back paddock past the dairy and all the pigs roaming through wire fences down to the creek, they brought them into sheds and it was a whole new experience," Mr Greenwood said.

Different skills were learned and new designs adapted, and re-adapted, in the Greenwoods' sheds.

George Greenwood (pictured right, at the Atherton Show) contributed to all facets of the industry, including as past president of Queensland Pork Producers. ( Supplied: Greenwood family )

Production challenges were exceeded only by the limited marketing options in north Queensland, which at one time included supplying a (now closed) bacon factory as well as sending pigs as far as Townsville, nearly 400 kilometres away, to be slaughtered.

"The family butcher was our cornerstone," Mr Greenwood said.

"Their demise has been at the profit of the very large supermarkets, which are very difficult for family farms to deal with."

When asked about his biggest achievement, Mr Greenwood said without hesitation: "Survival".

"We came into this place when we came out of New Guinea 50 years ago, on a wing and a prayer.

"We were idealistic about it and we were driven and that got us through those early years, but they were tough."

Family and farming went hand in hand for the Greenwoods. Son Chris (pictured) grew up at the piggery and now runs a sophisticated cattle feedlot and meat marketing business. ( Supplied: Greenwood family )

The Greenwoods' family legacy will also continue in its vertically integrated cattle feedlot and marketing business. But in future, pork will be off the menu.

It's a sign of the times says Morganbury Meats managing director Chris Greenwood, who grew up at the piggery.

He watched closely as his parents charted a transformation in genetics and selection, as well as the economic challenges of pork production.

"They've shown the live weight gains that can be achieved from a good line of females on a well-managed feed ration, but the reality is every kilogram of pork requires 3.1 kilograms of grain to produce," Chris Greenwood said.

"The Atherton Tableland used to sustain itself but these days it's a net importer of about 50,000 tonnes of grain and the knock-on effect of the drought has seen the cost of grain increase by double, probably threefold, in five years."