BM
This is a West Wimmera Health Service podcast. Presented by me, Brigitte Muir.
This series focuses around stories and issues related to health and wellbeing. Some of the people we hear from are sharing their stories, hoping that their experiences will help us with our own health and wellbeing. Please be aware that some of their life experiences may touch on issues that are sensitive to some. Please listen with care. You will find information on seeking help if you need it in the notes attached to each episode.
100 rural women, under one roof for the day, that's what recently happened in Rupanyup. A sell-out event that left no doubt as to the enthusiasm that women of the country have for health and wellbeing on farms. Here are a few voices from that assembly starting with organiser Katherine Colbert.
KC
My name is Katherine Colbert, and I'm the Business Development Officer at Partners in Ag.
BM
Rupanyup a place to Gather Grow and Thrive…
KC
Yeah
BM
Tell me about it?
KC
So today is about getting… 100 rural women into a room. The morning will be about personal development, working on resources… and, and tips on how to manage…. the effects of drought and building mental resilience for difficult times on the farm. The afternoon we have Celebrity Chef Simon Bryant doing a cooking demonstration using Rupanyup lentils, which is very exciting.
BM
It certainly is. It's kind of hard enough to talk about resilience in the time of drought, when it's so wet all around or isn't it?
KC
It is, yes. But now, it's the perfect time to be building your resilience when things are looking good. You're in a good frame of mind in terms of the season… and what you're doing on your farm at that minute. So now is the best time.
BM
Planning.
KC
Yes, yes. planning for the future.
BM
Women on Farms. Do you think there was a sense of isolation, when you are a woman living on a farm even if you are a member of a family?
KC
I think… being a woman on farm can be isolating and days like this… really help to bring people together to socialise. And also I think… the role of the woman on farm has definitely changed over the last generation in particular and that will change again, moving forward into the future. So we're seeing a lot more women are hands on, on the farm and taking on more of the business management …and in the paddock day to day operations. So we are providing them… with a day out… to dress up socialise and connect with other like-minded women.
BM
Okay, so we've gone from the wife going out to work to support the farm, to the woman being a lot more active on the farm itself.
KC
Yes, there's, there’s still quite a lot of people working off farm as well to supplement their income, which is… a really important aspect of a farm. Obviously during years of drought that off farm income is really important.
BM
What, what do you think women will take from this meeting today? Apart from a wonderful meal with local ingredients and lovely wine.
KC
Today they will… take away the things that they can action and implement in themselves as an individual building on their, their mental wellbeing taking the time out for themselves and really having a look at how they can look after themselves, to then be able to look after their family, their farm and their farm staff. So that's a really important part of today.
BM
Putting you as number one, basically
KC
Correct, yes
BM
Because if you're not in good shape you can't look after anybody
KC
That’s it …and you know, we often hear that the women of the house take on a lot of the mental workload… that is often the unseen side of family life and farm life. So, yeah, today is about developing mechanisms and resources… for them to take home and implement it in their business and in their personal life
BM
and hopefully be able to make more time for themselves with other women, perhaps, that they will meet at this gathering.
KC
Yes, we've already had questions about next year's event *chuckles*. Which is wonderful, but… for me personally I'd like to get through today first.
KC & BM
*Chuckles*
BM
And you are doing and will do a wonderful job. Thank you so much for organising this. It's a beautiful gathering.
KC
Thank you, Brigitte, that's wonderful.
BM
Let’s start with your name and your position please Jo.
JB
Joe Burke, my position is probably, just a Rupanyup community member.
BM
Why are you here… at the gathering of women in agriculture?
JB
I'm not a farmer, but I think living in Rupanyup the whole community is based on agriculture. So, we need to, to just have an awareness of what's going on, going out for lunch with a heap of women was…sounds attractive… and post COVID I've been reluctant to go out… I'm actually… forcing myself… this is the biggest gathering I've been in for a long time.
BM
We've been talking about resilience and drought in women on farm and you've been quite instrumental in reducing the risk of droughts on farms, haven't you?
JB
Well, not so much reducing the risk of drought but securing water. I was involved in… developing the business plan for the Wimmera Mallee pipeline. I'm really proud of that… because it's actually changed… what our region is and what it can be in the future. We've got the most secure water available for agriculture… probably in the world now. I think people in the region… are probably losing their appreciation of that. We went through the millennial drought and communities really suffered and that drove the implementation of the pipeline. So we did it very quickly. That now, you know, enables secure water… great water quality and we can… plan for the future knowing that we have access to a secure water supply.
