Warragul’s renowned Farm World celebrated its 50th anniversary at Lardner Park over the weekend, and RUSSELL BENNETT took in all its sights and sounds – including the inspiring Women in Agriculture luncheon – a now annual event.
“My experience in agriculture has taught me that there are many Megs in this room today – women who are outstanding at what they do, deserving of recognition, and who would leverage the limelight – if they got it – to actually give back even more than they do already.” – Natalie Collard
Football and rural or regional living just go hand-in-hand, although not always in the way some might think.
At the Women in Agriculture Lunch at the 50th celebration of Farm World at Lardner Park in Warragul on Thursday 30 March, Natalie Collard – through her inspiring and uplifting speech – explained just how her love of footy and her career in agriculture became intertwined.
Ms Collard, the former long-time CEO of Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF), had already spoken at a previous Women in Agriculture luncheon at Farm World about how, when she took on her first role with the organisation, she hadn’t been to a farm or even met a farmer.
“I certainly feel like the luckiest person to be attending my third Women in Ag lunch running,” the 41-year-old said as she addressed the room at the function centre.
“Farm World is an exceptionally important event and I’m seeing it get better every year.
“Thinking about what I would share with you today, I realised that just this week has given me some really profound examples about why recognising women’s achievements in business is fundamentally important.”
Ms Collard displayed pictures of three women through her presentation – and the first of those was Meg Hutchins, Collingwood Football Club’s women’s football operations manager and a player in the inaugural season of the AFLW competition.
“I met Meg at a charity fun run and for the very first time in my life, this lifelong footy supporter actually went up to a player and said ‘Total fangirl – I’m a fan, and you’re such a role model for me’,” Ms Collard said.
“Three months ago I had no idea she existed. She’s not even in my top 10 players in the AFLW competition.
“What did move me to speak to her as I did was the fact that I have a deep respect for the courage and perseverance that she displayed in continuing to play a game that she loved against the odds.
“To see her and the other players’ joy as they finally reached this elite level is something that I was celebrating.
“I’m a lifelong footy fan and my childhood sporting dream was to be a runner for the Collingwood Football Club.
“Runners add no real value – they’re a human telephone. Don’t you think it’s a little bit lame that was my dream? As far as dreams go, that was clearly nowhere near good enough.
“Fortunately, thanks to players like Meg, no girl is ever going to have a dream that lame again.
“They’re going to assume they can add value, they can take the mark, they can kick the goal if that’s what they want to do, and that’s the power of role models.”
Ms Collard said that as far as role models go, Hutchins is the real deal.
“She dared to dream big, she stuck it out when times got tough, and she did this thinking the only reward on offer was the personal satisfaction that she could get out of it.
“Now that she’s earned her moment in the sun, she’s using it to give back to others.
“I’m looking around the room and I’m thinking that approach helps a lot, in my book.
“My experience in agriculture has taught me that there are many Megs in this room today – women who are outstanding at what they do, deserving of recognition, and who would leverage the limelight – if they got it – to actually give back even more than they do already.”
The second person shown in Ms Collard’s presentation was Brei Montgomery – the national sales manager for The Organic Farm Gate – the nation’s largest collective of growers, packers and marketers of Australian-grown certified organic produce.
“She studied business and marketing, worked for corporates, and in her spare time she was a yoga teacher,” Ms Collard said.
“She explained her career pathway to me by saying ‘my values led me to agriculture’.
“That phrase really struck a chord with me because I thought about it and it’s true for me too – my values led me to agriculture.
“I’d started my career as a graduate in the Department of Defence in Canberra and I actually spent eight years in the public service at Defence, Foreign Affairs and Trade. At that time, I just couldn’t believe I got paid to do a job I just loved so much.”
The third photograph was of Ms Collard, herself.
She was appointed chief executive of the ADF in June 2011. Prior to joining as general manager in 2008, she was the manager of rural affairs for the National Farmers Federation – Australia’s peak agricultural lobby group.
She was also named Telstra Businesswoman of the Year for Victoria in 2013 in the Community and Government category.
