 Dieter Horstmann
Indefatigably creative farmer, businessman and renewable energy
advocate.
Born in 1948 in Hildesheim, North Germany, Dieter spend
his formative years in the 1ooo year old village, amid
a rich and historical backdrop. Dieter thinks his home
town helped develop his eye for artistic detail. That detail
manifests itself in his spectacular Tyagarah property, “Eagle
Farm”.
Dietr became head of the family household at 21 when his
father died. The family business grew solidly over the
years until it was a multi million dollar concern.
Trained as an engineer, Dieter specialised in metal design.
About this time, he also developed a passion for high performance
gliders, a pursuit that brought him to Australia more than
once.
“I’ve been into gliders quite intensely since
then, and came to Australia several times because it’s
such a perfect continent for soaring. I fell in love with
this beautiful country,” he recalls.
In 1987, Dieter made the big leap. He passed partial control
of his businesses to trusted managers and migrated to Australia,
setting in Ewingsdale.
Any lingering thoughts of returning to his homeland ended
when he met his wife, Fran Cummings, the following year.
Giving up his role in charge of multi-million dollar companies
and the purchase of his Eagle Farm property in 1991 changed
Dieter’s life in more ways than one.
“ I started farming not knowing much about it. But
I came to understand and appreciate nature, and particularly
the beauty of it. I eventually became convinced of the
potential of energy farming, especially on the North Coast,” he
says.
Energy farming? If Dieter has his way, and he’s pushing
hard for it, photovoltaics will become a household word
in this region. It’s a technology which uses solar
cells to convert sunlight into electricity. In its simplest
form, photovoltaic cells power watches and calculators.
But the same principle can make farming more cost efficient
and eco-friendly. And we really do have enough sunlight
around here to go around, don’t we?
The technology is common in households using solar power.
But Dieter’s pet project uses photovoltaics for drying
crops, heating buildings, powering water pumps and much
more.
The energy farming campaign is just the tip of the iceberg
of Dieter’s activities. Eagle Farm acts as an arresting
monument to the verve and creativity of the man. He has
transformed his property into a remarkable retreat for
travellers seeking a tranquil, and perhaps unusual, escape
from the rat race.
It is a farmstay bed and breakfast with a private golf
course, horse race track, dams, native garden springs,
walking bush-tracks, “Stonehenge” basalt pillars
all about and, most notably, “Rock Tower”.
Resembling a set borrowed from a medieval epic, Rock Tower
is an extension to an underground crystal cave Dieter designed.
“If you’re not up in the tower, you’re
in the bowels of hell,” as Dieter calls it. The tower
has to be seen to believed. He has offered the local community
the use of Eagle Farm as an open air concert venue and
almost snared Bob Dylan as an opening act some time back.
To round off his headspinning schedule, if you can’t
find him on the farm look skyward, you may catch him in
his glider, hangared in the “Blue Hangar” at
nearby Tyagarah Airfield. Or organising something for the
Byron Bay Peace Festival which is trying to make the Byron
lifestyle a world example of peace. |
