FARMSTRONG
Going at it alone Kelly Morrison runs a small dairy farm in the Far North, milking 90 cows. She’s been on the property for eight years and has gone to great lengths to regenerate the land. What’s more remarkable is that she’s tackled every challenge alone.
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hat do you enjoy about farming? I love cows. Cows are my babies.
What are your biggest challenges onfarm? Finding the time to get everything done and finding the money to do it. When I sold up and came here, the bottom dropped out of the market, so the cows I sold earned way less than I expected. I also needed to put in an effluent system when I arrived, which meant borrowing more. So, money’s been a constant pressure. Do you have a plan to ease the burden? Yes, I’m selling off a parcel of land for a new subdivision. Hopefully that will increase my equity, but like most farmers I don’t count my chickens until they’re fluffy and all laying eggs. That sounds stressful. What do you do to keep yourself well and keep going? I’m a bit of a loner, but I’ve slowly built a support network. I came up here by myself, so it’s taken time. You’ve been involved in Neighbourhood Support as well, haven’t you? Yes, I’m one of 24 houses that are part of it round here. We did a Christmas thing and we also did something at Easter. I went down and hung out with everyone and took photos. It’s great just to get more involved with your community, especially with the way the world is now. We need to know our neighbours better and be supporting each other. Neighbourhood Support is a great way to do that. Why do find time for these activities when you’re so busy? Even if you’re a farm owner, with no money, working alone like me, there’s still quite a bit that you can do to help other people. It’s a real feel-good thing too. You
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Kelly Morrison farms in the far north on her own, so has to deal with the challenges and all that farming throws her way by herself. Kelly with one of the girls, Bucket.
get a lot out of it. For example, there were a couple of older ladies down the road that I’ve visited in the past and they really appreciated it because old people get lonely. But it’s a two-way street too. Both of these ladies were real hard cases, tough as. Both of their husbands had died when they were young. They had kids to raise and also had to take over running farms. Hearing stories like that helped put my own struggles into perspective. What I’m doing here
is nothing compared to that. I’m just continuing their tradition of women working hard and sticking at it. Head down, bum up. Workload must be a real issue when you work alone. I think it’s more of a mental thing. There is no back-up, so sometimes I just need to suck it up and do what I can. But as long as the cows are fed, watered and milked, I feel okay. Even if it takes ’til late at night sometimes. Over quiet periods
DAIRY FARMER
August 2022
