GIVING BACK
NQ DRY TROPICS
would like to thank the women in sugar for offering their time and telling their stories.
with Tracy Hatch
Dedicating your life to the land and the community is part and parcel for most farming women. So when she’s not laying flooming and changing cups, Tracy Hatch is running a bookkeeping payroll consultancy, driving the school bus or giving up her time as the local swim club president, Clare School P&C treasurer and secretary for the Mulgrave Harvesting co-operative.
Having grown up on a sheep and cattle property in Springsure, it made sense for Tracy to study Animal Production at Longreach Pastoral College. Tracy and her husband Paul had always worked in grazing when they decided to try out cane farming. In fact, the couple met when Paul moved to Springsure to run cattle before they moved to a 62,000ha Clermont cattle property. But seven years of drought took its toll and Tracy and Paul went in search of water. They found so much more in the Burdekin. First working in the levelling and clearing of land in the Burdekin River Irrigation Area (BRIA), the move led to a leap of faith when the couple decided to invest in a different industry of the land.
“We fell so in love with the area and the abundance of water that we purchased a cane farm,” Tracy said, revelling in the easy access to town, services and education for their two daughters.
While innovation isn’t easy to pull off, the Hatch family is putting in the hard yards for the sake of the whole community. “Being innovative costs money but it is for the good of the whole industry,” Tracy explained.
But despite the positives, it was not an effortless transition for these first-time cane farmers. “We didn’t know anything about cane when we first started. I thought ‘cups’ were what you planted the cane into,” Tracy laughed.
With the help of NQ Dry Tropics and Reef Rescue Water Quality Improvement Grants, Tracy and Paul have already implemented variable rate controllers for precision fertiliser application, a legume planter to implement a legume break crop, a shielded sprayer for precision pesticide application, soil moisture probes for improved irrigation scheduling, a bedformer and a GPS guidance system to implement minimum tillage.
She said the whole mindset of the sugar industry was different to grazing. “One of the hardest things is to not want rain after growing up on a cattle farm,” she said. “It’s great living on the farm. I certainly see Paul coming in tired. It’s a lot more intensive than grazing. The farming practices are more intense and it’s a lot more regulated.” Having always been involved on-property, Tracy had to adapt to the new family business. “Labour was short and I was always out in the paddock with dad busting a gut on cattle work. Now I do the bookkeeping and secretary work,” she explained. Even her husband, also a rural fire fighter, admits the farm wouldn’t work without her. “She helps me with the watering and laying out the flooming, but in this industry the margins are not there, so she seeks out extra work bookkeeping,” he explained. The Hatch family is recognised as instrumental in the formation of the Mulgrave Harvesting co-operative – a group of sugar cane farmers who value innovation on their properties. The co-operative is leading the industry in best management practice in order to reduce the delivery of nutrients, pesticides and sediment to waterways and improve the sustainability and production of the farm and industry as a whole.
The Hatch family is also well known for their fundraising efforts for Angel Flight. In April 2012 they worked with the Deputy Mayor of Emerald to raise $110,000 in a car rally through outback Queensland. This year the fundraising efforts include a Melbourne Cup function, trivia night, chocolate drives and raffles. Add this to Tracy’s involvement on the farm, her bookkeeping consultancy business and her many voluntary roles, and it’s a wonder she finds time for anything else.
NQ Dry Tropics
The Projects
NQ Dry Tropics is a community run, not-for-profit organisation that is a leading delivery agent of land and water management change across the Burdekin Dry Tropics region since 2005. We work across and area of approximately 146,000 square kilometres.
NQ Dry Tropics’ Sustainable Agriculture program delivers extension and Reef Water Quality Grants as part of the Australian Government’s Reef Programme and its $15 million commitment to the Burdekin Dry Tropics region from 2013-16.
The Program
The grants provide the financial assistance to help farmers implement changes that improve management practices and productivity, while also reducing agricultural runoff into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
NQ Dry Tropics’ Sustainable Agriculture program offers information, training and support to agricultural producers in the use of best management practices, for resilient landscapes and productive enterprises.
But if you ask her and many other farming women like her, there’s always time to give something back. “I like being involved,” Tracy said. “You do it for your kids. But you also do it for the whole community.”
TEL 07 4724 3544 | FX 07 4724 3577 2 MCILWRAITH ST SOUTH TOWNSVILLE WWW.NQDRYTROPICS.COM.AU
NQ Dry Tropics is working in conjunction with project partners: Department of Agriculture and Forestry Queensland; Farmacist; Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Advisory Committee Inc; and the Burdekin Productivity Services to deliver support, training and extension to cane farmers in the Burdekin Dry Tropics region.
