WOMEN IN SUGAR – TERESA FOX

Young women who have grown up on the family cane farm and want to develop their own career while forging a farm business role, need look no further than Teresa Fox as their guide.

Teresa and her brother are the third generation on their family’s sugarcane farm situated between Mackay and Proserpine in Central Queensland.

Teresa enjoyed the freedom and space of growing up on a sugarcane farm, with the normal weekend farm kid jobs - shifting irrigation pipes and winches, rock picking, and helping with planting.

That changed when she entered boarding school in town for her secondary school years, only coming home to the farm on weekends.

“I enjoyed business subjects in grades 11 and 12 but realised I also loved the farm and agriculture so started looking for ways to combine the two.”

On leaving school, Teresa studied a Bachelor of Agribusiness majoring in Economics at the University of New England.

“It was a fantastic experience studying interstate. I knew no-one and even had to google where Armidale was. I stayed in college on campus and volunteered for things that interested me to make friends and explore NSW.”

During this time, Teresa met her partner, Cameron, whose family lives in Sydney.

On graduation Teresa moved to Sydney to work in export grain coordination for Sanwa Pty Ltd, then entered a supply chain graduate program with BE Campbell, a large pork manufacturing plant, later securing a permanent role as the Livestock Buyer.

An interest in the larger agricultural picture saw Teresa take a position a position at the national agricultural policy think tank, the Australian Farm Institute, as a Research Officer in 2019. Communications was later added to her role.

She has worked on a wide range of agricultural issues including currently helping develop a carbon opportunity decision support tool as well as working on the development of the Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework.

However, while living in Sydney was exciting, Teresa missed the farm and her family. She also wanted to become more involved in the farm business, eventually – “not jumping in with both feet, just a toe or two to begin with,” Teresa said.

In March last year she got her opportunity when she returned to Mackay and began working remotely.

“I’m very grateful for the support of my employers in making the move to full-time remote working possible.”

Teresa gets out to the farm every couple of weekends and attends local industry events when she can.

She has also secured a voluntary position on AgForce Queensland’s inaugural Young Producer Council.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with the passionate, interesting and hardworking group of young farmers and ag professionals on the Council. We’re working on ways to help more young farmers purchase a property - one of the biggest challenges to starting farming. We also want to raise awareness of the opportunities and career choices available in the industry.

“I think opportunities for women in sugar are expanding. There is a greater awareness that it’s a strength to have diversity in your workforce, on your board or on your voluntary committee. But there are still barriers we need to overcome to feel included.”