From a small house in Myrtleford to a 160-acre cattle farm, Rosie Suter has always loved life on the land. She did not grow up looking after stock or managing food and water systems, yet a childhood home on a 16-acre block of land made her realise she wasn’t interested in life in the town.

Every morning, she feeds her stock, moves cattle, collects chook eggs, and works with the horses, and that is before her work even begins.

Rosie is a Beef farmer in the King Valley, located in the far Northeast of Victoria, and while the hurdles of the natural world are faced by her family and her community every year, the 2025 season has been “particularly challenging”.

September 2025 saw below-average rainfall in almost all of Victoria, including previously “lucky” areas such as the King Valley.

Rosie says it is widely agreed it is going to be “a pretty difficult summer”.

“All of nature is telling us that something’s changing,” she says.

A drought on a farm extends beyond a shortage of water. While it is widely understood it is a period of low rainfall, the implications can be lost on those who do not face its direct impacts.

Water is the beating heart of an ecosystem, and it is the beating heart of a farm. A lack of it results in low soil moisture and a lowered ability to grow, produce, and provide feed for stock.

This year, Rosie has had to sell some of her stock and has spent four times as much money on hay than in previous years.
“We will just keep selling and de-stocking until we’ve got pretty much a skeleton amount left,” she says.

Farming is a complex and volatile business that largely relies on uncontrollable or unpredictable factors such as the weather. Rosie and her family do all they can to mitigate damage from unexpected weather.

She says those around her try to focus their time and energy on the things they can change, rather than the things they can’t.
Yet, as physically, mentally, and financially draining periods occur in a farmer’s life, it is the things that matter most that sometimes get pushed aside.
“The things that stop are the social interactions,” Rosie says.

While there are mental health supports available for farmers and rural communities, they are not always helpful or successful.

“People are seeking relaxation and humour more than sitting down and talking about how they feel to a big group of people,” Rosie says.
Rosie says the mental health supports that are well-received in her community are those that aim to create a sociable environment and foster community spirit. Some of the most successful activities include nature walks and comedy nights, rather than events specifically targeted at discussing mental health.

During periods of drought and difficult weather, the most effective support can be that of a practical and material nature from the council and the government, such as grants; yet, assistance is not delivered in a way that is effective for those who
are required to work every day in a rural area.

When the issues of stress, difficult wi-fi connections, and overworking faced by farmers are combined, practical assistance obtained through forms and online applications are often impractical and can prevent farmers from successfully accepting assistance.

“Just the process of filling out any online forms for most people, even when they are going good, is hard, and it is even worse when they are too stressed to even cope,” Rosie says.

Despite challenges, Rosie considers herself very lucky to live on a farm and have the opportunity to care for a piece of the planet.
“The best thing about living on a farm is knowing where your food comes from, knowing how it was grown and cared for,” she says.

“That blows my mind, really.”

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