WOMEN
IN SUGAR
A collection of stories
GIVING BACK
NQ DRY TROPICS
would like to thank the women in sugar for offering their time and telling their stories.
with Tracy Hatch
Dedicating your life to the land and the community is part and parcel for most farming women. So when she’s not laying flooming and changing cups, Tracy Hatch is running a bookkeeping payroll consultancy, driving the school bus or giving up her time as the local swim club president, Clare School P&C treasurer and secretary for the Mulgrave Harvesting co-operative.
Having grown up on a sheep and cattle property in Springsure, it made sense for Tracy to study Animal Production at Longreach Pastoral College. Tracy and her husband Paul had always worked in grazing when they decided to try out cane farming. In fact, the couple met when Paul moved to Springsure to run cattle before they moved to a 62,000ha Clermont cattle property. But seven years of drought took its toll and Tracy and Paul went in search of water. They found so much more in the Burdekin. First working in the levelling and clearing of land in the Burdekin River Irrigation Area (BRIA), the move led to a leap of faith when the couple decided to invest in a different industry of the land.
“We fell so in love with the area and the abundance of water that we purchased a cane farm,” Tracy said, revelling in the easy access to town, services and education for their two daughters.
While innovation isn’t easy to pull off, the Hatch family is putting in the hard yards for the sake of the whole community. “Being innovative costs money but it is for the good of the whole industry,” Tracy explained.
But despite the positives, it was not an effortless transition for these first-time cane farmers. “We didn’t know anything about cane when we first started. I thought ‘cups’ were what you planted the cane into,” Tracy laughed.
With the help of NQ Dry Tropics and Reef Rescue Water Quality Improvement Grants, Tracy and Paul have already implemented variable rate controllers for precision fertiliser application, a legume planter to implement a legume break crop, a shielded sprayer for precision pesticide application, soil moisture probes for improved irrigation scheduling, a bedformer and a GPS guidance system to implement minimum tillage.
She said the whole mindset of the sugar industry was different to grazing. “One of the hardest things is to not want rain after growing up on a cattle farm,” she said. “It’s great living on the farm. I certainly see Paul coming in tired. It’s a lot more intensive than grazing. The farming practices are more intense and it’s a lot more regulated.” Having always been involved on-property, Tracy had to adapt to the new family business. “Labour was short and I was always out in the paddock with dad busting a gut on cattle work. Now I do the bookkeeping and secretary work,” she explained. Even her husband, also a rural fire fighter, admits the farm wouldn’t work without her. “She helps me with the watering and laying out the flooming, but in this industry the margins are not there, so she seeks out extra work bookkeeping,” he explained. The Hatch family is recognised as instrumental in the formation of the Mulgrave Harvesting co-operative – a group of sugar cane farmers who value innovation on their properties. The co-operative is leading the industry in best management practice in order to reduce the delivery of nutrients, pesticides and sediment to waterways and improve the sustainability and production of the farm and industry as a whole.
The Hatch family is also well known for their fundraising efforts for Angel Flight. In April 2012 they worked with the Deputy Mayor of Emerald to raise $110,000 in a car rally through outback Queensland. This year the fundraising efforts include a Melbourne Cup function, trivia night, chocolate drives and raffles. Add this to Tracy’s involvement on the farm, her bookkeeping consultancy business and her many voluntary roles, and it’s a wonder she finds time for anything else.
NQ Dry Tropics
The Projects
NQ Dry Tropics is a community run, not-for-profit organisation that is a leading delivery agent of land and water management change across the Burdekin Dry Tropics region since 2005. We work across and area of approximately 146,000 square kilometres.
NQ Dry Tropics’ Sustainable Agriculture program delivers extension and Reef Water Quality Grants as part of the Australian Government’s Reef Programme and its $15 million commitment to the Burdekin Dry Tropics region from 2013-16.
The Program
The grants provide the financial assistance to help farmers implement changes that improve management practices and productivity, while also reducing agricultural runoff into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
NQ Dry Tropics’ Sustainable Agriculture program offers information, training and support to agricultural producers in the use of best management practices, for resilient landscapes and productive enterprises.
But if you ask her and many other farming women like her, there’s always time to give something back. “I like being involved,” Tracy said. “You do it for your kids. But you also do it for the whole community.”
TEL 07 4724 3544 | FX 07 4724 3577 2 MCILWRAITH ST SOUTH TOWNSVILLE WWW.NQDRYTROPICS.COM.AU
NQ Dry Tropics is working in conjunction with project partners: Department of Agriculture and Forestry Queensland; Farmacist; Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Advisory Committee Inc; and the Burdekin Productivity Services to deliver support, training and extension to cane farmers in the Burdekin Dry Tropics region.