BM
Does it mean that what people grow is gonna change?
JB
That’s changing anyway, just with technology and development in the grain sector. It gives people… security to invest in agriculture in the region. It's enabled us to have a livestock industry again, because, you know, during the 90s and early in the 2000s, we lost that sector, really, people got out of sheep and cattle whereas now, the… people are diversifying on their farms and that just adds to the sustainability of agriculture.
BM
I was gonna ask you about sustainability of the whole water system, because getting water to farms, even with a pipeline that assumes that there is water available to distribute….
JB
Yeah
BM
So how can you be sure that, that water is not going to run out?
JB
A lot of work went into… the planning and design of the pipeline, the channel system pre… previously, by the time it delivered across the region, we lost over 90% of the water, to seepage and evaporation. So when we did the design of the pipeline, the majority of the water savings were actually returned back to the environment. The water that's actually used in our communities and on farms is a… fairly small percentage of the actual regional water available. In my mind, one of the drivers, personally was to get the water back into the environment because agriculture in our communities, the wellbeing of our people is totally reliant on… the sustainable environment. Delivering water for agriculture… was a benefit but actually the biggest benefit, which I think has been lost a lot, has been that we actually made our environment more sustainable. And that goes to… sustainable now and into the future, giving us more choices in what we, we want to do or can do in the region.
BM
Wellbeing of course is the linked to the kind of environment you live in.
JB
Absolutely, just a small example, before, with the channel supply of water here in Rupanyup, I couldn't grow tomatoes. I couldn't have a vegetable garden because the water was too salty that was delivered by the channels. Now we've got drinking quality water to our whole community and… we've got vegetable gardens just everywhere, and we've got a community garden, those sorts of things add to the wellbeing. But I think it's also about… building confidence. Yeah, having a more sustainable environment generally builds confidence in people's planning, not just economically but their community and their personal wellbeing. So it all flows on.
BM
Yes…and community is very important when you live in a small town.
JB
It is…it’s one of the foundations for pretty much everything we do.
BM
Do you see many people coming from the outside to live in small country towns like Rupanyup?
JB
Yeah…One of the issues we've got at the moment… is that with real estate trends, and we've had quite a few people come into… Rupanyup and other small communities during COVID, and we haven't had the opportunity to absorb them into our communities. So we've got this… it's not even a group of people, all these individuals…in Rupanyup, we've probably got about… seven or eight houses, that I've identified of people that have come in, that are not connected to our community yet. So we've got a bit of a job to do to actually make sure that those people get engaged in… community activities and absorbed into things like the service clubs and… football, sport and those sorts of things, so that their wellbeing matches what the rest of the community has.
BM
Now, on this podcast we've been talking to a lot of male farmers… a few women but… what I would like to ask you now is how important do you think is the role of women in rural community, whether they live on a farm or in a small town?
JB
When I came here to the Wimmera in… probably 40 years ago, there would have been very few women that identified as farmers, whereas now there's growing numbers of people that view you know, they're in a farming partnership or actively working on the farm. And I see that women take a greater interest in things like… health and safety… often the financial side of farming, which is so important, the marketing side… and not just acting as a support to the male… partner in the farm. You, know there's an equality of input… even if there's off farm work as well. It's been a fairly significant shift
BM
Seems to me that… the relationships on farms and families now, is a lot more balanced. Perhaps than it used to be
JB
Yeah…part of it is that… women compared to 40 or 50 years ago, have a different skill set, have different interests. I think we're better at succession planning. When I first came up here, we knew of multiple instances where there was the son, the father and the grandfather all working on the farm and… the decision making was held by the older person, whereas now… that transition to …younger members of the family is happening more formally, and earlier.
BM
So it's healthier for everybody.
JB
Healthier…yes, it just makes sense.
BM
It certainly does. Yes. Thank you. So much for your time this morning, it was a pleasure talking with you.
JB
Thank you
KI
My name is Kazz Inkster, and I'm a farmer from Warracknabeal.
BM
And I've interviewed your husband, haven’t I?
KI
You have, Daniel Keam is my partner. Yes, you've interviewed him about attending fit farmers, which is… the most fabulous thing… to see guys who didn't have that social connection and every week they keep going, and they just paid… between them they chipped in $1,200 to buy a cake at an online auction, which is supporting a family locally with cancer but these guys came together as a group and bid $1,200 for a packet mix cake.
