On Farm Story
FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – September 28, 2020
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empowerment
BOUNTIFUL: Deer graze on crops at Fairlight Station, Southland.
Perriam kept her focused and the issues she was facing in perspective. Their message was that despite being buffeted, her fundamental passion, purpose and focus remain unwavering. Recruited by Great South, part of the Southland Regional Development Agency, she also kept busy talking to schools about dealing with covid-19 and was appointed a trustee of the Lumsden Medical Centre Board, which is fighting to have maternity services reinstated. She was constantly looking for opportunities and realised that her knowledge and background lent itself to a business offering short-term workshops for secondary school students teaching farm skills “I did everything and anything that I could to stay positive, to keep my profile up and to contribute to the wellbeing of others,” she said. Then she received a phone call. It was from Simon Wright, part owner and manager of Fairlight
Station and father of Holly, who worked for Douglas at Real Country before covid-19. “Simon asked what I was doing and I told him I was writing a business plan for one-day farming skill workshops that I hoped would be able to get some NCEA credits wrapped around,” she said. “He said ‘we need to talk.’ That was a turning point.” Wright, his wife Lou and majority farm owners Doug and Mari Harpur, had for some years wanted to establish a farm training facility on Fairlight Station near Garston in Northern Southland. They wanted Douglas to manage the venture. The Harpurs, who have extensive international business interests, also own Forest Creek Station at Peel Forest. Douglas says the couple will establish a foundation to initially fund the training and provide the facilities for the one-year course for three women aged 21 and older.
VIEW FROM THE TOP: Laura Douglas gazes from Fairlight Station towards Kingston.
COUNTRY LIVING: The homestead at Fairlight Station, Southland.
There is no upper age limit, Douglas says, older women have life skills which can prove valuable. In addition to the two NZ farms, the Harpurs have forestry, land development, hospitality and hunting and fishing interests in Canada and the USA. Fairlight is 3800ha of which 500ha is arable, 2000ha is hill country and 1300ha forestry. They carry 3300 hinds, 120 stags, 3000 weaners, 620 beef cattle, 25 bulls, 160 calves, 3600 crossbred ewes, 1000 hoggets, which will lamb this spring and some goats. Douglas says the Harpurs are investing in farm training because of their philanthropic values but also because they want to get more women into farming. The Fairlight Foundation is seeking charity status so additional funding can be sourced to fund future training. The one-year course, which runs from January to December, is aimed at an age group that will not clash with other farming
training institutions, which tend to focus on school leavers. “They have given me an amazing opportunity,” she said. “I want to remove every single barrier to women getting into the agricultural industry, including financial.”
I should never, ever have put on those stilettos when I had a corporate career, I should have worn gumboots. This role is not only an extension of what Douglas has been doing for the last three years, but also fulfils her passion for promoting agriculture and passing on skills and life lessons to other women. As part of the business plan, Douglas conducted a social media survey asking women what they wanted from the rural industry and how they would achieve that. “What came back was nearly 400 respondents and those women were aged from 18 to 60, women who have had agricultural careers spanning 20 years through to 18-year-old school leavers,” she said. Many wrote that they lacked the confidence to pursue the relevant skills while some relayed horrible experiences of bullying and abuse, which prompted them to leave the industry altogether. “All the survey respondents told me having a female-only farm training facility is really important,” she said. The foundation wants to provide more than just skilled farm workers, it wants to produce resilient, confident and strong women who will become role models and leaders. Interns will spend a year living, working and learning on Fairlight Station with their living
costs met and small stipend. In addition, Douglas will arrange short courses others can attend, such as dog handling or fencing, which will be run by specialists. Applications opened last week and Rural Women NZ president Fiona Gower has been recruited to help select the three interns who start their education on January 11. Douglas will keep Real Country, which she hopes to resurrect for corporate and private functions and farm shows once the borders reopen. But covid-19 has changed her perspective. When she started Real Country, she wanted to create opportunities for women to help them grow in confidence, but she also measured success in the size of her bank account and assets. “Now, my definition of success is all about the journey,” she said. Success is also being measured in other ways. “My life at the moment is amazing,” she said. “My young dog is coming on nicely and my two old dogs are doing their job. “I calved a cow last week and mouthed cows for the first time a few weeks ago and I lambed a ewe last week for the first time in 15 years. “I love working on Fairlight Station.” Douglas also wants to ensure other women do not repeat the mistake she made. One reason she went to the University of Otago and pursued an academic career with a Bachelor of Science and MBA, was that she did not see a future for women in agriculture. “Looking back, I cannot understand how a farm girl didn’t see an opportunity in farming,” she said. “That for me is one of the big drivers of why I am trying to get this off the ground.” >> Video link: bit.ly/OFSdouglas
