When farmer, Angus Summerfield, talks about his life as a farmer he doesn’t see it as a typical job to simply pay the bills. Instead he sees it as a “lifestyle job, not somewhere you’re rising through the ranks” and something that he takes great pride and passion in doing.
Angus didn’t grow up in the typical farming lifestyle or go into the family farming business. While he did have family members that had farms, he found his passion during his time at high school in Point Lonsdale through an agriculture teacher. He followed into sheep and crop farming for seven years before moving into his current role as cattle management at the age of 27.
Working in an industry such as farming is filled with challenges and it’s not only through the typical topics that are covered like environmental changes such as drought, floods, frost, or unpredictable seasons, or even consumer trends. While these are all important topics, it’s what comes with the isolation and pressure of a job like this that takes up so much of everyday life, with pressure building from “higher ups that do not understand”.
While Angus loves his job and cares deeply about the animals and the land he works, he has noticed burnout has become an increasing issue for him personally. But when he joined the BetterBeef Network he found connection and socialisation with more farmers in his age group, while also creating industry awareness events through field days, paddock walks and annual state-wide conferences.
“It brings us all together and we can talk things out,” he says. “While getting out of the routine of head down bum up.”
The BetterBeef Network helps farmers create social space for not only mental health but also for bettering the land farmers care for, providing knowledge on pasture growth, utilisation, business management, animal health and so much more.
Angus said “hobby farms” have increased in his area of Marcus Hill.
“Working farms being split up into smaller farms,” Angus says.
He says hobby farming as farms are not necessarily used for profit or goods production. But instead land is used for a couple of animals only.
“Ten acres being used for only a horse or two and a couple of chooks,” he says.
Alongside land being “bulldozed for urban expansion”, hobby farming has impacted on market value and price changes.
“A lot of it goes over my head,” he says. “But its definitely encroaching on the land.”
Angus says the lack of public knowledge and connection to where their food comes from contributes to the ongoing stigmatism farmers face about their livelihoods.
While people, on the whole, understand farmers are needed to keep food production and livestock going, Angus feels there are still some outside the farming community that don’t believe farmers are educated, or they don’t care about their animals.
“Farmers are a lot more passionate then you think,” he says. “Some of the farmers I know could be world-leading in what they do and are so switched on”.
But Angus wants to end on a positive note, reminding people farmers genuinely care for their animals and the work they do. For them, farming isn’t just a job, it’s a way or life.
“Open dialogues, help people to understand each other’s worlds,” he says.
This story is part of a project exploring regional Victoria and the issues farmers are facing. See the whole collection here.