BM &KI
*Chuckles*
BM
That’s fantastic
KI
I love that these guys had this… like sense and what that activity of fit farmers has given to them. It's fabulous. Yeah.
BM
Beautiful. Tell me about your role on the farm as a woman.
KI
My role on the farm as a woman has… changed quite a lot. I grew up on the farm, and then I left and I went, and I've worked in advertising in Melbourne for the last 100 years. Just as I'd finished working in… Stuttgart, Germany, I came back to Melbourne… and I was making my contacts to go in New York and… I fell in love with farmer, so… I moved to Wallup… rather than New York. So when I came back I didn't see any opportunity to work in advertising because we don't have advertising agencies in the country. So I went in and worked for the local government in the CMA, which was fabulous and I learnt a lot, like I was on a massive learning curve and it was fabulous, and I met wonderful people. But on the farm I came back and my partner worked with his uncle and aunty… there wasn't a place for me there. I'd grown up driving the headers and tractors and you know, moving stuff and… his uncle wasn't comfortable, I don't think, with me… being actively working on the farm. There was never, can you shift the field bin? Can you drive the header? All of the things that I've done in my childhood… that… all of a sudden, it was never told I couldn't… but there was definitely never… an embrace of my abilities. And the dynamic is tricky, the uncle, nephew dynamic was really tricky, it’s not a father, son, it's one step removed, and it was hard. I wish now I had to put myself in the middle of that, hindsight is 20 20 and I wish I had helped them, probably to communicate better, but at the time I was like, ‘oh, there is no place for me here’ so I went off and worked, and… met another friend… who had… worked in Melbourne as well in an advertising agency, and moved back to the country when she had her baby. We met when our babies were in musical tots together, and she was account services and strategy, and I was creative, we started as a side hustle, just doing a few jobs here and there, that grew and grew until we got rid of our jobs, and we now have Aubrey and Areegga, an advertising agency based out of Warracknabeal, which… we, never would have done if we're still in the city, there was, there would be no way you would run your own agency down there. So it's been… an interesting path with that, but at the same time… running parallel my agency, I've stepped more into the farm, and my partner's uncle and aunty have retired. So now it's Daniel and myself. And when I first came back, I was like, ‘Oh, I'm an art director. Why am I doing a bass?’ like I had no idea how to do all of this side of stuff and I had to learn and I felt intimidated and it was heavy. As I've come along, my confidence has obviously grown, but also, I don't know what I don't know. So now I have an advisor, I have a fantastic accountant, that I've seen myself more as a CEO role where I gather all the information and my advisor will run different scenarios. I'm like ‘we're thinking about doing this’ and he will run the numbers for me and then… we gather the information and make the decisions. The emotion of farming is massive, and I love the farm, but sometimes you need to remove that emotion to make the right decisions for our business. Our business advisors fabulous in he does that he can help really remove the emotion from what we do and… helps us with those decision making, and our whole thing is not regretting decisions, we make them at the time with the best information available. Whether it be, you know selling the last of the lentils or whether it be investing in a major piece of equipment. We've made that decision with good knowledge around us and we can sleep easy at night. Which I never had that for a long time, I always was second guessing myself and felt really awkward and… uncomfortable and sick with stress, up all night stressing about millions of dollars that we… invest in our farms. And now I'm at a point where I can actually breathe a little bit easier. *chuckles*
BM
That’s wonderful. You've been creating jobs and supported local jobs as well.
KI
Absolutely. Whenever my load gets too much, I've got three children, a farm and a business. We don't believe in prioritising all that, we just tilt, you just lean into and when you're doing well in one thing, it just means another part of your life you're not quite doing as well, but then next week, you can pick up over there and balance is bullshit. I do not believe in it. There is no way to balance the mayhem of advertising, farming… So many factors beyond our control. So just lean into whatever you get given on that week, and we call it tilting, we're just like ‘this week I'm tilting to…’ you know, ‘helping my child if he needs some extra health services and stuff’. So I'm tilting to that this week and next week I'll be tilting back to the farm because I better pay some bills. But I'm also really big… in making sure… I've got my own… business and I'm independent. I am financially tied to the farm obviously. But… I still have something that makes me happy and gives me joy. And I damn well know, that I can support my household in years of drought, through my wage there. But it also gives me… something… away from the farm. And something else for me, and my partner. It's to both our benefits to have that balance…
BM
That's called balance.
KI
It is *laughter* strike a balance *chuckles*
BM
Thank you so much for your time Kazz.
KI
No worries, thank you.
BM
You can go back to the workshop.
