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2011 - Managing Change in a Changing World

History of the Women in Agriculture Event

Overview

The Women in Agriculture group formed to support the growth and development of professional agri - business women who live in the region.  The group look at various funding, development programs, workshops and events that will help drive local women and recognise their achievements.  The Women in Agriculture specialty group hold an highly successful annual event and drive many of workshops throughout the year.

Workshops and Events 

Women in Agriculture Annual Event

The committee prides itself on organising an annual event that caters to the needs of all rural women. The Women in Agriculture event theme is different from year to year but is always educational and practical. The event has developed an excellent reputation as being a enjoyable, informative and inspirational event.  The 2011  "Change in a Changing World" event brought strong and vibrant women together to celebrate the Facey Group's 10th annual Women in Agriculture event. We look forward to seeing you at this years event.

2011- Managing Change in a Changing World

The annual Women in Agriculture event was held on the 30^th of June with over 100 women attending from around the region.  Focusing on Managing Change in a Changing World provided a focus for topics from a variety of speakers who entertained, enlightened and inspired.

The morning kicked off with family business facilitator and mediator Cathie Bowen who has spoken at several previous Facey events.  Cathie spoke on the importance of coping with change in a family business and how to use planning tools as part of coping with these changes. 

Laura Bairstow followed a leisurely morning tea in which she shared her Hey Wire winning story “When life throws you a curve ball”.   Her storey was not one of pity but inspiration.  Laura openly shared her personal story including the struggles and her positive perspective.  Through her eyes the attendees were found a new way of focusing on things you are passionate about, appreciating where you live and how you live life.

Kate Cox called herself a “jack of all trades but master of none”.  She has enjoyed the studying Arts, working with her dairy farmer husband, working in local government as an environmental health officer, has sold baby clothing at markets and in retail and most recently starting her own ice cream business Two Fat Cows with a close friend. This unusual venture was started after brainstorming possible ways to increase income from the family dairy farm.  Her story from Art student to gourmet, artisan ice cream maker and business owner was extremely entertaining and we were left especially impressed after sampling some of the flavors after a delicious long lunch.

Over lunch we enjoyed viewing beautiful artworks and hearing from Coll Quartermaine before key note speaker Shannon McQuire finished off the event on a high note.  Shannon talked about her life changing experience on Australia’s Next Top model and how that had changed the direction of her life and her new roles as a mum and ambassador for the Wirrpanda foundation.  Shannon delivered a grounded perspective on her adventures with humour and elegance and highlighted how embarrassing the opportunities in life can lead to some wonderful experiences.

Thank you to all the women who made the time to attend and that you were inspired to tackle changes in your world with the passion, humour and positivity displayed by the speakers showcased.

History of the Women in Agriculture Event.

In 2010 we held our 10th Women In Agriculture event - Diamonds in the Dust.  Natalie Manton's welcome highlighted the journey so far...

"Welcome to 10^th Facey Group Women in Agriculture event – Diamonds in the Dust.  I’d like to extend a special welcome to our guests in Hon Mia Davies and Crawford Taylor state manager of Rabo Bank.

I’d like to share with you some of the highlights from our first WIA event in 2001 until now.

The Facey Group was formed in 2001 and right from the start we wanted to make sure that the group catered to the needs of women, who are an important part of most farm businesses.  Other grower groups like MIG and Leibe were also starting up at the time and we had heard that they were organising special days for women.  The view at the time was that if groups organised special days for women it would help them to gain confidence to go the main field days.  I’m not sure if that was our core aim of organising a women’s day but those groups seemed to know what they were doing and we decided that we would get to work on organising a day about agriculture for women in our area.

The 1st WIA day was held on 20^th September 2001.  I think we met once to organise the day and the rest was done by email and phone.  Most of the work in organising the day was done by the committee of Julie Murray, Audrey Bird, Jody Matthews and myself with help from Sarah Males, the Facey Group Executive Officer.  

I think the event was organised with only one meeting and not because we were super efficient at event management, but because Audrey was very busy on her farm; Jody was busy in her business and Julie and I each had a 3 year old and a 1 year old; and Sarah had a hard time concentrating while our 3 year olds climbed on the back of our chairs and crushed Cruskits into the carpet at the Facey Group office while we discussed the details of the event.  

We knew that we wanted to bring top quality speakers to Wickepin to provide us with information, skills and to build the confidence of women.  We settled on some things that we must have, wanted to have and some nice to haves.

Must haves were:

• The best speakers we could find.  Didn’t have any money but we didn’t worry too much about that.

• Info presented in a way that was relevant to women.  Not too complex but not too basic either.  We are busy people with multiple responsibilities so we just need the important bits.

• Focus on agriculture.  Learn something about our industry and business.

• Held in school hours.

• Crèche.  We wanted to make sure that there was no reason why a lady who wanted to come couldn’t come.

Wanted to have:

• Some practical skills and knowledge.  Preferably something that would help women gain confidence to participate in conversations about their farm business.  Hopefully some new info that others in the business didn’t know so that women could feel valued in their business and also because it can be quite satisfying to come home with new facts that your partner doesn’t know.