WOMEN
IN SUGAR
A collection of stories
FINDING THE BALANCE with Lorelle McShane
PEACEFUL… Hard work pays off as birdlife swoops in at the Papale’s wetland.
GETTING BACK TO ROOTS with Richelle Kelly
Creek Road and consolidated the family sugar business. It is still a family run farm where David, the eldest son, races home from studying Engineering at James Cook University every weekend to help out, daughter Gina helps with smoko and the housework, and youngest son Laurance helps after school. When she’s not soaking up the sun at the family wetland, Rita is also heavily involved on-farm.
CALM…
PRIDE…
Rita Papale (right), daughter Gina and their family have created a place to relax away from the pressures of running a sugar business.
Richard Kelly gave his daughter Richelle a new belt when she started working on the family farm.
After completing her studies, Richelle worked as a dental nurse in Ayr before coming back to the family farm in March 2012. When she first started working, her father Richard gave her a new belt.
When her dad enjoys the dog trials on weekends, Richelle looks after the irrigation side of things. Other days she can be working the cattle, applying fertiliser, cultivating the paddocks or helping with burning before harvest.
“I think of it as an employee bonus. It has a place for my pocket knife and another for my lippy – obviously very important,” Richelle said.
“Cane fires are exciting and spectacular – they are big and loud and get so hot even when you are standing away! It’s a highlight for me,” Richelle said.
Working with her mum, dad and older brother Clinton she has found the work has become second nature after growing up on the farm. While her mum Maryann looks after the administration, her dad Richard runs the cattle and sugar enterprise.
She said it’s really nice to be able to take some time out, have an outdoor job and be around family. “It’s good – I’m learning; I enjoy cleaning up cow paddocks, slashing, and tractor work because it is peaceful and I get to work with dad.”
The Kelly farm has been in the family since 1905. The 176 hectare Burdekin farm has 98 hectares under cane, producing roughly 10,000 tonnes a year, and runs 45 head of cattle. Richelle has learnt to work cattle, hook up and change implements, help her dad fix machinery and has claimed the family air-conditioned tractor with GPS and CD player. “I feel lucky to have been brought up here with the freedom to be a kid and do things a lot of kids probably wouldn’t get a chance to,” Richelle said.
With articles published in the Townsville Bulletin and having had her own column in the James Cook University newspaper, she’s certainly on her way. “I get excited about a good cover story! Print media is timeless. It’s not fleeting like radio or television,” she explained. Richelle would like to one day raise a family of her own on the farm. But for now she is enjoying the peace, the time with her family and getting back to her roots. “This job has given me the opportunity to think about what I want to do and where I want to go, and to just slow down for a bit.”
With a Bachelor in Arts (Communications), a Certificate III in Dental Assisting and a plan to complete an Editing/Publishing course, this 25-year-old is determined to make a career in media.
With a Bachelor of Arts, Certificate III in Dental Assisting and an Editing/Publishing course underway, all while working on the family’s farm, Richelle is a typical next gen farmer.
TAKING TIME OUT with Rita Papale Rita Papale has always been heavily involved on-farm, currently managing all of the watering as well as some of the tractor work and burning on her family’s property. It’s this same passion that has seen Rita plant over 800 seedlings and bring to life the family wetland.
When the kids get home they jump straight on their four wheelers and make their way down to their favourite place on the farm. Not many children can boast their very own wetland, but the whole Papale family loves their waterhole and spend countless hours relaxing together and watching the wildlife come in. “We have pelicans, swans and a crocodile. You know that your wetland is a success when your first crocodile moves in!” Rita said. After a career change from a baker and an electrician, Rita and her husband purchased their own cane farm up the Haughton River with their parents. Rita was expecting her second child and her husband Vince, admittedly, was never home. “I wanted to be back with the family and always intended to return to the farm,” Vince said. After 13 years, the couple sold the Haughton farm, purchased ‘Holmes Farm’ on Groper
“Vince and I work together to lay flooming and share administration duties. At night if Vince is in the shed, I am in the shed helping him do machinery maintenance,” Rita said. With a lot of hard work, Rita, Vince and their three children built the wetland on their property four years ago with assistance from an NQ Dry Tropics Water Quality Improvement Grant, through the Australian Government’s Reef Rescue Program. It’s situated on a naturally low lying block once used to grow cane. Before the design was developed by Alluvium and permits, surveying, soil tests and native title were handled by Wetland Care, the block was particularly flood-prone. “Maintenance of the wetland is a constant job,” Rita said. “We have had to replant and trim some trees, kill grubs eating leaves and clean around them all using whipper snippers and lawn mowers.” But the hard work involved in planting and maintaining 800 seedlings around the property has paid off in dividends for the family, who not only come together to relax in the tranquil surroundings, but welcome school groups to visit their wetland. Thanks to the Papale family, students from Home Hill and Gumlu have learnt about water quality, macro-invertebrates and revegetation on agricultural properties through the local wetland. Rita said although they love the kids being involved and spending time together as a family, her and Vince would like to see them experience a different career first. She said if they chose to come back to the farm later on in life, that would be great. In the meantime, Rita and her family intend to continue enjoying the fruits of their labour at their very own on-farm wetland.