KI
Okay. Bye
CM
Hello, I'm Claire Morgan. I live in Rupanyup, and I'm a farmer… and I have a boutique store… in Rupanyup, and I… also have a chickpea flour brownie mix called Rupanyup Living Brownies and… we package that here in Rupanyup as well.
BM
It sounds to me like you use your imagination a lot.
CM
Yeah, I'm a creative… so, I enjoy what I do and it doesn't feel like work. I started the boutique because I wanted to have something else… off farm for myself and also to give back to the community, somewhere for people to gather in town, shop locally, and yeah, basically support each other
BM
Value adding on a farm is something that doesn't happen a lot, does it?
CM
No, I just… my husband is a farmer and also… really enjoys delivering our hay and grain to dairy farmers and… has met some amazing people with that. And when he was doing that… and meeting these people, and you know, you grow the crop… from a seed and then you deliver… it to a dairy farm and the cows eat the grain and the hay and produce milk. I sort of saw this path of enjoyment… in him being able to get off the farm, and do that as well as grow the crops, and I saw that as a really wonderful thing, and just thought my brownies is you know, we grow these chickpeas, let's cook with chickpea flour and share that. So I sort of went down that manufacturing and value adding as you said…yeah… I love the power of food. We always have seen ourselves as ‘oh yeah we’re just a farmer’… and I thought ‘no, we're more than that’. Yes, we work really hard and we grow these crops but we're feeding the world. This is powerful, the power of food and how it brings people together.
BM
How long ago did you start doing it?
CM
Six years ago, we started playing around with the chickpea flour. I've never cooked with chickpeas before. I grew up on a beef farm so hadn't had much exposure to legumes and pulses, so when I started experimenting… with the flour, I realised that it doesn't raise very high with like self-raising flour. So the chickpea brownies worked really well… then we started cooking it for people visiting our boutique shop in town and then… everyone just loved it. And said to me ‘Claire, you really should package this is an amazing product’. I went down that path of manufacturing and as you said like it's value adding to what we grow, but it's bringing people back to the region, back to small towns to have a taste of the chickpea brown and a coffee and those conversations around food and bringing people together is wonderful.
BM
And I think that this COVID period that we've had, has done a lot for… making people realise in big cities that there is life outside the city.
CM
Yeah
BM
and good life to be had.
CM
Absolutely. I love that… we're building this bridge… that we're bringing people closer to where their food is from. So I really enjoy this space and sharing that with as many people as possible. Nothing beats coming out to the rural towns, and regions, and meeting the people that grow the food and sharing it
BM
And this meeting today. This gathering is just amazing. What are you… What do you think you'll get out of it?
CM
This has been something we've worked on for many years. We're gonna get a lot out of it, learning how to be resilient, how to support their farming business, how to be stronger. Yeah, we're we're gonna be stronger, I think… networking making new friends
BM
Sometimes… I mean, I know you've got your shop in town, but if you just living on a farm and you don't have an outside job for a woman it can be isolating. I presume.
CM
Absolutely. I think that's probably the reason I did the shop as well. I'm very social …and I probably saw mum, stayed home and raised us three kids and yeah, it’s isolating. I've wanted to be more than that, and I love the farm, and I love what I do, and raising my children but I needed something else. If I didn't do that I wouldn't have met some amazing people. I'm so very grateful for the opportunity to have my boutique store. But the people I've met through that, like there's a lady here today… that I've met many years ago who lives at Warrnambool on a farm, who's come up today to… the event and people that we have met.
BM
You've got the best of both worlds.
CM
Yeah, it's great. So I just hope that all the people here today really enjoy the experience and the, the friendships and conversations and connections, and so far it's been a wonderful morning and really happy with the day.
BM
Thank you very much, it's been lovely talking with you, Claire.
CM
Thank you.
BM
May I have your name first please?
SF
Yeah…Stephanie Funck
BM
and you are a woman who lives on a farm.
SF
Yes, I am. Yep.
BM
What's the most important part of health and wellbeing for you on the farm?
SF
Health and wellbeing, look… looking after yourself, making sure that you make time for yourself, getting involved in the community. When I first arrived in Minyip, we live on a farm just out of Minyip, I didn't know anyone, I didn't, obviously I didn't have any kids, I wasn't married. When I became married, I knew… that I had to get involved with the community because I still didn't have any children. Getting involved into the community then became… be…came when we got into kinder and then in school and now it's, you know, now you're everywhere and it become… yeah…just part of the furniture.
