Women in Agriculture - June 2022

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Grant help ‘life changing’

By Fiona Gowers “Life changing” is how Patricia Eats from The University of Queensland’s School of Veterinary Science describes winning an AgriFutures Rural Women’s Acceleration Grant.

The grant is an AgriFutures Australia program, developed to foster growth and development in women involved in Australia’s rural and emerging industries, businesses and communities.

Ms Eats of Gatton won the bursary for developing a social initiative that will champion animal-empathetic workers passionate about working in Australian livestock industries.

“I was very, very lucky to be a person who was successful,” she said. “It has given me a massive push in the right direction.

“It was such an incredible experience receiving that call and having that sense of reinforcement of the things I am trying to achieve.

“It was amazing to know that the AgriFutures team saw the value and importance in my idea and that they were willing to support such an important cause.

“I was aware of the poor emotional and mental well-being across animal agriculture industries throughout my earlier life and career and recognised the need to do something about that.”

To combat ongoing labour shortages, Ms Eats seeks to improve the capacity of young agricultural animal care workers for lifelong wellbeing and long-term career satisfaction.

“My social initiative will use existing networks to identify candidates who would most benefit from the services offered through a nomination process, including self-nomination,” she said.

“Ideal candidates are those who demonstrate passion for and conviction to their agricultural animal care roles and who would stay in the industry permanently or long-term if they could.

“Often we lose good animal people to jobs that offer more recognition and reward, with more secure, stable or sociable hours, and which offer better workplace conditions.”

Ms Eats said the goals, ambitions, skills and interests of each candidate would be used to create a strategy of personal and professional development.

“We’ll do this by using resources, a community of allied technical and professional mentors and other training options to best facilitate the selected candidates’ ideal vision of their career.

“We will use a holistic approach.

“So, if it is animal health, I will partner them with a vet or a training program to develop that aspect of their knowledge and professional skills.

“If personal relationships are problematic, I may introduce psychological or counselling services to help them to master that.

Patricia Eats has won an AgriFutures Rural Women’s Acceleration grant. She will develop a social initiative that will champion animal-empathetic workers passionate about working in Australian livestock industries.

Picture: MICHELE HAMILTON “Or, connection to financial management services to help people to budget their money and be able to benefit from that.”

The goal of this ambitious project is to retain the best animal care professionals within the industry by keeping them in good health, with a clear view of where their careers are heading.

“This will demonstrate the ethic and value that we, as a society, place in having the right people doing animal care work in animal production systems,” Ms Eats said.

“Broad, positive ripple effects will follow.”

Ms Eats will continue to promote her social initiative to wider markets, with a book proposal for a broad, consumer audience under development and set for release this year.

“I intend for my social initiative to start in the dairy industry and grow to include all agricultural animal industries, should it become a viable and popularly supported enterprise,” she said.

“My dream is that my initiative will grow and expand beyond Australia.

Continued page 18

Patricia Eats aged four was raised on a mixed-enterprise farm on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia.

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Working towards safety

By Fiona Gowers Goondiwindi cotton grower and practising psychologist Chantal Corish is aiming to create safer working environments on cotton farms.

Ms Corish has recently received a scholarship to undertake a PhD with Central Queensland University (CQU) and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC).

Her PhD project is a vital part of ensuring resources and outcomes are evidence-based and lead to improved practical outcomes for the cotton industry workforce.

Ms Corish will explore the effect of psychological safety on team learning, performance and wellbeing among cotton farming employees to achieve optimal positive workforce culture and workplace sustainability.

“I have worked as a psychologist in rural Australia for more than 15 years and I am also a partner in a cotton farming enterprise,” she said.

“I am very keen to use my reasonably unique position to help further the knowledge and understanding of farm worker needs in the cotton industry and more broadly across Australian agriculture.”

Further research on the topic of psychological safety and learning in the workplace was a recommendation that came from the CRDCfunded Understanding and Planning for the Future Cotton Industry Workforce project.

Principal supervisor Nicole McDonald said there was growing interest in the utility of psychological safety in modern workplaces.

And, the belief that individuals could engage in interpersonal risk-taking at work without negative consequences such as ridicule or rejection.

Chantal Corish has worked as a psychologist in rural Australia for more than 15 years and is a partner in a Goondiwindi cotton farming enterprise.

“This factor is associated with improved team learning and performance and wellbeing in the workplace,” she said.

Dr McDonald said much of the workforce development happened “on the job“ and when formal training occurred but this didn’t always translate to improved job performance on the farm.

“It is therefore vital that we explore ways to unlock the workforce potential to develop their skills as cotton industry businesses adapt and change into the future,” she said.

“Investigating psychological safety in the farm work context may be one way to do that.

“With this in mind, we were on the hunt for a candidate for whom this topic was of interest, who would be able to come in and take ownership of exploring this within

the cotton industry.

“When Chantal applied for the PhD position, it was clear we’d found someone who had already been looking into workplace culture, wellbeing and positive psychology concepts within agricultural communities and was looking to answer her own questions on the topic too.”