Ms Collard had said in her previous presentation at Farm World that there was a misconception that leaders were born into their roles – that they were perfect and somewhat untouchable.
“But the truth is that we all have to start somewhere and often the journey is just as important as the destination,” she said.
“During my journey there have been lots of obstacles and plenty of mistakes, lots of self-doubt also. I think we women seem to be particularly good at self-doubt.”
After a career at the defence department in which she travelled the world, negotiated 13 bilateral security agreements, and addressed the United Nations in Geneva, Ms Collard reached out to the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) during Australia’s worst drought on record and offered her help.
“I was happy to do fundraising, or pro-bono policy work, or even admin. But what they did was offer me the role of manager for rural affairs,” she said.
That role included work on drought policy, and farm management, and working with young farmers.
“I accepted (it) but didn’t think to mention that I’d never been on a farm or even met a farmer before in my life,” Ms Collard said.
“While I had a lot to learn, I didn’t think twice about making that career move. I still didn’t realise that I was joining an industry that I’d really come to love, I would thrive in this job like I never had before, and I’d meet people who’d inspire and change me forever.
“I learnt really quickly just how intelligent, humble, and resilient farmers are and without their generosity in sharing their knowledge, there’s no way I could have succeeded in that position. From the NFF, I made a deliberate call to seek a role in the dairy industry.
“My time at ADF drove a huge degree of professional growth.
“Most women suffer from imposter syndrome, and I’m no different.
“All that I would have been comfortable telling you before that (Telstra Business) award that I was good at was just getting things done.
“Going through the application process was worth it just for itself. It made me realise that I hadn’t just been lucky all these years, but that I had a sound, values-based methodology to my approach.
“I’m now a judge for the awards and I’ve discovered that process and that feeling of growth is universal for everyone who goes through the process.
“The take home message for me is that I have to accept that I was, and am, a role model and just by putting myself on the line, I’ve helped young women to see that leadership can look like them and it can look like a lot of different visions than what we see predominantly on TV.”
Another incredibly inspiring speaker at Thursday’s luncheon was Rebel Black – the creator of The Rural Woman, a business that aspires to support millions of rural women from across the globe to “bloom where they are planted”.
It’s a website where rural women can gather to find their voice, share their experiences, be inspired, contribute to the conversation, and learn and grow.
Ms Black spoke at length about her experiences living at Lightning Ridge in New South Wales – in Australia’s black opal mining heartland.
“Each of us comes to a point in our lives where we get to choose – we get to choose the adventure that we take next,” she said.
“I’m sure that if you think about it there have been plenty of turning points in your lives – sometimes that have taken you down a pathway that you love and enjoy, and sometimes a pathway that just leads to another pathway.”
She launched her first business from her office on the opal fields at Lightning Ridge and has since then spent more than 16 years creating award-winning businesses and leading development in women’s empowerment, community, tourism, education, business and social, emotional and physical wellbeing.
The third guest speaker on Thursday was Emma Germano from Mirboo North.
She is the general manager of I Love Farms – a family-run, mixed farming operation that supplies the domestic and international markets.
She gave a brilliant, brutally honest, and hilarious speech touching on her varied roles in farming, which now include president of the Victorian Farmers Federation Horticulture Group.
The 2014 Nuffield Scholar was elected unopposed after serving two years as the group’s vice president.
Thursday marked the seventh ladies’ day as part of the annual four-day Farm World event which sees tens of thousands of visitors converge on Lardner Park.
Angela Betheras, the chair of Lardner Park and the first woman to ever hold that role, explained the history behind the ladies’ day.
“In 2011 I was on the committee here and I was also lucky enough to win the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Victorian Rural Woman of the Year,” she said.
“During that year I travelled around the state speaking to over 35 groups of wonderful women and sharing stories.
“Coming back home I felt that here at Farm World we needed to bring back a focus on women and provide an opportunity for us to hear from the many wonderful women – delighting in their stories, and hearing of their many highs and lows that made them who they are and shaped their wonderfulness.
“So, I did a presentation to the board about how I wanted a day to celebrate women in rural and regional Australia and in 2012 we had our first day of celebration and I joined the board. As they say, the rest is history.”