Running a business can be challenging at the best of times, but it’s particularly trying for families with young children. Juggling family, farming and the local store is all in a day’s work for mother-of-three Lorelle McShane. Balancing a family and farming can be hard work. Farming women, particularly hands-on women, have to strive for a work/life balance. Lorelle is proof that it can be done, having run a successful sugar and horticulture enterprise with her husband while raising three children. With the help of NQ Dry Tropics and the Reef Rescue Program, the McShane family has implemented a sustainable farming system on their 76 hectare Dalbeg farm. Lorelle manages the administration and horticultural side of the family business while her husband Sean works the cane on-ground. This teamwork is typical of medium sized horticulture/sugar cane enterprises in North Queensland. “My role involves managing, training and supervising all staff, the marketing of the product and administration work. I also run our licensed store, the Dalbeg Inn,” Lorelle said.
LEGACY… Lorelle McShane, pictured with her grandchildren, is encouraging women in the sugar industry.
Growing up in Gayndah, Lorelle made the two-hour trip to the beach in Bundaberg often. “Everything had to be perfect; my hair, my nails and my clothes,” she explained of her youth. But that would all change. After working in Brisbane and growing tired of the city, Lorelle decided to take an adventure around Australia. The Dalbeg woman recalls her misguided perceptions around a life on the land when she first met her husband Sean while working behind the bar at the Kalamia Hotel in Home Hill. “I thought I was marrying a rich cane farmer and would have a wonderful easy life,” Lorelle said. Since marrying in 1984 – right in the middle of hand-cutting for plant – Lorelle has taken to farming like a tractor to soil. Leaving her perfect nails and clothes in the past, she’s picked, packed, planted, chipped and weeded her way through farming life – all while raising three children. But Lorelle has bestowed more than tractor skills to the family business. Not only does she manage the family’s horticulture trade from fresh local markets to overseas exports, but the dedicated mother has taken measures to better the sugar industry.
With a passion for ‘Country of Origin’ labelling and commitment to combat the challenge of labour shortages, Lorelle became involved with the Burdekin Delta Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. This passion then led her to join the Growcom board in 2007. “Problems had started to arise in the industry and I could only talk about them for so long until I needed to take action,” she said. “I hope to see laws around Country of Origin labelling clarified better and would like to see the backpacker workforce more farm-ready,” she said. “I would like to encourage women to be more involved in their industry and get on Boards. We know a lot about our industry and can contribute and have a positive input.” The dedicated mother, wife and businesswoman is already passing on her legacy, with her three daughters having expressed interest in the future of the family farm.
FINDING THE BALANCE with Lorelle McShane
PEACEFUL… Hard work pays off as birdlife swoops in at the Papale’s wetland.
GETTING BACK TO ROOTS with Richelle Kelly
Creek Road and consolidated the family sugar business. It is still a family run farm where David, the eldest son, races home from studying Engineering at James Cook University every weekend to help out, daughter Gina helps with smoko and the housework, and youngest son Laurance helps after school. When she’s not soaking up the sun at the family wetland, Rita is also heavily involved on-farm.
CALM…
PRIDE…
Rita Papale (right), daughter Gina and their family have created a place to relax away from the pressures of running a sugar business.
Richard Kelly gave his daughter Richelle a new belt when she started working on the family farm.
After completing her studies, Richelle worked as a dental nurse in Ayr before coming back to the family farm in March 2012. When she first started working, her father Richard gave her a new belt.
When her dad enjoys the dog trials on weekends, Richelle looks after the irrigation side of things. Other days she can be working the cattle, applying fertiliser, cultivating the paddocks or helping with burning before harvest.
“I think of it as an employee bonus. It has a place for my pocket knife and another for my lippy – obviously very important,” Richelle said.
“Cane fires are exciting and spectacular – they are big and loud and get so hot even when you are standing away! It’s a highlight for me,” Richelle said.
Working with her mum, dad and older brother Clinton she has found the work has become second nature after growing up on the farm. While her mum Maryann looks after the administration, her dad Richard runs the cattle and sugar enterprise.
