If you do a quick Google image search for “Australian farmer”, it may be no surprise that only 16 per cent of people in the first 100 are women.
It’s by no means a scientific test, but reflects a fairly common perception that Australian farming is synonymous with men, despite women’s critical contribution.
“It’s always seemed strange that’s the image portrayed,” says Elisha Parker, who grew up on a cattle station in central Queensland and co-founded Cattlesales.com.au, a national marketing platform to connect livestock agents and buyers.
“Because when you live and work in the industry you certainly don’t perceive it like that – there have always been women in agriculture, and (so)… to me, it's a misrepresentation of reality.”
It’s a notion academics say is a hangover from the 1890s when politicians decided women’s farm work would no longer be recorded in the census.
As observed by renowned social researcher Professor Margaret Alston, the decision was made so as not to give the impression to the rest of the world that Australian women were labouring in such an “unwomanly occupation” as agriculture. Until legislative changes in 1994, she says farming women were characterised in law as “non-productive, ‘sleeping’ partners”, which meant, among other issues, they couldn’t be insured or receive compensation for injury.
What’s most frustrating for academics like Alston – and others in the sector – is that the many innovative women in farming have historically received little recognition. For example, Mary Penfold grew the famous Penfold’s wine business in the 1840s, yet its success has often been attributed to her husband, a medical practitioner away from the vineyards for extended periods.
It’s a similar story for Elizabeth Macarthur, a pioneer of Australia’s merino wool industry in the fledgling colony of Sydney, while lauded husband John was not even in the country for 17 years during their farm’s development. Eliza Furlonge was another wool industry pioneer in the 1830s, Adelaide Miethke set up School of the Air for children on farms in the 1950s, and the list goes on.
But in recent decades, things have begun to change, supported by initiatives like the annual Agrifutures’ Rural Women’s Awards initiated 21 years ago.
Parker, this year’s Queensland state winner, says she feels fortunate to be benefiting from the work of her “predecessors” and farming women advocates, particularly in the 1990s.
“They’ve overcome so many hurdles that have made it as great as it is now to be a female in agriculture,” she says.
Like her predecessors, Parker’s idea for Cattlesales.com.au – the first platform of its kind – was born from a gap in her industry, spotted in 2015 by her and school-friend-turned-business-partner Annabelle Spann.
“A friend's dad had driven a 1400-kilometre round trip to take a look at some cattle for sale on the next property from ours but… he didn't realise we also had exactly the same specs of cattle in our yards,” recalls the mother of two young children, who is also a legal associate with a Brisbane-based law firm and a director on AgForce’s Cattle Board.
“He could have looked at both mobs and made a better business decision. If you think about buying a house, you'd never think about ringing every real estate agent in town. But the cattle industry (had) no tool available. We wanted to build a tool that agents could use … to get that wider market reach.”
Parker says the constant uptick in traffic since the 2016 launch of the platform – which connects cattle buyers with sellers nationally at all sales points – has given her confidence to invest in “exciting” new features, including a soon-to-be-released interactive bull sales catalogue.
“It's made life much easier for agents, because it provides quick and smart ways for them to be able to do what they're already doing but in an elevated way in that they've got a bigger market reach,” she says.
Artisan cheesemaker Cressida Cains agrees that stereotypes are changing as a “groundswell of very capable women in agriculture with fantastic ideas” are starting to “rise to the top and become noticed” through platforms like the Rural Women’s Awards.
“I would like to see more women in formal leadership roles in agriculture, but there's no doubt that the tide is starting to turn,” says Cains, the New South Wales state winner.
On top of her day job running Pecora Dairy, a small sheep milk dairy and cheesery she and her husband set up in 2011, Cains created Dairy Cocoon, a not-for-profit digital platform launched in April to support small dairy farmers to improve the viability of their business.
“On one hand, we've got small family-owned dairy farms shutting their gates and walking away because it’s so hard to be profitable under the current model of selling milk to the processors,” says Cains, noting dairy farms have steadily dwindled from more than 22,000 in the 1980s to fewer than 5000.