The Australian cotton industry employs more than 12,000 people across 1500 farms each property directly creating jobs for an average of nine people.

Ms Corish said despite a significant contribution to employment in Australia, the cotton industry had conducted limited research into best practice workplace culture and employee wellbeing – factors that significantly impact productivity and production in

other researched industries.

“My research proposal seeks to better understand the factors that lead to a psychologically safe workplace,” she said “And, how psychological safety, which is a factor significantly associated with workplace wellbeing, team learning and performance, can be utilised within cotton farm work environments to enhance the employment experience for cotton farm employees.

“Attraction and retention of staff is a major issue for agriculture generally and is very much an issue for cotton growers.

“I am motivated to find solutions for the industry through this PhD.” The research, which will take three years to complete, is funded by the CRDC and CQUniversity’s Elevate Scholarship.

AgriFutures acceleration grant ‘life changing’ From page 17 “That we will see many deserving people and communities flourish through the cultural embracement of the meaningfulness of the good work of amazing production animal carers.”

Ms Eats comes from a mixed-enterprise farm on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia with cereal cropping, hay, floriculture, meat and wool sheep, beef and dairying enterprises.

After share-farming the family dairy for years, Ms Eats did an Animal Science degree with Honours and raised her son in SA before moving to Queensland to take up PhD candidature.

Recognising academic misunderstand-

ing of animal agriculture people, Ms Eats’ PhD researches occupational wellbeing in subtropical dairy. Her Graduate Certificate in Agricultural Health and Medicine studies confirmed the current policies and practices were inadequate to protect the health and wellbeing of best-fit workers.

“At an academic level, I felt like there were grave misunderstandings of the motivations and purpose of people pursuing agricultural careers,” Ms Eats said.

“Through observing people we employed on our family farm and while working in subsequent roles, I’ve seen broad variability of engagement of employees in their animal care roles.”

Ms Eats said “usually” the degree of per-

sonal investment in animal care suggested suitability to a permanent or long-term career in livestock care.

“But, this can be unrecognised and unrewarded in real terms.

“For some employees, their job was really just an exchange of hours for money, rather than an investment of self into that role.

“But I observed that those who fully engaged themselves in their animal care roles still struggled to find stable hours and financial security.

“They’re often under-employed, engaged on a casual basis and with significant seasonal fluctuations to navigate. It seemed unfair.”

Ms Eats said winning the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Acceleration Grant has

changed her life.

“And, I needed it,” she said. “I was at a really dark moment in my life, questioning my direction a little bit and it kind of just . . .

“It’s amazing the way the world turns sometimes. The right thing at the right time can make a massive difference.

“I had a child of my own when I was 19 and very soon after became a single Mum, when he was 8-weeks-old. I think that was actually the making of me.

“I was really determined to succeed and had ambitions that I wanted to fulfill.

“It has been a hard road for me to get to this point, but no more than for many other people, and we got there in the end. Or, I’m getting there in the end!”

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Igniting an idea for support

QLD AgriFutures Rural Women’s award winner 2022 Rebecca Bradshaw.

Picture: JESSICA HOWARD

Nurse’s drive for change recognised A Jackson child health nurse has been named the 2022 Queensland AgriFutures Rural Women’s award winner at a ceremony in Brisbane.

Rebecca Bradshaw was recognised for her drive to make positive change for rural/ remote families after establishing the first private, child health nurse-led service delivered online in Queensland.

The award comes with a $15,000 grant to further her work and Ms Bradshaw will represent Queensland at the national awards in October for the chance to win an additional $20,000 grant.

She was joined as a finalist alongside Dalby businesswoman Jilly Tyler, Innisfail AgTech entrepreneur Jennifer McKee and Townsville photographer and AgTech champion Fiona Lake.

Ms Bradshaw said it was exciting to be part of such an amazing network of strong and powerful women.

“It (this award) means more access and more availability of child health nurse centres to all our amazing, resilient rural mums who

we know are the backbone to our agricultural industry,” she said.

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said Ms Bradshaw was a worthy winner of the award.

“Congratulations to Rebecca whose amazing work to deliver online child health support for rural communities is both a wonderful example of the spirit of the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award and an inspiration for all women to use and develop their skills to benefit their industries and communities,” Mr Furner said.

“Her passion to address the challenges of accessible child and family health services has resulted in Queensland’s first private, child health nurse-led service to be delivered online.”

Managing director of AgriFutures Australia John Harvey said the Rural Women’s award was Australia’s leader in acknowledging and supporting the essential role women play in rural industries and communities.

“The state announcement is an important step in acknowledging the contribution of these outstanding women, as well as shining a spotlight on role models for the next generation of rural leaders,” he said.

Seven exceptional women have been recognised for their contribution to Australia’s rural and emerging industries, businesses and communities by being named national finalists of the 2022 AgriFutures Rural Women’s award.

The AgriFutures Rural Women’s award is the leading award empowering and celebrating the inclusive and courageous leadership of rural women across Australia.

The seven national finalists were announced at events in capital cities across Australia over the last three months, after a highly competitive selection process.

