“Climate smart farming” has become somewhat of a buzz word (or buzz phrase, rather!). But what does that even mean? Instead of becoming caught up in definitions, we hear from two women who are each running farming operations in two very different landscapes...but are both proudly, climate smart farmers. 

At its essence, climate smart farming is about lowering inputs where you can, making decisions for your soil and grass, and in some cases, tapping into opportunities such as renewable energy or carbon sequestration. It’s going to look different, depending on your property.  However, it's often thinking about farm productivity from the soil up, and yes, it also means making a profit too.

Hear from:

• Ellen Litchfield -  runs a cattle and sheep station in remote South Australia. She’s also a vet, and has a Masters in Sustainable Agriculture and works part-time for Farmers for Climate Action.
• Dimity Taylor - runs a sheep farm near Crookwell in NSW. She is implementing regenerative agriculture practices on the farm and also works part-time as a physiotherapist.

Both Ellen and Dimity talk about the challenges and successes they’ve had in getting others on board their climate smart farming journeys. 

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Behind every good Ag business, is a good woman. Well, a smart and caring one.

There are many women doing innovative things on farm and in the broader agriculture industry. From cracking a value added business, to finding more sustainable ways of producing food. In this episode, you’ll meet two women who think strategically about their own farming businesses, as well as broader issues around soil science, national food security (such as a national food plan) and how to bring more diversity into industry board rooms.

Hear from:

*Fiona Marshall -Chair, Grain Growers National Policy Group Member. Chair, Riverine Plains Farming Systems Group.  Grains producer and advocate for agriculture. Based in Mulwala, NSW.

*Cressida Cains - President of Australian Women in Agriculture and founder of Pecora Dairy, a raw-milk sheep cheese dairy. Based in Robertson, NSW.

This is episode one of a 3-part collaboration series with Farmers for Climate Action. Come to their national summit - and receive 20% off! Listen to the episode to find out how!

This is a Rural Podcasting Co. production

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How do you create systemic change, especially when it involves changing the culture and attitudes of not just a workplace, but an entire society? 

There is no specific playbook for systemic change. But there are a number of tools you can try. In this final episode of our three part series with Rural Women Lead, we explore this adaptive process by looking at space of women’s health and wellbeing - including reproductive health, family violence and menopause - which are all areas that have been overlooked, misunderstood and mischaracterised throughout history.

Hear from:

• Jodie Hill - CEO at Women’s Health and Wellbeing Barwon Southwest, from Crossley, VIC.

In her role, Jodie is tackling multiple systemic problems. To do this, she says you need to have conversations with people with very different attitudes and ideas to you. This inevitably comes with discomfort - but if you want to create change, you need to have the courage to be able to sit with that discomfort and do it anyway. Jodie tells the story of having to speak to a room full of tradies about gender equity, when it was clear they hadn’t really chosen to be in the room. She adjusted her talk to better fit the audience..but summoned the courage to speak!

This series has been made in collaboration with Rural Women Lead, lead by Leadership Great South Coast. Other members includes: O2 Advisory, are-able, GenHealth, Wannon Water and Rural Podcasting Co.

This is a Rural Podcasting Co. production.

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Storytelling is so important for connection and information retention (there are several studies that prove this!) But have you ever stopped to think how important knowing YOUR OWN story is?

Hear from Sherry Johnstone, a Keerray Woorong woman, based in Warrnambool who didn’t feel confident in embracing her indigenous heritage, because she was so tired of people questioning it. But when she finally did acknowledge her culture, it markedly changed the direction of her life, giving her greater purpose and re-awakening her passion as an artist.

In this episode hear from:

*Sherry Johnstone - Artist (Spirit and Soul Connections) and educator and Kerray Woorong woman based in Warrnambool, VIC.

*Trudy Marr - Head of Strategy of Strategy and Projects at are-able, a not for profit organisation, which helps people with disabilities find meaningful employment.

