Women in agriculture celebrate achievements

Two founding members of the Tasmanian Women in Agriculture’s first official Gathering in Scottsdale, in 1994, were among the 200 guests at last Thursday’s Gathering event at Wesley Dale, Mole Creek.

Joan Field of Kimberley and Connie Bennett of Elizabeth Town continue to lift up fellow female farmers and inspire them to pursue the education and agricultural career pathways on an equal footing that they fought hard to achieve.

They both recalled the guest speaker at that first Gathering - Christine Hindaugh, the sister of Tami Frazer (wife of former Prime Minister Malcolm Frazer), a well-educated wife of a sheep farmer who admitted that it didn’t matter where she stood in the sheep yards – she was always told she was in the way.

She went on to write a fictional biography about the first year of being a newlywed living on a farm, For Better for Worse and for Lunch.

“I think that’s how many women used to feel – like they didn’t belong,” Mrs Bennett said. 

“But we’ve come a long way and the culture has changed – we’re now recognised as equal partners.”

Mrs Bennett’s late husband John was the national head of Dairy Australia when she accompanied him to a diary conference in Melbourne in the early 80s.

“John said in his speech how important women were in the dairy industry – and he was greeted with dead silence. It was so disappointing,” Mrs Bennett said.

“I spoke about this at the first Gathering and talked about what it was like to support an agriculture politician, and as a result was invited to respond on behalf of women to the Governor General at the first International Women’s Conference in Melbourne the following year.

“That time 1000 women were brought to their feet to acknowledge the contribution of women in agriculture and I knew things were about to change.”

Tasmanian Women in Agriculture has been meeting ever since, every second year at the Gathering event, which has now moved to a weekday rather than a weekend to cater for younger families.

Gathering Committee chair Deb Morris is on the Meander Valley Regional Group of TWIA and along with her husband runs a beef farm and agricultural contracting business at Parkham as well a working part time for Fonterra.

She was also at the first Gathering and has since revelled in a role as mentor to many other women.

“It’s hard to get people face-to-face but this is how we find strength when things can be so uncertain in the local industry and in the world in general,” she said.

“We first came together more than 20 years ago to boost moral when interest rates were 20 percent and we were in a drought.

“The aim is to continue to do that and continue to promote women in the industry while supporting our men.”

The TWIA Gathering was a fun and colourful day that included food and music, on-stage skits and a fashion parade, drone demonstration, Rural Alive and Well interactive sessions and plenty of networking.

A speakers panel was made up of Anne Bennett from Ashgrove Cheese, Karin Spencer from Bogan Road Distillery, Shannon Barwick from Eltonvale Farm and Samantha Baldock, senior agronomist at Botanical Resources Australia.

The day ended with sips and nibbles in the Wesley Dale Chapel which sits in the Wesley Dale grounds with 2025 Tasmanian winner of the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award, Sarah De Jonge the guest speaker with her inspiring story of the 1000 Hearts project.