• A range of speakers on a diverse range of topics.  We knew that we wanted to have presenters that were relevant, inspirational, intellectually stimulating, entertaining and motivating.

• Casual feel about the day.  Friendly atmosphere where ladies felt comfortable asking their dumb questions.

• Long breaks. So that women could catch up with old acquaintances and make new ones.

 Nice to have:

• A special day out for ladies.  The long lunch break and crèche were essential for allowing women to relax and have an opportunity to chat with other women.

• Fabulous food – we wanted the day to be a real treat and to bring a bit of city style to Wickepin.  I don’t know if we have any photos of you remember the morning tea from the 2001 but it was spectacular.  Margaret and Jody’s beautifully presented home cooked treats for morning tea were the envy of any high tea at a fancy Perth restaurant. 

The small WIA committee had grand visions of ladies coming from near and far to attend our first event but it seemed that not too people shared our vision and we had to beg our friends and family to attending the first event.  About 25 ladies were kind enough to support us and the day was a great success.

Annie Mac, a futurist, enlightened us with an account of what would happen in the world in the next 10 years and I have been amazed to find that almost all of the political, social and economic predictions that she made have come true.  

One of my favourite presenters, Sharon Moore, showed us how to deal with stress and had us blowing all our stress into a balloon and letting it fly off around the room. 

Buoyed by positive feedback from the first event we set about organising the next one to be held in July 2002.  Again we met briefly, and emailed often, to organise a day called Women in the Workshop.  Naomi Laurie and Cathy Bowen facilitated excellent sessions on time management, record keeping and succession planning.  Again the number of ladies attending was not great but the feedback from those who did was extremely positive.

We continued with our formula of great speakers, great food and great day out for ladies as well as learning something practical in 2003.  We decided on a theme of diversification and heard inspiring stories from Pam Lanin on her Sophisticake venture, Catherine Watkins on Emu Oil products and Gavin Partridge on Aquaculture.  The most valuable lesson I learnt on diversification was that it requires a great deal of commitment and effort and like most of you I decided that it wasn’t for me.  

We went out on a limb that year and spent what seemed like a fortune on a presenter to help us learn the basic points of risk management.  We ladies do like to balance our budget and to put on a day that is cost neutral to the Facey Group but that year we went cap in hand to the Facey Group committee to ask if they would cover the presenter’s fee.  This obviously didn’t sit well with us because we have been applying for funding to cover the costs of our WIA day ever since- with limited success I might add. 

By 2004 our Executive Officer had changed from Sarah Males to Vanessa Crispe, Cheryl had joined our Women in Ag committee, and Julie had handed the co-ordinator role over to me.  Our theme was “Facing the Future”.   We all found Wendy Newman’s challenge of identifying the burning issues for our life and business in the year 2050 a bit daunting and I am sure we identified the same issues as we would identify for the year 2010 but we did have fun sticking coloured notes up all over the room.  

I was personally very inspired by Sharon Moore’s presentation that year called Taking Charge of Your Destiny.  How many of you still carry the little card in your purse that Sharon gave us to encourage us to write down our goals and take small steps towards achieving them?  And you may remember her advice that the only way to eat an elephant is to take bit size pieces.    

What fun we had in 2005.  Amie Bolton joined the Facey Group as the Executive Officer the same week as the WIA day with the theme of Family, Farms and Fun- A Juggling Act.  Amie must have thought us all mad when she found herself dressing up and joining in our laughter workshop.  Bronwen William’s  laughter workshop was the most controversial  presentations in the 10 years of WIA days.  The feedback was divided into 2 camps- those that loved it and those that loathed it.  Love it or hate it, it was a chance to get out of our comfort zone and take a more light-hearted look at ourselves.

We also enjoyed an amusing presentation from Julian Krieg of Wheatbelt Men’s Health on how to take care of our partners.  

I am grateful to the 52 women who reluctantly shared their hidden talents with the rest of us that year.  Women are generally not very keen to celebrate the things that are really good at and I was very impressed to find that there are many clever ladies among us who can do all sorts of things like: play an instrument,  drive a truck, reverse a trailer or speak a couple of different languages.     

The highlight for me of the 2006 WIA event on the theme of Sustainable Futures was R/U Rural Women of the Year, Di Holly’s, passionate presentation on how to maintain vibrant and viable farms.  Di was so nervous and her occasional swear word had us in stitches.  I also enjoyed leaning more about bio-fuels and the opportunities for Australian produce in China.

The ABC radio crew in Wagin asked us if they could do a broadcast from our WIA “conference” that year.  I tried to tell them that it wasn’t really a conference as such but they seemed keen to do an outside broadcast from Wickepin and interview some of our local ladies about their role in the farm business.  I was very relieved that Audrey, Linley, Julie and Amie agreed to speak on radio and I kept well out of the way of the microphon

In 2007 we learnt about the important points about off farm investments, climate change and talking to teenagers.  A presentation from Helen Frost had everyone vowing to eat healthy food for ever after.  I don’t think that anyone who attended her session has ever enjoyed eating Tim Tams since?

