An internet image search using the word “farmer” results in hundreds of men in agricultural settings, despite the word “farmer” not being gender specific.
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A roomful of 140 women and some men challenged this male farmer assumption at the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association Inspire forum on Thursday.
Two of those women were Inspire speakers Gwendolyn Adams and Montanna Gilroy, who sit at both ends of the agricultural spectrum.
A life member of the association and an active member of the Tasmanian Women in Agriculture, Gwendolyn Adams had created a life for herself with a secretarial career and a husband.
However, Mrs Adams was called home to Leighlands, Perth, after her father was injured in a car accident and, subsequently, died and the farm’s house was condemned.
“All that drama aside, there was still a farm to run and I was a secretary who had no idea about farming,” she said.
Calling on friends to help, Mrs Adams was able to build Leighlands into a sheep and cattle property throughout the 1970s and still runs it now.
At Inspire, Mrs Adams listed a number of aspects that had changed within her time as a farmer, including using consultants, animal husbandry and soil testing, but she had some wise words for the audience.
“Like your job 52 weeks of the year; keep your eyes and ears open; keep and open mind and a sense of humour; ask questions; listen; read a lot; attend every seminar that is pertinent to your kind of farming enterprise; and be tidy, because tidy looks efficient; biggest is not the best; keep a daily diary and retain consultants.”
From tried and tested advice to one with aspirations for a big agricultural career, Montanna Gilroy, of Winnaleah, shared how life had changed since she made an impassioned plea on behalf of the dairy industry last year.
“I wanted to see change, and if I wasn’t going to see change I wanted to be the change. I didn’t want to sit around and watch Australian dairy farmers being milked dry,” Montanna said.
In speaking about the response she received when she wrote her letter, Montanna, 15, mentioned how surprised people were.
“I was inundated with many responses from people across the media saying ‘you’re female and you farm’. Yes I’m female and yes I farm. I believe that you don’t have to be born into a farming family to farm, nor do you have to be from a farming family to be successful in farming.”
Inspire espoused the ideals outlined by association chief executive Peter Skillern in opening the event: champion, lead and innovate.