From cattle and crops to vineyards and gum tree valleys, Canberra's title as "the bush capital" is in the middle of one of its biggest transformation periods in its history, farmers say.
Paul Keir's family have been farming in the Majura Valley for five generations on agricultural land with some of the ACT's richest soil.
Many of his neighbours' properties also pre-date Canberra becoming Australia's capital, and together they have a bold vision to elevate the region's agritourism industry.
They think it could bring thousands of tourists — and hundreds of millions of dollars — to the ACT.
"I want people to spend a day here, with the animals, and kids can get their hands dirty," Mr Keir, who runs horses on his property, said.
His property, Springfield, is fewer than 5 kilometres from Canberra Airport, which will resume international flights this year, and a stone's throw from world-class vineyards, a truffle farm, farm gate and prime mountain biking country further up the valley.
But there's one thing stalling the area from flourishing.
"Most of the farmers are on very short-term leases, and they don't know when that's going to be pulled out from under them," said Frank van de Loo, the winemaker at Mount Majura Vineyard.
"If they had a tenure over their land they would know that they had security, they could borrow some money [and invest]."
Historically land in the valley has been granted to farmers through 99-year leases, but the ACT government hasn't offered long term leases since 2004.
The government has decades-long plans that could industrialise the Eastern Broadacre area, which stretches from Majura Valley to Hume and includes Symonston and the Jerrabomberra Valley.
"The ACT government has identified parts of the eastern side of the ACT, known as Eastern Broadacre, as a potential future employment, industrial and related uses corridor," the Planning Directorate said.
The ACT government said the region is currently undergoing environmental assessment, which could take several years.
But in the meantime, farmers remain in limbo.
"If the government decided they needed that land, they give the land holder 90 days to leave the site, because they don't own it," Majura Valley Landcare Group vice-chair Sherry McArdle-English said.
"It's been very stressful, we've [now] been offered a 25 year lease but it hasn't been signed off yet, and certainly it leaves you in no man's land," Mr Keir said.
"For the last 20 years I've been in a position where I didn't really want to invest in the property with the uncertainty that it may be needed for something else."
After consultation with the ACT government in recent months, Mr Keir thinks there is potential for the area to become home to a blossoming agriculture industry as well as light industry, as long as it's done properly.
"We're not saying you can't use any farmland to do any new development, but you should do it strategically," Mr van de Loo said.
"We have to make sure agritourism is part of that [future] because there's a danger in that being forgotten or overlooked.
"Once you go and put some building or some industry or some factory there, it's gone forever, so this is something that we have to get right."