“And on the other, we've got this situation where Australia’s demand for specialty cheese and dairy is increasing. To put that into perspective, last year Australia imported 100,000 tonnes of cheese, 35,000 tonnes of butter and 22 million litres of ice cream.”
The strong demand, along with consumers’ growing inclination towards home-grown produce, has firmed up Cains’ long-held view that the ongoing viability of small dairies lies in a willingness to transform operations “up the value chain” to become “price setters” with branded products, rather than being “price takers”.
She equates her vision to what’s occurred in the craft brewery scene.
After centuries of limited beer choices in pubs and bottle shops, the last couple of decades have seen an explosion of independent beer brands.
And Dairy Cocoon’s mission, she says, is to help small dairy farmers make that transition by connecting them with the resources, mentors and communities they need.
“It's potentially a really big decision to take a family farm, which has been run in a traditional way for generations, and look at another way of doing business,” Cains says.
“Change is challenging, but there is huge opportunity for independent brands. Cheese, yoghurt and ice cream are definitely something that Australians want to eat. Dairy farmers can take back control of their businesses and create a viable long-term future for their family farm for generations to come.
“If I can make it easier even for just a few dairy farms to make that leap into producing their own branded product, then I really feel that my project's been a success.”
Peta Ward, Westpac’s agribusiness general manager in Queensland, says it’s the women she sees quite often being the “real pioneers” in driving their family farms and sectors forward – and she puts it down to both necessity and the benefits of technology.
“If you look at family farms, particularly in remote areas, the woman is quite often the educator teaching the children, she's the bookkeeper, she's also probably the station cook, plus she’s needed out in the paddock to help,” Ward says.
“So, she's all of those things which means she's also looking for innovation and ways to make things easier and better – which ultimately drives the industry forward.”
Each state winner of this year’s Agrifuture’s Rural Women’s Awards received a $10,000 bursary from Westpac to support her project as part of the bank’s Platinum Sponsorship. The national winner will be announced virtually on October 20.
Written by Emma Foster: email@example.com
"Kama utafutaji wa haraka wa picha ya Google kwa ""mkulima wa Australia,"" inaweza kuwa haishangazi kwamba asilimia 16 tu ya watu katika 100 ya kwanza ni wanawake." Ni kwa njia yoyote mtihani wa kisayansi, lakini inaonyesha maoni ya kawaida kwamba kilimo cha Australia ni sawa na wanaume, licha ya mchango muhimu wa wanawake. "Ilikuwa ni ajabu kwamba picha hiyo ilionyeshwa,"" anasema Elisha Parker, ambaye alilelewa katika kituo cha mifugo katikati mwa Queensland na alianzisha Cattlesales.com.au, jukwaa la kitaifa la uuzaji kuunganisha mawakala wa mifugo na wanunuzi." """Kwa sababu wakati unaishi na kufanya kazi katika sekta hiyo, kwa hakika huoni hivyo, kuna wanawake katika kilimo, na kwa hivyo, kwangu, ni uwakilishi mbaya wa ukweli, ni wazo ambalo wasomi wanasema ni hangover