Women from all over Australia were encouraged to apply with a project, business or program having a positive impact on rural and emerging industries, businesses, and communities.

North Queensland-based business Grower Support has been granted funds from the Queensland Government to commercialise a new agtech product aiming to make life easier for fresh produce growers required to keep up to date with an increasing amount of regulation.

The announcement of the latest recipients of Advance Queensland’s Ignite Ideas Fund was made recently by the Honourable Stirling Hinchliffe MP, Minister for Tourism, Innovation and Sport.

Grower Support has developed an innovative, yet simple, all-in-one compliance management platform for the agriculture industry.

Farm businesses will save valuable time by using in-built digital forms, removing duplication of required records across multiple regulations, programs and schemes and reducing internal audit preparation time from days to minutes.

The Ignite Ideas funds will contribute to commercialising the platform, taking Grower Support from a tested minimum viable product with first customers to scaling the technology within domestic and global markets.

Grower Support founder Jennifer McKee was thrilled to receive the news of the grant, saying: “The funds will really give this project the boost it needs to get in front of the right people and change the way farm businesses have been spending their time keeping records to demonstrate compliance with regulations,” she said.

“I am very grateful for the farmers who have assisted in the development of the project and the early adopters who have started using the platform.”

Grower Support aims to include every feature a farm business needs to manage their records without being unnecessarily complicated.

“To date we have included more than 60 regulations and the relevant forms and checklists that growers might need to comply with. It’s an astounding number of requirements to keep on top of.”

Ms McKee said she hoped the success of the project would lead to continual improvement of the platform based on farmer feedback, partnership opportunities with regulators and expansion of the business through the employment of more people in the North Queensland region.

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Generations of opportunity

By Julian Lehnert For decades, Bassingthwaighte family matriarch Louise has seen her children and grandchildren thrive and prosper in various Santa Gertrudis stud cattle businesses - and she could not be happier with her legacy.

The long-time cattle owner, who lives on a property at Wallumbilla east of Roma with her husband Alastair, married into what has now grown to be a multi-generational family business, immediately taking on responsibilities and helping the farm grow.

“I’ve been very fortunate - not many wives have the opportunity to work with their husbands this closely,” Louise said.

Louise began her work on husband Alastair’s stud farm Yarrawonga by organising business records and looking after the cattle.

When asked about the available opportunities in the agribusiness sector for women like her and her many successful daughters and granddaughters, Louise explained that all it takes is a go-getter attitude.

“Women can get very involved in agribusiness, particularly when it comes to tasks like recordkeeping, but whatever has to be done can be done by women,” she said.

“The only thing I haven’t done a lot of is fencing,” she laughed.

Her efforts on and off the farm have borne fruit time and time again, with her sons and daughters taking over the farms of older family members or starting their own studs.

The Bassingthwaighte family’s involvement in Santa Gertrudis stud cattle began in the 1950s, with Brahman farmer Dave introducing one of the then very first bulls of its kind into his herd - a decision which would quickly grow into his main business, a stud farm named “Yarrawonga”.

Dave’s son Alastair continued his father’s legacy, helping out at Yarrawonga and receiving a few heifers of his own as a reward over the years, which led him to establish the Santa Gertrudis stud farm Waco at Taroom in the Banana Shire. Both Yarrawonga and Waco are now run by Louise’s sons, with David and his wife Suzanne taking over the legacy of Waco, which has since moved west of Roma, while Andrew and wife Fiona operate Yarrawonga.

Wendy, one of Louise’s daughters who married into the Ferguson family - another prominent name in Santa Gertrudis studs - also took on responsibilities in stud farming, running Glenn Oaks Santa Gertrudis near Toowoomba with husband Scott.

The Bassingthwaighte family’s success does not end there, however, as Louise’s granddaughters Phoebe (22), Sophie (21) and Lilly (18) are determined to break sales records and carve out a name for themselves in the Queensland stud farming scene. The three girls recently made headlines by paying the top price - an impressive $24,000 - at the Santa Central female sale at Headingly sale complex.

Phoebe, Sophie and Lilly Ferguson (pictured with Warenda stud owner Sylvia Kirkby) are poised to be the latest in a line of proud, successful and promising stud farmers.

Picture: CHRIS TODD “As they were growing up, my granddaughters got involved with what their parents did - they loved the cattle and liked the people involved in the business,” Louise explained.

“They’re very much involved because their parents have a good stud as well - now they’re the ones who are doing all the preparation.

“They were dragged along by their parents

to all the country shows, and it just went from there,” she said.

Proud parents, grandparents and stud farmers, Louise and Alastair Bassingthwaighte may no longer do all the herding, breeding and fencing themselves, but their connection to the business - and their family’s legacy - has not waned over the years.

“My husband and I still live on Yarrawonga,” Louise explained.

“I have continued on with the cattle side of the business. My greatest love is going down to the yards and spending time with the cattle and the breeders,” she added.

“I’m very happy with how lucky I’ve been, being involved in my husband’s work.”

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