By 2008 I had handed the co-ordinator role back to Julie and the number of staff at the Facey Group office had grown to three.  The committee enjoyed the experience and enthusiasm of Felicity, Maree and Carmen in helping to organise the “Ideas and Inspiration” event and their expert assistance resulted in registrations of over 100 ladies.  Finally people were starting to share our vision - or maybe they had just come to hear Sabrina Hahn speak.  

I can’t quite remember the details of Megan Chadwick’s entertaining explanation of sheep genetics but the slides of Borat in his mankini, Audrey on the cat walk and Victoria Beckham in the sheep yards certainly stuck in my mind.

The 2009 WIA event was also a resounding success.  I am sure everyone went straight home and wormed their dogs following Kelly’s presentation on the things we can do to improve meat eating quality and especially the importance of worming our dogs.   

Audrey inspired us with her dedication to her farming business and the wider agricultural industry and Robert McCaffrey entertained with a colourful insight to his life as an artist.

Thanks to Rechelle Hawkes we got to hold an Olympic Gold medal and was reminded that if you’re prepared to work really hard you just might fulfil your dreams one day.

We have covered a wide range of speakers in the 9 years of WIA events and I hope that you will continue to give us feedback as to what you would like to learn next.

After 9 years we have come to realise that women probably aren’t looking at the Women in Agriculture days as a stepping stone to give them the confidence to attend the general farming field days.  Those of you who are interested in going to field days and trials probably already go and those who are not probably aren’t likely to go.  

We have also recognised that women do want information about their industry but they want it packaged a bit differently.  They want opportunities to learn about agriculture and business but they like to learn in a setting where they can talk to other women, ask lots of questions and maybe enjoy a fancy meal - that they didn’t have to cook themselves.  As well as being educated and inspired, women gain confidence from the company of other women and benefit from the informal mentoring.

Along with other specialist events, the Facey Group WIA days have armed us with the latest information, research and skills that are relevant to the agricultural industry.  If you reflect on the wealth of skills, knowledge and experiences in the room here today you would realise that women can play a very important role in shaping the future of our communities and the agricultural industry.   

I encourage you to be generous in sharing your female perspective which is so important in helping to create sustainable and viable country towns and farm businesses  and to actively participate in the future of agriculture.

That can be as simple as:

• a phone call to the Facey Group staff to let them know that you are interested in joining the WIA committee,

•  Or expanding your networks and connections with other rural women such as joining the Rural, Remote and Regional women’s network.

• Nominating yourself or someone for the RIRDC Rural Women’s Award.

• Joining a committee, advisory group or board.

• Saying yes to any opportunity that comes your way to join.

• And have confidence to know that you can make a difference.

• Our very special Diamonds in the Dust, 10 year celebration of Facey Group WIA, promises to deliver the same inspirational stories, practical information, fabulous food and a chance to relax and enjoy the company of other like minded ladies.

I’d like to welcome back to Annie Mac to Wickepin.  As a Futurist Annie has the coolest job.  She spends her time communicating with people from all over the world and analysing all sorts of information to try and predict the future.  Or maybe she just has a crystal ball!  

I really enjoyed Annie’s first presentation in 2001 and am looking forward to getting the scoop on the next 10 years.  We ladies like to be organised and I’m hoping that if Annie can give us a bit of insight to the next 10 years we can get a bit of a head start in getting organised."

Previous Projects

Recently the Facey Group has completed the Growing Potential suite of events. This project was supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry under its Australia’s Farming Future initiative...read more

Research Partners

Can you support rural women involved in agriculture?

The Facey Group work to build strong and lasting relationships with our sponsors and partners.  Why not take the time to check out our Sponsors & Partners page. 

Facey Group Women - Recent Awards

RRR Network Reference Group

Natalie Manton was appointed to the RRR Network Reference Group in January 2009.  Natalie is a inaugural member of the Facey Group and used her skills as the group's secretary for many years.  Follow the title more information about the RRR Network.

RIRDC Rural Women's Awards 2008

The award provides resources to increase women's capacity to contribute to primary industries and their rural communities as well as nationally and internationally.  Since 2000 the award has developed the skills and abilities of the winners and runners-up...read more.  In 2008 Facey Group president Audrey Bird was awarded WA runner -up... read more

Women in Agriculture - Links

The Foundation for Australian Agricultural Women (FAAW) is a national, independent, non-profit organisation whose mission is to enable women, living and working in rural communities in Australia, access to leadership training and experience.

The National Rural Women's Coalition.  The NRWC is a coalition of national rural and women's organisations and two aboriginal women, which directs the Australian Government funded National Rural Women's Alliance. This is a conduit for information between rural women and the Government on key policies affecting women.  The NRWC is now one of the 'new' alliances recently announced by the Federal Government. It will now expand its role to include individuals and women not aligned to organisations through the new National Rural women's Network, a social networking system to be launched on October 2010.

Australian Women in Agriculture is committed to promoting the advancement of women in agriculture.  AWiA has an active membership. Every member supports AWiA's commitment to unite and raise the profile of women in agriculture. Our members come from all states and territories of Australia and beyond. They come from diverse backgrounds including primary production, research, education, consulting, service industries and politics.