kutoka miaka ya 1890 wakati wanasiasa waliamua kazi ya kilimo ya wanawake haitaandikwa tena katika sensa." "Mwanamke huyo, Margaret Alston, ambaye ni mwanasayansi wa masuala ya kijamii, alisema: ""Hatua hiyo ilichukuliwa ili kuepuka kuwafanya wanawake wa Australia wafanye kazi isiyo ya wanawake kama vile kilimo." "Kabla ya mabadiliko ya sheria mwaka 1994, wanawake wa kilimo walikuwa ""wasichana wa kulala"" ambao hawakuweza kupata bima au kulipwa fidia kwa ajili ya majeraha." Kile kinachokatisha tamaa zaidi kwa wasomi kama Alston na wengine katika sekta hiyo ni kwamba wanawake wengi wa ubunifu katika kilimo wamepokea utambuzi mdogo kihistoria. Mary Penfold, ambaye alikuwa na biashara ya divai ya Penfold, alianzisha biashara hiyo katika miaka ya 1840 na baadaye akaanza kuifanya kwa sababu ya kufanikiwa kwake. Elizabeth MacArthur, mwanzilishi wa viwanda vya Merino vya Australia, aliishi katika mji wa Sydney, Australia, wakati mume wake John, ambaye alikuwa amependwa sana, hakuwa hata nchini kwa miaka 17 wakati wa maendeleo ya shamba lao. Eliza Furlong, mwanzilishi wa viwanda vya sufu, na Adelaide Mitke, mwanzilishi wa shule ya hewa kwa watoto wa mashamba, ni miongoni mwa watu wa kwanza kuanzisha viwanda hivyo. Lakini katika miongo ya hivi karibuni, mambo yameanza kubadilika, ikiungwa mkono na mipango kama vile tuzo za kila mwaka za wanawake wa vijijini za AgriFutures zilizoanzishwa miaka 21 iliyopita. Parker, mshindi wa jimbo la Queensland mwaka huu, anasema anajisikia mwenye bahati ya kufaidika na kazi ya "waanzilishi" wake na wanaharakati wa wanawake wakulima, haswa katika miaka ya 1990. "Wameshinda vizuizi vingi ambavyo vimefanya iwe nzuri kama ilivyo sasa kuwa mwanamke katika kilimo", anasema. Kama watangulizi wake, wazo la Parker la Cattlesales.com.au - jukwaa la kwanza la aina yake - lilitokana na pengo katika tasnia yake, lililogunduliwa mnamo 2015 na yeye na rafiki wa shule aliyegeuka kuwa mshirika wa biashara Annabelle Spahn. "Baba wa rafiki alikuwa amesafiri kilomita 1400 kwenda na kurudi ili kuangalia ng'ombe wa kuuza kwenye mali iliyo karibu na yetu lakini... hakujua kwamba tulikuwa na mifugo sawa kabisa katika vyumba vyetu, "" anakumbuka mama wa watoto wawili wadogo, ambaye pia ni mshirika wa kisheria na kampuni ya sheria ya Brisbane na mkurugenzi wa Bodi ya Ng'ombe ya AgForce." <unk>Alikuwa na kuangalia wote wawili mobs na alifanya uamuzi bora wa biashara. Ikiwa unafikiria kununua nyumba, huwezi kamwe kufikiria kupiga simu kila wakala wa mali isiyohamishika mjini. Lakini sekta ya mifugo (haikuwa) na chombo inapatikana. "Park anasema kuongezeka kwa trafiki tangu uzinduzi wa jukwaa la 2016 - ambalo linaunganisha wanunuzi wa ng'ombe na wauzaji kitaifa katika vituo vyote vya mauzo - kumempa ujasiri wa kuwekeza katika ""vipengele vipya vya kuvutia,"" pamoja na orodha ya ng'ombe wa mauzo inayoweza kutolewa hivi karibuni." "Imefanya maisha kuwa rahisi zaidi kwa mawakala, kwa sababu inatoa njia za haraka na za akili kwa ajili yao kuwa na uwezo wa kufanya kile wanachokifanya tayari lakini kwa njia ya juu kwa kuwa wanafikia soko kubwa, ""anasema." Cressida Cains, mtengenezaji wa jibini, anakubaliana na maoni ya kuwa wanawake wenye uwezo mkubwa katika kilimo na mawazo mazuri wanaanza "kuinuka na kuonekana" kupitia majukwaa kama vile Tuzo za Wanawake wa Vijijini. "Ningependa