Samantha (Sammy) Mitchell has been farming with her father John at Watchupga for the past three years, although unofficially she has been farming “forever”. Sammy is a member of the southern Mallee GAPP young farmers group (a BCG and DEDJTR initiative). As well as providing her with a chance to get off the farm and talk to other growers, she said GAPP was opening her eyes to both the agronomic and business management factors that effect
profitability and production.
DETAILS
Case study: Samantha Mitchell, ‘Barrabogie’
Location: Watchupga
Farming mix: Cropping/sheep (85%:15%)
Crops: Wheat, barley, vetch, field peas, canola (usually)
Livestock: 300 Merino ewes jointed to White Suffolk rams for prime lamb production
A FARMING CAREER
A part of me always wanted to become a farmer but I was hesitant because being a female
farmer is very uncommon and I thought it was impossible. I now see it was silly to think that.
I love being outdoors, watching things grow, looking after animals, watching the sunset and
sunrise. I love how it’s always challenging us and how every day, week, month and year is
different. Farming can be very rewarding … we are helping to feed the world.
INSPIRATION
The industry and the farmers in it inspire me – the work they do, how they approach the
challenges and the way they keep fighting back. My dad is a great role model. He is very
hard working, passionate and doesn’t treat me differently by giving me the easy jobs because
I am female. I love the fact that I am doing something I really enjoy and it’s something that
I didn’t think I could ever do.
“He (dad) doesn’t treat me differently by giving me the easy jobs because I am female. I love the fact that I am doing something I really enjoy.”
CHALLENGES
Being profitable in the drier years is undoubtedly the biggest challenge. There
seems to be more dry years than wet.
THE GAPP CONCEPT
The GAPP program is a great idea. The drier years are becoming ‘normal’ and we need to
learn to work with it. We need to look at our business management and identify where we
are spending too much money. This should be equally as important as the agronomy;
we are running businesses. It’s great to get others around you from a similar environment
to discuss how they are overcoming these obstacles and hearing their ideas and thoughts.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Sadly enough dad is the tech whiz. He is the one telling me which apps are good or bad. I
think Twitter is a great tool. It allows you to see what other farmers are doing and to access new information and research.
PRACTICE CHANGE
Dad has been no-till for quite a while now, so nothing has really changed hugely in that
department. Since I’ve been back on the farm full-time dad has been carting the grain
throughout the year which he couldn’t have done if there was no one else on the farm.
This year we spent time making up a liquid cart to go behind the tractor at sowing to get the
fertiliser down that way. We would love to apply liquid fertiliser in-season too with the sprayer
but urea is just so much cheaper. When dad was on his own he didn’t worry too much about having the Merino ewes; he just carried store lambs across the summer.
THE FUTURE
It’s very hard to predict how farming will look in the future. It is always changing. I’m positive
that farming will continue, but we need to keep up with the research and continue to be
proactive. I think we will be more diverse, with a mixture of commodities and crop types (stock, grain, legumes, oilseeds, hay, contracting, carting grain etc).
At the moment I am studying a Bachelor of Agriculture online, part-time through Charles
Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. I’m a year in and love it. I’m doing it to learn as
much as I can to be the best at my job. It’s six years to complete but I’m in no hurry as I am not going to get a promotion at the end of the day.
