Andrew Spierings attended his first local agricultural show when he was just three weeks old. His ‘Uncle Bill’ was the sheep superintendent there, and Andrew grew up there following him around.
What a mentor ‘Uncle Bill’ was – that’s Andrew’s mother’s uncle, the legendary Bill Bickerton.
Andrew is still only 22 and has been living in Nar Nar Goon since the early 2000s, running beef cattle with his family on their 100-acre farm.
But the family’s background in farming goes back to dairying at Rowville and Hampton Park, and – of course – to ‘Uncle Bill’, who has been the driving force behind one of the most impressive young people in the local industry today.
“Dad was a president of Pakenham and treasurer for a while, so I was always around Pakenham,” Andrew explained.
“Probably when I got to 18, I decided I wanted to get serious about showing and get involved.
“We had cattle, so rather than sheep I wanted to get into the cattle section. “Pakenham unfortunately didn’t have cattle by that point, so it wasn’t really an option but Uncle Bill sorted me out at Bunyip and got me in touch there.
“He gave me Noelene King’s number for Berwick, so she got me in the cattle committee there, and by 19 I was on the general committee at both and I’m still there at Berwick, and president now at Bunyip.
“I think they saw a youthful face at Bunyip and thought they’d get me in while they could!”
Troubles with attracting young people to get involved have plagued local shows for years now, and it’s something that isn’t lost on Andrew.
“They’ve been talking about it a lot – there are quite a lot of younger people on the periphery if you like,” he said.
“There are lots involved in agriculture, but from a showing perspective showing isn’t the commercial avenue it once was. The field days are a bit more like that, but from a showing point of view, sometimes they just need a bit of a push to come in or to have that door opened for them, which – for me – was really Uncle Bill’s doing.
“I was following him around; I was seeing what that world had to offer.”
Andrew was fortunate enough to have an ideal mentor right there already by his side, and he knows it’s an opportunity many other young people potentially don’t have.
“I’ve been very fortunate in showing in that I’ve met a lot of terrific people who I’ve learned a lot from, so I get a lot out of being involved in the shows and unless you’ve got someone who’s able to show that to you, you don’t really know,” Andrew said.
“The show just goes on and “those people” organise it and we go every year and enjoy it. Unless there are people who’re involved and making it happen behind the scenes, it just doesn’t get done.”
In some circumstances, younger people can find it intimidating to put their hands up to get involved in their local show society. They may feel as though they haven’t got as much to contribute as those who’ve already been involved for decades.
Andrew acknowledged that feeling does exist, but his experience has been different.
“You can feel like you don’t know enough to be of any help – there’s an element of that,” he said.
“I’m fortunate in that I could do my apprenticeship on a section committee at Berwick. I was with the cattle for a year before going on to the general committee.
“For me, Berwick has been great because, in relative terms, it’s a large committee at a well-established show and there are some people there who are very experienced.
“I learn a lot from them at Berwick, and then I get to go and put it into practice at Bunyip.”
Andrew took on the presidency at Bunyip in January.
“I’ve made it through the first show and I think I’ll be there for a little while yet,” he said excitedly.
“The first show was very successful – we were very happy with it.
“We’ve got the base now. Part of our problem at Bunyip is that it’s a very small show, so it’s hard to bring in attractions, and if you don’t have the attractions it’s hard to bring in the people. It’s sort of a chicken and egg problem, but I think we’ve got a base there where we can start bringing more things in and get the word out, which is quite exciting.”
At Berwick, part of the challenge is making new residents to the rapidly-growing area feel connected to its rich history in agriculture.
“We’re now very much on the fringe of Melbourne – it’s probably even more than that now,” he said.
“There are locals who perhaps don’t have any exposure to agriculture and haven’t been involved previously.
“Yes, the rides and flashy attractions get them in, but we hope that they’ll then come and have a look at the more traditional sections that are going on, and they might then learn something. I think that’s particularly important for us at Berwick, where it perhaps isn’t quite so much the case at Bunyip because the locals probably do know more about it.”
From being involved at agricultural shows from Pakenham, to Berwick, to Bunyip, Andrew has picked up a wealth of knowledge and experience that flies in the face of his young age.
“I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of great people who’ve had a long involvement in agriculture,” he said.
“There are a lot of people around who are very quiet and you don’t necessarily know how involved they are until you hear from someone else about them.
“If you just sit and listen to some of the stories that people have – particularly some of the people at Berwick – you’ll learn all of these things that you didn’t know about before.”
Andrew has long been caught up in the show scene hook, line, and sinker – and he won’t be going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
“I fully expect that I’ll be in the shows for the long-term,” he said.
“They’re one of those things. I do love showing and everything it involves, and I get a lot out of it, and I expect I’ll be there until I can no longer contribute. It’s certainly one of those things I do really enjoy.”
Andrew tried to put into words just what his involvement in showing means to him.
“It starts from that age where you can’t articulate the reasons why, but you just know you love it,” he said.
“I know this sounds very cheesy, but I think it’s the ability to give back and when everything comes together and the plan works and the day runs really well, and you see people coming through the gate and the crowds are enjoying themselves and it’s a good day … you’re dog tired by the end of it, but it’s worth it.
“The showing world is a bit of a small one. It’s partly because a lot of families have been involved. Sometimes, I sit and look at some of the honour boards and you can trace some of the families right back.
“There’s a danger in that too in that people can think it’s almost an exclusive group or secret society, which it definitely isn’t.
“As much as we get involved because we’ve seen it, we’re used to it, and we enjoy it, our challenge is to open that up a bit more and show other people what it is they can gain from it.
“If you’ve been in that world, you’ll know what it’s like and you can see all the different reasons why you’d want to stay involved. If you’re on the outside, maybe you just don’t know.”
Andrew will soon represent the Central and South Gippsland show societies in the final of the VAS Rural Ambassador Award to be held in Melbourne next month.
It’s through his experiences with both the junior and senior ambassador programs that part of his inspiration has come.
“In the speech that I gave for the rural ambassador (recently), I essentially had two points – one was that there are a lot of people on the periphery of the shows who are interested in what we do and do enjoy the shows, but perhaps need that bit of encouragement or that door opened for them,” Andrew said.
“There’s probably an element of trepidation in that too – if you’re uncertain about it, you might say it’s a bit too hard and you may not take that step.
“People really shouldn’t be afraid of that – we really are desperate for volunteers and we’ll welcome them with open arms because at the end of the day people are the lifeblood of the show. Without people it just doesn’t happen.
“The other point I made in my speech was that perhaps we have this cookie cutter idea of who’s on a show society and what a show is. Traditionally, they’ll be farmers who know food and fibre, and showing. In this day and age, we’re now dealing with all sorts of other issues and you need all sorts of other people with other skills – marketing people, finance people, people in trades who can do jobs around the show. We need that diversity of skills and ideas.”
From going through the junior ambassador competition at 19, to where he’s at today – the people Andrew’s met along the way have helped shape him.
“As much as we say we need young people and we need more people, it gives you some confidence that there are people out there involved and leading the way – and we hope they show a few more people in the door.
“I went along to the final last year of the rural ambassador and had a listen to some of the speeches and Noelene convinced me to put my hand up this year, so that’s what I did. I didn’t take a lot of convincing, but it’s great to be involved with.”
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