kuona wanawake zaidi katika majukumu rasmi ya uongozi katika kilimo, lakini hakuna shaka kwamba wimbi linaanza kubadilika", anasema Cains, mshindi wa jimbo la New South Wales. Kwa kuongezea kazi yake ya siku ya kuendesha Pecora Dairy, kiwanda kidogo cha maziwa ya kondoo na cheesecake ambacho yeye na mumewe walianzisha mnamo 2011, Cain aliunda DairyCocoon, jukwaa la dijiti lisilo la faida lililozinduliwa mnamo Aprili kusaidia wakulima wadogo wa maziwa kuboresha ufanisi wa biashara yao. "Kwa upande mmoja, tuna mashamba madogo ya maziwa ya familia yanayofunga milango yao na kuondoka kwa sababu ni ngumu sana kuwa na faida chini ya mtindo wa sasa wa kuuza maziwa kwa wasindikaji, "" anasema Cains, akibainisha mashamba ya maziwa yamepungua kwa kasi kutoka zaidi ya 22,000 katika miaka ya 1980 hadi chini ya 5000." <unk>Na kwa upande mwingine, tuna hali hii ambapo mahitaji ya Australia ya jibini maalum na maziwa yanaongezeka. Kwa mfano, mwaka jana, Australia ilisafirisha tani 100,000 za jibini, tani 35,000 za siagi na lita milioni 22 za aiskrimu, na mahitaji makubwa, pamoja na mwelekeo wa watumiaji wa bidhaa za nyumbani, yameimarisha maoni ya muda mrefu ya Cain kwamba uwezo wa kuendelea wa viwanda vidogo vya maziwa unategemea utayari wa kubadilisha shughuli za mnyororo wa thamani kuwa wauzaji wa bidhaa za chapa. Yeye equates maono yake kwa nini <unk>s kilichotokea katika eneo craft brewery. Baada ya karne kadhaa ya uchaguzi mdogo wa bia katika baa na maduka ya chupa, miongo michache iliyopita imeona mlipuko wa bidhaa huru za bia. DairyCocoon ni shirika la kimataifa linalolenga kusaidia wakulima wadogo wa maziwa kufanya mabadiliko hayo kwa kuwaunganisha na rasilimali, washauri na jamii wanazohitaji. "Ni uwezekano wa uamuzi mkubwa sana kuchukua shamba la familia, ambalo limekuwa likiongozwa kwa njia ya jadi kwa vizazi, na kuangalia njia nyingine ya kufanya biashara, "Cains anasema. <unk>Mabadiliko ni changamoto, lakini kuna fursa kubwa kwa ajili ya bidhaa huru. Chakula cha kienyeji, yoghurt na ice cream ni vitu ambavyo watu wa Australia wanapenda kula. Wakulima wa maziwa wanaweza kuchukua udhibiti wa biashara zao na kuunda siku zijazo za muda mrefu kwa shamba la familia yao kwa vizazi vijavyo. "Ikiwa ninaweza kuifanya iwe rahisi hata kwa mashamba machache ya maziwa kufanya kuruka huko katika kuzalisha bidhaa zao za chapa yao wenyewe, basi mimi kweli nahisi kwamba mradi wangu umekuwa na mafanikio. ""Peta Ward, meneja mkuu wa biashara ya kilimo wa Westpac huko Queensland, anasema ni wanawake anaowaona mara nyingi kuwa ""mapainia wa kweli" katika kuendesha mashamba yao ya familia na sekta mbele. """ "Ikiwa unaangalia mashamba ya familia, haswa katika maeneo ya mbali, mwanamke mara nyingi ni mwalimu anayefundisha watoto, yeye ni mwandishi wa vitabu, yeye pia ni labda mpishi wa kituo, pamoja na yeye anahitajika nje katika paddock kusaidia, ""Ward anasema." "Kama vile, ""Mwanamke wa Vijijini"" ni jina la jina la kampuni ya ""Mwanamke wa Vijijini"" na ""Mwanamke wa Vijijini"" ni jina la jina la kampuni ya ""Mwanamke wa Vijijini"" na ""Mwanamke wa Vijijini"" na ""Mwanamke wa Vijijini"" na ""Mwanamke wa Vijijini"" na ""Mwanamke wa Vijijini"" na ""Mwanamke wa Vijijini"" na ""Mwanamke wa Vijijini.""" Mshindi wa taifa atajulishwa Oktoba 20. Imeandikwa na Emma Foster: email@example.com