She said it’s really nice to be able to take some time out, have an outdoor job and be around family. “It’s good – I’m learning; I enjoy cleaning up cow paddocks, slashing, and tractor work because it is peaceful and I get to work with dad.”
The Kelly farm has been in the family since 1905. The 176 hectare Burdekin farm has 98 hectares under cane, producing roughly 10,000 tonnes a year, and runs 45 head of cattle. Richelle has learnt to work cattle, hook up and change implements, help her dad fix machinery and has claimed the family air-conditioned tractor with GPS and CD player. “I feel lucky to have been brought up here with the freedom to be a kid and do things a lot of kids probably wouldn’t get a chance to,” Richelle said.
With articles published in the Townsville Bulletin and having had her own column in the James Cook University newspaper, she’s certainly on her way. “I get excited about a good cover story! Print media is timeless. It’s not fleeting like radio or television,” she explained. Richelle would like to one day raise a family of her own on the farm. But for now she is enjoying the peace, the time with her family and getting back to her roots. “This job has given me the opportunity to think about what I want to do and where I want to go, and to just slow down for a bit.”
With a Bachelor in Arts (Communications), a Certificate III in Dental Assisting and a plan to complete an Editing/Publishing course, this 25-year-old is determined to make a career in media.
With a Bachelor of Arts, Certificate III in Dental Assisting and an Editing/Publishing course underway, all while working on the family’s farm, Richelle is a typical next gen farmer.
TAKING TIME OUT with Rita Papale Rita Papale has always been heavily involved on-farm, currently managing all of the watering as well as some of the tractor work and burning on her family’s property. It’s this same passion that has seen Rita plant over 800 seedlings and bring to life the family wetland.
When the kids get home they jump straight on their four wheelers and make their way down to their favourite place on the farm. Not many children can boast their very own wetland, but the whole Papale family loves their waterhole and spend countless hours relaxing together and watching the wildlife come in. “We have pelicans, swans and a crocodile. You know that your wetland is a success when your first crocodile moves in!” Rita said. After a career change from a baker and an electrician, Rita and her husband purchased their own cane farm up the Haughton River with their parents. Rita was expecting her second child and her husband Vince, admittedly, was never home. “I wanted to be back with the family and always intended to return to the farm,” Vince said. After 13 years, the couple sold the Haughton farm, purchased ‘Holmes Farm’ on Groper
“Vince and I work together to lay flooming and share administration duties. At night if Vince is in the shed, I am in the shed helping him do machinery maintenance,” Rita said. With a lot of hard work, Rita, Vince and their three children built the wetland on their property four years ago with assistance from an NQ Dry Tropics Water Quality Improvement Grant, through the Australian Government’s Reef Rescue Program. It’s situated on a naturally low lying block once used to grow cane. Before the design was developed by Alluvium and permits, surveying, soil tests and native title were handled by Wetland Care, the block was particularly flood-prone. “Maintenance of the wetland is a constant job,” Rita said. “We have had to replant and trim some trees, kill grubs eating leaves and clean around them all using whipper snippers and lawn mowers.” But the hard work involved in planting and maintaining 800 seedlings around the property has paid off in dividends for the family, who not only come together to relax in the tranquil surroundings, but welcome school groups to visit their wetland. Thanks to the Papale family, students from Home Hill and Gumlu have learnt about water quality, macro-invertebrates and revegetation on agricultural properties through the local wetland. Rita said although they love the kids being involved and spending time together as a family, her and Vince would like to see them experience a different career first. She said if they chose to come back to the farm later on in life, that would be great. In the meantime, Rita and her family intend to continue enjoying the fruits of their labour at their very own on-farm wetland.
Running a business can be challenging at the best of times, but it’s particularly trying for families with young children. Juggling family, farming and the local store is all in a day’s work for mother-of-three Lorelle McShane. Balancing a family and farming can be hard work. Farming women, particularly hands-on women, have to strive for a work/life balance. Lorelle is proof that it can be done, having run a successful sugar and horticulture enterprise with her husband while raising three children. With the help of NQ Dry Tropics and the Reef Rescue Program, the McShane family has implemented a sustainable farming system on their 76 hectare Dalbeg farm. Lorelle manages the administration and horticultural side of the family business while her husband Sean works the cane on-ground. This teamwork is typical of medium sized horticulture/sugar cane enterprises in North Queensland. “My role involves managing, training and supervising all staff, the marketing of the product and administration work. I also run our licensed store, the Dalbeg Inn,” Lorelle said.
LEGACY… Lorelle McShane, pictured with her grandchildren, is encouraging women in the sugar industry.
