By Skye Manson in partnership with Flemings Rural
Over the last few weeks I’ve been chatting with local women about their role in the family farming operation and how it’s changed over time, even how it’s changed in the short time they have been living and working in our local communities.
Most of these conversations have started with talk about the weather. ‘Have you had any rain?,’ ‘Are you feeding yet?’
This is not uncommon.
No matter what you do on a farm – equal partnership with equal physical exhaustion, book keeping or no defined ‘role’ – weather chat has is currency in rural communities and has been for generations. Naturally, women (and men) cash in on that.
Traditionally a females role in farming family operations has, I think, been quite fluid, illusive even making its value hard to quantify.
For example, I once had a conversation about a close friends mother-in-law who bookended every day of her married life with a counselling session for her husband – about the challenges of farming life.
What’s changed in recent times is that females are equally educated and financially just as ambitious as their male farming counterparts.
They want their part in things too.
And so, while traditional farming roles still hold true, the value of the entire operation is elevated by the presence of brilliant women – who are enablers to bigger thinking resulting in the diversity of business that we now see in rural and regional Australia.
Richie Fleming of Flemings Rural says this is something he sees all the time in his professional life.
“Over the past decade, it’s become increasingly clear to me that women are playing a much more active and influential role in shaping the future of farming operations. Whether it’s inspecting properties with the intent to purchase or being involved in key decisions around selling, their presence and input are not only visible – they’re driving meaningful outcomes,” he says.
But it’s not limited to conversations about buying and selling land, Richie acknowledges a fresh dynamic emerging in the communities Flemings Rural services (Boorowa, Harden, Cootamundra, Young and Cowra) and this, he says is shifting the dial on what’s possible in regional communities.
“Traditionally, farming has been seen as a male-dominated and often change-resistant industry. But the growing involvement of women is bringing a fresh perspective – encouraging innovation, adaptability, and a more forward-thinking approach across the board.”
If I think about my own farming community, there are not many families that earn an income solely from farming. More often than not it’s the external income, the diversification, that subsidies the way of life that is family farming.
This is not true for everyone, there are certainly many family farms that need no other form of cash flow to remain viable but for many, some form of external work is necessary and this is where the role of women around the kitchen table of family farming operations has changed.
Some of these pursuits started out of financial necessity, others wanted to marry rural life with ambitious business ideas and in one case she did not want to have anything to do with farming at all.
Rachael Lenehan, Rachael Lenehan Photography
Rachael Lenehan has two full time jobs: one in agriculture and one taking photos for some of the biggest players in the Australian ag industry.
When we spoke, Rachael was planning to get up at 4.00am the following day to be in Canberra by 6.30am, take photos for the Federal Budget, edit them to be rolled out for media releases before racing back down the highway to be home in time to feed (sheep).
Having grown up on a farm near Jugiong, Rachael says owing her own parcel of land has always been her business ambition.
In 2014 she bought 500 acres at Murringo between Young and Boorowa.
“A small block,” she says, that was run down and in need of attention.
“I think this is my dream, I just wanted a little something for me. I just love farming, I think it is the greatest thing in the world even though it’s really hard.”
It was clear from the beginning that another source of income would be necessary.
She worked in a piggery, did contract farm work and book keeping for a local firm and then, seeking a more creative outlet she fell into photography doing courses at night time and practicing shots on her beloved cattle in the late afternoons.
“Most of my shooting happens in the afternoons. I prefer it that way. It means I can get up, get down to the paddocks, see the animals are fine and everything’s ok. It means my mind is so much clearer if I can get in the ute and leave for a shoot knowing the animals are all good.”
Now her photography work is in demand by some of the biggest players – government and corporate – in the Australian ag industry.
The success of her two businesses has come about through careful financial management, and an eye for risk.
“I think I was really lucky because I got my farm for a really good price and as a single female I put myself into some breathable debt. I think the photography has helped me pay that off quicker because I only had the farm for I think two years and then we went into drought,” she says.
“I just think it’s really important for people to think bigger and spread their risk around. Farming can be very, very rewarding but it can also suck the life out of you financially, so I think if you can spread your risk it just means you can sleep a bit better at night,” she says.