BM
And there is actually a health and safety… program on right now in the room and I know you want to go and listen to it, so I think I need to release you *chuckles* and because of course… keeping safety for the children is very important on the farm.
SF
Oh most definitely. Safety guards, augers is one of… one thing that I am just petrified of… PTO machinery, kids not knowing where to not have their… hands and feet and being aware of, of machinery and their, their spatial awareness of machinery and grain and, and stuff there's…
BM
So there's a lot of education going on with your children?
SF
Well… well and truely things can happen in a split second and they can be fatal. Yeah, kids really need to know what's going on. For sure.
BM
And that's why the parents are there.
SF
Yeah
BM
And I am sure you do a great job
SF
Thank you very much. *Chuckles* We try. *Chuckles* Thank you
JG
I’m Jenn Grigg so I'm Programs Manager for agriculture and transport prevention programs with WorkSafe
BM
and your here in Rupanyup, addressing this wonderful gathering and talking about…
JG
… keeping safe on farms
BM
…and the role of women?
JG
Absolutely. Women are the, the change agents… that will really make a difference, when it keeps their family, including their children safe on farms. They've got a really important role to play and an event like this as an opportunity to sort of stop and think about their role and what they can do to make a difference on their farm.
BM
So what do you think the women in this gathering will take home? Will they change their way of doing things?
JG
I hope they gain a voice… and not only just on their family farm but in their community, and try and get that groundswell going that… it's, you know, it's everyone's responsibility. But they've got an opportunity now to, to actually take some tips and whatever that may be, whatever might work for them, but get the conversation going… in their community, because that's what will make a difference.
BM
Yeah and I guess, as a woman isolated on the farm, you don't have the power of the group behind you and realising that all these other women are in the same position is very empowering, isn't it?
JG
It is very empowering. I know when I was farming, you do, do feel isolated and you feel like you're sort of the only voice. But when you start talking to others and it doesn't matter, it doesn't need to be a special forum. It can be just, you know, school drop off or pickup time you start bringing farm safety into the conversation. Then suddenly there is a change, and there is a group… that are actually making a difference. So I think that's… it doesn't have to be formalised. And I just think women are…are probably the most important people out there… that are actually going to impact the fatalities and… the injuries… that are horrific. Agriculture is one of the most high risk occupations and I think in Victoria, we’re responsible for 14% of fatalities, with 2% of the workforce. That's horrendous. You know, some of the small rural communities… do have a great opportunity… to reduce those stats
BM
And…and it’s from, from your speech earlier on I caught that it was mostly older men
JG
It’s mostly older men. Yeah. And often that's generational, you know, they've spent… perhaps not being formalised… in their… training and education around safety or OH&S as we call, occupational health and safety. They've learned… all their farming practices from grandparents, parents, yeah, some farmers are fifth generation. So there's a huge mindset… there… that either it won't happen to me, or… it's hobby farmers or… it's just common sense, I don't really need to bring it into my daily farming activity… or some also, are not aware that actually it does impact their bottom line by staying safe. They think it's a cost. I can't afford it. I don't have the time. All these excuses when in effect if there's one serious accident on their farm, it can just change their world.
BM
Safety is an investment
JG
It is an absolute investment. And that's where I think, the, you know, farming women… have got such an important part to play. You know, a lot of women are… very hands on with their farm or they may not be so hands on, it doesn't matter. Their still part of the farming enterprise. And this is a business decision, they need to make, that we are going to keep our family and our workers safe.
BM
Yes. And I think as a woman, it's also easier… somehow to… have that mindset that you look after people. You make sure that, you know, you've got your lunchbox or…*Chuckles* you do this, you do that
JG
Yeah… they do it so well, they do it so well. And they might not feel they've got a strong voice in their farm. But, I think this is one area… where they do have a strong voice and they need to be creating some of those boundaries and rules whether it's their kids, or their workers, or themselves… you lead by example. But as well just get the conversations going. Just as a normal part of their daily work. It's around keeping everyone safe.
BM
It certainly is. Thank you very much for your time, Jenn.
JG
My pleasure, my pleasure.
BM
Jen Grigg, there completing the voices from the 2022 Gather Grow Thrive women on farm day in Rupanyup.
You will find us always contact numbers and details in the notes attached to this episode. And while you're at it please give us a star rating. We'd also love to hear your comments and suggestions. Our Facebook and Twitter details are in the notes. Until next, have a healthy life won’t you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai edited by WWHS Health Promotion Team