Growing up in Gayndah, Lorelle made the two-hour trip to the beach in Bundaberg often. “Everything had to be perfect; my hair, my nails and my clothes,” she explained of her youth. But that would all change. After working in Brisbane and growing tired of the city, Lorelle decided to take an adventure around Australia. The Dalbeg woman recalls her misguided perceptions around a life on the land when she first met her husband Sean while working behind the bar at the Kalamia Hotel in Home Hill. “I thought I was marrying a rich cane farmer and would have a wonderful easy life,” Lorelle said. Since marrying in 1984 – right in the middle of hand-cutting for plant – Lorelle has taken to farming like a tractor to soil. Leaving her perfect nails and clothes in the past, she’s picked, packed, planted, chipped and weeded her way through farming life – all while raising three children. But Lorelle has bestowed more than tractor skills to the family business. Not only does she manage the family’s horticulture trade from fresh local markets to overseas exports, but the dedicated mother has taken measures to better the sugar industry.
With a passion for ‘Country of Origin’ labelling and commitment to combat the challenge of labour shortages, Lorelle became involved with the Burdekin Delta Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. This passion then led her to join the Growcom board in 2007. “Problems had started to arise in the industry and I could only talk about them for so long until I needed to take action,” she said. “I hope to see laws around Country of Origin labelling clarified better and would like to see the backpacker workforce more farm-ready,” she said. “I would like to encourage women to be more involved in their industry and get on Boards. We know a lot about our industry and can contribute and have a positive input.” The dedicated mother, wife and businesswoman is already passing on her legacy, with her three daughters having expressed interest in the future of the family farm.
FINDING THE BALANCE with Lorelle McShane
PEACEFUL… Hard work pays off as birdlife swoops in at the Papale’s wetland.
GETTING BACK TO ROOTS with Richelle Kelly
Creek Road and consolidated the family sugar business. It is still a family run farm where David, the eldest son, races home from studying Engineering at James Cook University every weekend to help out, daughter Gina helps with smoko and the housework, and youngest son Laurance helps after school. When she’s not soaking up the sun at the family wetland, Rita is also heavily involved on-farm.
CALM…
PRIDE…
Rita Papale (right), daughter Gina and their family have created a place to relax away from the pressures of running a sugar business.
Richard Kelly gave his daughter Richelle a new belt when she started working on the family farm.
After completing her studies, Richelle worked as a dental nurse in Ayr before coming back to the family farm in March 2012. When she first started working, her father Richard gave her a new belt.
When her dad enjoys the dog trials on weekends, Richelle looks after the irrigation side of things. Other days she can be working the cattle, applying fertiliser, cultivating the paddocks or helping with burning before harvest.
“I think of it as an employee bonus. It has a place for my pocket knife and another for my lippy – obviously very important,” Richelle said.
“Cane fires are exciting and spectacular – they are big and loud and get so hot even when you are standing away! It’s a highlight for me,” Richelle said.
Working with her mum, dad and older brother Clinton she has found the work has become second nature after growing up on the farm. While her mum Maryann looks after the administration, her dad Richard runs the cattle and sugar enterprise.
She said it’s really nice to be able to take some time out, have an outdoor job and be around family. “It’s good – I’m learning; I enjoy cleaning up cow paddocks, slashing, and tractor work because it is peaceful and I get to work with dad.”
The Kelly farm has been in the family since 1905. The 176 hectare Burdekin farm has 98 hectares under cane, producing roughly 10,000 tonnes a year, and runs 45 head of cattle. Richelle has learnt to work cattle, hook up and change implements, help her dad fix machinery and has claimed the family air-conditioned tractor with GPS and CD player. “I feel lucky to have been brought up here with the freedom to be a kid and do things a lot of kids probably wouldn’t get a chance to,” Richelle said.
With articles published in the Townsville Bulletin and having had her own column in the James Cook University newspaper, she’s certainly on her way. “I get excited about a good cover story! Print media is timeless. It’s not fleeting like radio or television,” she explained. Richelle would like to one day raise a family of her own on the farm. But for now she is enjoying the peace, the time with her family and getting back to her roots. “This job has given me the opportunity to think about what I want to do and where I want to go, and to just slow down for a bit.”
With a Bachelor in Arts (Communications), a Certificate III in Dental Assisting and a plan to complete an Editing/Publishing course, this 25-year-old is determined to make a career in media.
With a Bachelor of Arts, Certificate III in Dental Assisting and an Editing/Publishing course underway, all while working on the family’s farm, Richelle is a typical next gen farmer.
TAKING TIME OUT with Rita Papale Rita Papale has always been heavily involved on-farm, currently managing all of the watering as well as some of the tractor work and burning on her family’s property. It’s this same passion that has seen Rita plant over 800 seedlings and bring to life the family wetland.
