Building community and confidence

Twin Bull Kauri pine trees, with their six-metre-round trunks, stretch nearly 50 metres into the air amongst the lush rainforest that surrounds Lake Barrine. They’ve stood there for a thousand years.

Women talk and laugh as they approach the impressive trees, taking a moment of quiet reflection, and admiring their splendour as they reach the trees’ base.

This group of local female growers, members of FNQ Growers, Growcom, as well as the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Rural Financial Counselling Service came together to reflect on what it’s like to experience a natural disaster and rebuild their farms and businesses.

As former US President John F. Kennedy said, “the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”

So, as the sun shone over Lake Barrine and its beautiful teahouse, this group of growers and support service staff worked with internationally renowned disaster recovery expert Elizabeth McNaughton of Disastrous to set the foundations for personal well-being.

This half-day session would aid the group to reframe mindsets, be strong for themselves, their farms, and their families, no matter what challenges come their way.

This event was the latest for the Far North Queensland Women in Ag group, established by Ebony Faichney of Farmour and FNQ Queensland Agriculture Workforce Network Officer Kelly Hodgkinson.

The Kauri pines are a perfect metaphor for strength and resilience.

Looking up, you can imagine all the trees would have seen, the seasons and conditions they have endured. Like these trees, the women gathered at their base have seen and endured things too: Natural disasters, the ebbs and flows of running a farm and rearing a family. It’s important to remember that sometimes we need to come up for air.

The workshop was also an opportunity for these women to step out of day-to-day farm operations, well before the next cyclone season, to pause and think about how they prepare and look after themselves when natural disaster strikes.

Discussions revealed the practical ways women already cope with stress. For some, it was finding a quiet spot on their property where they can watch and listen to a stream of water.

Others pointed to each other and said, “I call you,” in times of stress or overwhelm.

Such moments highlighted how vital these networks between female growers are.

Although some of the participating growers said it was difficult to take time off the farm, prioritising self-care was something all the women committed to as a result of the workshop. Many said they’d say ‘no’ to requests more often.

As is a common dynamic on family farms, wives, mothers, daughters and sisters take on the administrative, financial, and compliance work—often while working in the field too!

Balancing these roles, along with caring for family, friends, and employees can take a toll. The workshop reminded them that sometimes, it’s okay to say ‘no’. And ‘no’ is a complete sentence.

The practical, proactive, and community-focused event is one that Growcom’s Farm Business Resilience and Industry Recovery Programs were proud to support.

FNQ Women in Ag co-founder and Farm Business Resilience facilitator in FNQ, Ebony Faichney said the Disastrous workshop fed into the group’s overall vision for fostering stronger relationships.

“A lot of the feedback we received said that the workshop created a supportive, safe space for likeminded women to come together and share their experiences,” Ebony said.

“No matter what activities we do together, creating this kind of environment is what FNQ Women in Ag is about.”

Fellow group co-founder Kelly Hodgkinson said Elizabeth’s practical approach was vital.

“Growers walked out of the room with specific plans of how they were going to look after themselves,” Kelly said.

“While planning for the farm and the business is important, how can you be expected to execute those plans following a disaster if you haven’t been able to care for yourself?”

The Farm Business Resilience Program is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Queensland Government’s Drought and Climate Adaptation Program.