The tone of business conversation around the kitchen table at Lou and Dave Crawford’s farm ‘Numby’ started to shift recently.
Dave Crawford’s family bought ‘Numby’ a 6000 hectare grazing property near Reid’s Flat in 2000. He’s been running things for 20 years and Lou, originally from Booligal near Hay, moved to the farm when she and Dave were married 12 years ago. In 2018 the couple split from the family partnership to run the property independently.
Lou’s role in this partnership is not dissimilar to that of many women on farms.
First and foremost she’s a mother, who can slip into the role of farm hand at a minutes notice while looking after the financial management of the business in between juggling the demands of a family of five while living 45 minutes from town.
Any decisions about stock, equipment, expansion, projects or sales are informally treated as a 50/50 decision. The pair complete budgeting together enabling them both to be abreast of the financial position of the business at any one time.
“I suppose there’s a natural kind of division of roles. Dave’s very familiar with what’s happening out in the paddock and the livestock and market conditions and I’m probably more in touch with the finances of the business. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”
But when the children started school and Lou had more time on her hands – a simmering dream to do up the original bluestone homestead, nestled down by the Lachlan, bubbled to the surface.
Like so many women at this stage of life, Lou wanted to build a venture of her own.
Rove Numby is the result.
A walking weekend, hosted by Lou, where city siders and hiking enthusiasts alike can be totally immersed in the stunning surroundings of their farm.
Run on weekends in autumn and spring, Lou drives guests to the old homestead in a side-by-side before setting off on a walk up and down the hills the farm before end-of-day drinks with their feet in the river.
Sleeping is in white eco tents and all meals are cooked and served in the old homestead by local friend Heidi Castleden.
I mean, how heaven.
Surely the mere existence of a business like this is inspiration to women on farms everywhere.
The creation of farm stays, BnB and accomodation is not new in rural Australia, but it is more common and accessible now.
Not matter how many there are, each business brings to light the personal touches of its owner and contributes to widening the diversity and expression of rural communities.
Steph Fowler: Bulla Creek Brewing Co
Steph Fowler’s family farm is near Monteagle, 28km from Young in the Hilltops region of NSW. She’s the the youngest of four siblings in the fifth generation of her family to be living there but surprisingly her vocation now has nothing to do with farming.
In July 2021 just after the birth of their first daughter, Steph and her husband upended their city lives to realise a dream of opening a brewery on Steph’s farm. Because it was Covid they both continued to work their jobs remotely, Steph as a consultant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Mike for a global engineering company while work began in earnest building the brewery which already had DA approval.
“Mike and I were never wanting to be part of the farm operation. I always had this dream that I would like to move back to the farm but I never really thought I would because we sort of had our city corporate jobs. There didn’t really seem to be any avenue and the brewery created that avenue,” says Steph.
Her father and brother still run the farm and a succession plan has enabled Mike and Steph to have their own parcel of land near the creek where Bulla Creek Brewing Co now sits.
There is so much to love about this arrangement.
In days gone by for women particularly, no matter how strong the desire to return home, it was challenging – culturally and logistically – unless they or their husbands were a ‘farmer’.
Many rural and regional families have spent generations building an unbreakably strong connection to place and community- and to me it seems such a waste for that beautiful cultural legacy to be thrown away.
It’s so wonderful to observe that more and more family farming operations are thinking innovatively about facilitating the next generation to exist in these communities while honouring the decades of education and career building that’s occurring outside of agriculture and farming.
Bulla Creek Brewing Co is a beautiful example of this.
Steph and Mike live in the same house Steph grew up in.
Mike who last year received a redundancy is now able to fully hone his long held passion for making great beer.
Steph plays an equal part in the beer business too, while continuing her work as a consultant to large organisations inside and outside of rural Australia. This is good for the bottom line.
The larger family unit is intact, living in close proximity to one another and watching on as the next generation grow and flourish.
A new and exciting brewery now exists in this rural community.
The local economy benefits and the non traditional tourism industry is given a boost.
Steph and Mike add diversity to things from their years spent living and working in London and Melbourne.
There’s even diversity in the type of beer locals can now drink!
Everyone is winning.