When the kids get home they jump straight on their four wheelers and make their way down to their favourite place on the farm. Not many children can boast their very own wetland, but the whole Papale family loves their waterhole and spend countless hours relaxing together and watching the wildlife come in. “We have pelicans, swans and a crocodile. You know that your wetland is a success when your first crocodile moves in!” Rita said. After a career change from a baker and an electrician, Rita and her husband purchased their own cane farm up the Haughton River with their parents. Rita was expecting her second child and her husband Vince, admittedly, was never home. “I wanted to be back with the family and always intended to return to the farm,” Vince said. After 13 years, the couple sold the Haughton farm, purchased ‘Holmes Farm’ on Groper
“Vince and I work together to lay flooming and share administration duties. At night if Vince is in the shed, I am in the shed helping him do machinery maintenance,” Rita said. With a lot of hard work, Rita, Vince and their three children built the wetland on their property four years ago with assistance from an NQ Dry Tropics Water Quality Improvement Grant, through the Australian Government’s Reef Rescue Program. It’s situated on a naturally low lying block once used to grow cane. Before the design was developed by Alluvium and permits, surveying, soil tests and native title were handled by Wetland Care, the block was particularly flood-prone. “Maintenance of the wetland is a constant job,” Rita said. “We have had to replant and trim some trees, kill grubs eating leaves and clean around them all using whipper snippers and lawn mowers.” But the hard work involved in planting and maintaining 800 seedlings around the property has paid off in dividends for the family, who not only come together to relax in the tranquil surroundings, but welcome school groups to visit their wetland. Thanks to the Papale family, students from Home Hill and Gumlu have learnt about water quality, macro-invertebrates and revegetation on agricultural properties through the local wetland. Rita said although they love the kids being involved and spending time together as a family, her and Vince would like to see them experience a different career first. She said if they chose to come back to the farm later on in life, that would be great. In the meantime, Rita and her family intend to continue enjoying the fruits of their labour at their very own on-farm wetland.
Running a business can be challenging at the best of times, but it’s particularly trying for families with young children. Juggling family, farming and the local store is all in a day’s work for mother-of-three Lorelle McShane. Balancing a family and farming can be hard work. Farming women, particularly hands-on women, have to strive for a work/life balance. Lorelle is proof that it can be done, having run a successful sugar and horticulture enterprise with her husband while raising three children. With the help of NQ Dry Tropics and the Reef Rescue Program, the McShane family has implemented a sustainable farming system on their 76 hectare Dalbeg farm. Lorelle manages the administration and horticultural side of the family business while her husband Sean works the cane on-ground. This teamwork is typical of medium sized horticulture/sugar cane enterprises in North Queensland. “My role involves managing, training and supervising all staff, the marketing of the product and administration work. I also run our licensed store, the Dalbeg Inn,” Lorelle said.
LEGACY… Lorelle McShane, pictured with her grandchildren, is encouraging women in the sugar industry.
Growing up in Gayndah, Lorelle made the two-hour trip to the beach in Bundaberg often. “Everything had to be perfect; my hair, my nails and my clothes,” she explained of her youth. But that would all change. After working in Brisbane and growing tired of the city, Lorelle decided to take an adventure around Australia. The Dalbeg woman recalls her misguided perceptions around a life on the land when she first met her husband Sean while working behind the bar at the Kalamia Hotel in Home Hill. “I thought I was marrying a rich cane farmer and would have a wonderful easy life,” Lorelle said. Since marrying in 1984 – right in the middle of hand-cutting for plant – Lorelle has taken to farming like a tractor to soil. Leaving her perfect nails and clothes in the past, she’s picked, packed, planted, chipped and weeded her way through farming life – all while raising three children. But Lorelle has bestowed more than tractor skills to the family business. Not only does she manage the family’s horticulture trade from fresh local markets to overseas exports, but the dedicated mother has taken measures to better the sugar industry.
With a passion for ‘Country of Origin’ labelling and commitment to combat the challenge of labour shortages, Lorelle became involved with the Burdekin Delta Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. This passion then led her to join the Growcom board in 2007. “Problems had started to arise in the industry and I could only talk about them for so long until I needed to take action,” she said. “I hope to see laws around Country of Origin labelling clarified better and would like to see the backpacker workforce more farm-ready,” she said. “I would like to encourage women to be more involved in their industry and get on Boards. We know a lot about our industry and can contribute and have a positive input.” The dedicated mother, wife and businesswoman is already passing on her legacy, with her three daughters having expressed interest in the future of the family farm.
