In Modewarre, a town of only 275, south-west of Geelong, the landscape tells the story of consistent dry seasons on the paddocks and lake. Droughts have become an all too common occurrence in the region. 

Yet, for farmer Kylie Pickles, her voice on the matter carries a quiet persistence, the sound of someone who has learnt to live with the unpredictably of the land. 

“It’s awful seeing the condition of the place when we’re in drought” she says. “We put in new crops and then they failed because of the weather. It’s quite disheartening.”

For 24 years, Kylie and her husband have run their farm raising shedding sheep, bred for meat, not wool, working on the farm with help from family, friends and local contractors when required.”

Simultaneously, they juggle the demands of agriculture tasks with off-farm work. Kylie works as an anatomy demonstrator at a local university.

It’s an unusual pairing, working in a laboratory for part of the week, and tending to the demands of livestock, but a pairing that captures the dual existence of many farmers trying to stay afloat amidst climate unpredictability.

Over the past 18 months, the region’s devastating droughts have pushed the Pickles’ finances and patience to their limit.

“We had to spend a lot of money feeding livestock because we didn’t have grass on the ground,” she says. “It’s a very expensive time.”

The recurring droughts have not only depleted the farm’s paddocks, but also reshaped Pickles’ emotional relationship to farming.

“I do wonder, you know, is this something I want to continue to do?” she admits.

But it’s this same climate uncertainty that has led Pickles to explore new ways to farm.

Pickles explains. “Over the last three years, we’ve started to transition to a regenerative approach to farming”

“I first began looking into regenerative farming after listening to the updated 2021 IPCC Report,” she says. “The predictions were bleak, so I wanted a positive direction.”

Pickles has since been studying the new model of farming through the Soil Food Web School, learning how to improve soil structure, capture carbon, and hold more water.

“We’re focusing on the health of our soils and the biology in them. If we can improve the soil, we’ll have greater resilience to drought”.

It is this new approach to her farming that gives Pickles purpose.

“We’d have a greater ability to retain water when there is a drought…it gives you motivation and hope.”

Hope, for Pickles, is also sustained through community. Pickles is a member of the local Landcare group who provide regular opportunities for the communityto participate in, and learn about ways to provide good stewardship for our land, soils and waterways.

She’s also a member of the Best Wool and Lamb Group, a local network of producers supported by Agriculture Victoria, who meet to share knowledge and support. “It’s really valuable,” she says. “Just to be able to chat and recognise that you’re not alone, that other people are facing the same issues”.

Pickles community spirit extends beyond the support group. Her local council, Surf Coast Shire Council, invited her to participate in a community panel helping to shape their four-year strategic plan.

“It was great that the council asked for community participation,” she says. “By having rural people, it meant it wasn’t just urban-centric”.

Pickles pushed for proactive action on climate change to be a top priority.

Still, she acknowledges the limits of political responsiveness. The controversial emergency services levy that would have raised farm owners taxes, now postponed, has left many farmers feeling unseen.

“It felt like the government wasn’t recognising the issues people were facing”, she says on the postponed bill.

Still, Pickles sees value in bridging the urban-rural divide. “It would be great if people from Melbourne or Geelong could come out and see what’s involved,” she says. “Being able to show where food comes from and the challenges farmers face could be so educational.”

Pickles doesn’t attempt to romanticise farming’s future. “It’s going to be very difficult,” she says. “The variation in weather is going to be much greater”.

“Farming in that environment will be difficult, both mentally and physically”, she admits.

But for now, Kylie Pickles’ hope lies beneath the soil. “This regenerative approach,” she says, “this is what gives me hope and motivation to keep going.”

This story is part of a project exploring regional Victoria and the issues farmers are facing. See the whole collection here.