David and Danielle Statham

Together, David Statham and Danielle Statham helm one of the most advanced cotton enterprises in Australia. Now, the pair’s vision to disrupt the conventional cotton industry is having an impact on the global supply chain.

David Statham

Co-Owner of Sundown Pastoral Company
Co-Founder of Good Earth Cotton® and FibreTrace®

Since 1984, David Statham has been at the forefront of innovation in agricultural technology and the application of modern regenerative farming techniques. Under his leadership, Sundown Pastoral Company is recognised as one of Australia’s most efficient and environmentally ethical agricultural enterprises.

David’s vision is to work in harmony with nature and believes modern regenerative farming techniques can create a better and healthier planet for generations ahead. David Statham is the Co-owner of the Sundown Pastoral Company, alongside his wife, Danielle. Together, they have created one of the world’s most renowned sustainable agricultural enterprises encompassing Sundown Pastoral Company, Good Earth Cotton® and FibreTrace®, as well as St Ronans, 108,000 acres in Far North QLD where the couple are pioneering cotton growing in the region.

The Sundown Pastoral Company story started in 1964 when a small parcel of land was purchased by David’s family in the north-western New South Wales. Today, Sundown Pastoral Company’s property portfolio includes 65,000 acres in one contiguous aggregation of fertile regenerative cropping land known as ‘Keytah’, west of Moree, NSW, including the neighbouring Wathagar Gin facility.

Maintaining a primary focus on cotton production, David and his team channel their energy and resources on cropping, modern regenerative farming and vertical supply integrations within the global cotton supply chain. David is passionate about technology and innovation in agriculture, investing heavily into his properties’ research and development portfolios.

Danielle Statham

Co-Owner of Sundown Pastoral Company
Co-Founder of Good Earth Cotton® and FibreTrace®

A born innovator, Danielle has used her unique vantage point from the textile and agriculture industries to pioneer end-to-end supply chain transparency in the fashion industry and beyond. Alongside her husband, David, Danielle is disrupting an industry rooted in tradition.

Danielle is no stranger to the fashion industry – after a career as a couture milliner for 25+ years, Danielle owned her own wholesale fashion showroom and directed her own cult denim label. However, despite Danielle’s appreciation for fashion’s creative expression, she remained acutely aware of the social, environmental, and ethical issues that the industry fed. Recognising the environmentally conscious consumers’ demand for change, she saw an opportunity to close the loop between her family’s agriculture enterprise and scaleable sustainable fashion production.

Now, Danielle’s efforts are directed through Sundown Pastoral Company, the agriculture enterprise she owns with her husband, David, into healing the industry she is so deeply connected to. Quickly becoming a loud voice for innovation in the textile space, Danielle has presented at many international forums, events and trade shows, including Rabobank’s Farm2Fork Summit and Kingpins Show’s Transformers discussions in Amsterdam, representing her ventures, FibreTrace® and Good Earth Cotton®.

The journey to agri-tech began with a vision to produce a garment wholly from environmentally conscious fibres grown at Keytah. From here, Good Earth Cotton® was established, drawing a line between convention cotton and cotton with a positive environmental impact. FibreTrace® technology was also acquired and developed to allow consumers and producers to transparently and securely authenticate the origin of their fibres. Now, Good Earth Cotton® proudly grows climate-positive cotton and traces its journey through the supply chain using FibreTrace® technology, itself being applied beyond cotton to assist in the transparency of fibres from wool to recycled polyester.

Both David and Danielle see a future where agricultural enterprises enthusiastically contribute to their individual supply chains. They believe technology plays an instrumental role in the retention of the brightest minds to continue the evolution of sustainable agriculture, and invest accordingly. Sundown Pastoral Company is in great hands for future growth and to continue its role as both a leading regenerative agricultural enterprise as well as disrupter within the global fashion supply chain.