GIVING BACK
NQ DRY TROPICS
would like to thank the women in sugar for offering their time and telling their stories.
with Tracy Hatch
Dedicating your life to the land and the community is part and parcel for most farming women. So when she’s not laying flooming and changing cups, Tracy Hatch is running a bookkeeping payroll consultancy, driving the school bus or giving up her time as the local swim club president, Clare School P&C treasurer and secretary for the Mulgrave Harvesting co-operative.
Having grown up on a sheep and cattle property in Springsure, it made sense for Tracy to study Animal Production at Longreach Pastoral College. Tracy and her husband Paul had always worked in grazing when they decided to try out cane farming. In fact, the couple met when Paul moved to Springsure to run cattle before they moved to a 62,000ha Clermont cattle property. But seven years of drought took its toll and Tracy and Paul went in search of water. They found so much more in the Burdekin. First working in the levelling and clearing of land in the Burdekin River Irrigation Area (BRIA), the move led to a leap of faith when the couple decided to invest in a different industry of the land.
“We fell so in love with the area and the abundance of water that we purchased a cane farm,” Tracy said, revelling in the easy access to town, services and education for their two daughters.
While innovation isn’t easy to pull off, the Hatch family is putting in the hard yards for the sake of the whole community. “Being innovative costs money but it is for the good of the whole industry,” Tracy explained.
But despite the positives, it was not an effortless transition for these first-time cane farmers. “We didn’t know anything about cane when we first started. I thought ‘cups’ were what you planted the cane into,” Tracy laughed.
With the help of NQ Dry Tropics and Reef Rescue Water Quality Improvement Grants, Tracy and Paul have already implemented variable rate controllers for precision fertiliser application, a legume planter to implement a legume break crop, a shielded sprayer for precision pesticide application, soil moisture probes for improved irrigation scheduling, a bedformer and a GPS guidance system to implement minimum tillage.
She said the whole mindset of the sugar industry was different to grazing. “One of the hardest things is to not want rain after growing up on a cattle farm,” she said. “It’s great living on the farm. I certainly see Paul coming in tired. It’s a lot more intensive than grazing. The farming practices are more intense and it’s a lot more regulated.” Having always been involved on-property, Tracy had to adapt to the new family business. “Labour was short and I was always out in the paddock with dad busting a gut on cattle work. Now I do the bookkeeping and secretary work,” she explained. Even her husband, also a rural fire fighter, admits the farm wouldn’t work without her. “She helps me with the watering and laying out the flooming, but in this industry the margins are not there, so she seeks out extra work bookkeeping,” he explained. The Hatch family is recognised as instrumental in the formation of the Mulgrave Harvesting co-operative – a group of sugar cane farmers who value innovation on their properties. The co-operative is leading the industry in best management practice in order to reduce the delivery of nutrients, pesticides and sediment to waterways and improve the sustainability and production of the farm and industry as a whole.
The Hatch family is also well known for their fundraising efforts for Angel Flight. In April 2012 they worked with the Deputy Mayor of Emerald to raise $110,000 in a car rally through outback Queensland. This year the fundraising efforts include a Melbourne Cup function, trivia night, chocolate drives and raffles. Add this to Tracy’s involvement on the farm, her bookkeeping consultancy business and her many voluntary roles, and it’s a wonder she finds time for anything else.
NQ Dry Tropics
The Projects
NQ Dry Tropics is a community run, not-for-profit organisation that is a leading delivery agent of land and water management change across the Burdekin Dry Tropics region since 2005. We work across and area of approximately 146,000 square kilometres.
NQ Dry Tropics’ Sustainable Agriculture program delivers extension and Reef Water Quality Grants as part of the Australian Government’s Reef Programme and its $15 million commitment to the Burdekin Dry Tropics region from 2013-16.
The Program
The grants provide the financial assistance to help farmers implement changes that improve management practices and productivity, while also reducing agricultural runoff into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
NQ Dry Tropics’ Sustainable Agriculture program offers information, training and support to agricultural producers in the use of best management practices, for resilient landscapes and productive enterprises.
But if you ask her and many other farming women like her, there’s always time to give something back. “I like being involved,” Tracy said. “You do it for your kids. But you also do it for the whole community.”
TEL 07 4724 3544 | FX 07 4724 3577 2 MCILWRAITH ST SOUTH TOWNSVILLE WWW.NQDRYTROPICS.COM.AU
NQ Dry Tropics is working in conjunction with project partners: Department of Agriculture and Forestry Queensland; Farmacist; Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Advisory Committee Inc; and the Burdekin Productivity Services to deliver support, training and extension to cane farmers in the Burdekin Dry Tropics region.
WOMEN
IN SUGAR
A collection of stories