Connection is also a strong theme of this episode, and the link between sharing your story and connecting with others. Trudy moved to Warrnambool from Scotland in her early 20s and had to quickly learn how to forge meaningful relationships.  Since then, she has reimagined what networking means. For her, it's not about starting with an intention to climb the corporate ladder,  but rather form a genuine connection - and through this, wonderful opportunities will emerge.

This episode has been made in collaboration with Rural Women Lead - an initiative led by Leadership Great South Coast. It captures some of the insights shared at recent workshops, funded by a community projects grant, from Elders.

Would you like to collaborate with us? Or sponsor a full season? Get in touch! [email protected]

This is a Rural Podcasting Co production

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If you haven’t heard about ‘bio-hacking’ - it’s all about using our neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin and hormones to maximise our wellbeing. And you can do really simple things for a big pay off.

This is the beginning of a 3-part mini series on leadership: focusing on self, story and change. In this episode, focusing on ‘self’ speak to Jessica Fishburn, a women’s health physiotherapist and Director at Gen Health, in Hamilton, VIC.

Drawing on her expertise in pain science and neurobiology, she gives us a few tricks to help increase focus, productivity and overall wellbeing. Jess talks about ‘the flow state’ and how to work out what that is for you, plus what foods and simple exercises can give you a good injection from our natural chemicals and hormones. 

Jess doesn’t believe in ‘taboo’ topics, so she gives some very frank and useful advice on how to reduce your stress levels and optimise your wellbeing. From a leadership perspective, this all comes from the idea that you need to look after yourself first to be a good leader.

This episode has been made in collaboration with Rural Women Lead - an initiative led by Leadership Great South Coast. It captures some of the insights shared at recent workshops, funded by a community projects grant, from Elders.

Would you like to collaborate with us? Or sponsor a full season? Get in touch! [email protected]

This is a Rural Podcasting Co production

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Farm life can sometimes be romanticized, with the wide open spaces, animals and the freedom to do what you want. You might love the bush and your community…but are you actually happy?

There are many factors that influence our wellbeing. This includes how well the business is running financially, farm succession (including whether it has been worked out or not) and your experiences of drought and natural disaster (including how many times you’ve been impacted).  Then of course, all of these factors intersect. So, that’s why we’re looking at these issues altogether.

Hear from:

*Alice Byrnes - Family lawyer and Co-Director at Cheney Suthers Lawyers. She shares her own personal experience of growing up, when her grandparents died unexpectedly, without a clear plan for what would happen to the farm.

*Prof. Jacki Schermer -  lead researcher on the Regional Wellbeing Survey team at the University of Canberra. Her research has found that happiness in rural areas has gone down recently.

There are big and sometimes difficult conversations that need to be had when working with family on the farm. 

This episode will remind you why it’s so important to have them… and have them often enough to keep up with the inevitable changes and unpredictable events that come with life on the land.

Resources:

• From Crisis to Clarity Report: Proactive and Collaborative Farm Succession - Cheney Suthers Lawyers
• The Regional Wellbeing 2025 survey is open to responses now!

Interested in sponsoring the NEXT season of Ducks on the Pond? Let us know! Email: [email protected]

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There’s a perception that rural healthcare means second-best or second-rate. Whereas the opposite is actually true. Rural medical students often out-perform their city-based counterparts on standardised tests. Most rural patients are better off being treated closer to home in their rural location (unless they have a very rare condition). And rural medical practices can often be better at adopting new technologies because of their smaller, more agile teams.

So why then, is it so difficult to attract and retain doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to rural and regional areas? 

Hear from:

Dr Bridget Clancy - Ear, nose and throat surgeon based near Warrnambool, VIC and Chair of the Rural Surgery section at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons .

Rebecca Bradshaw - child health nurse and founder of Rural Child Health, based in Jackson, QLD

In this episode we dive into some of the systemic issues from the housing and childcare crises, to sexism in the medical profession. But we also look at what we as individuals and rural communities can do better to help make health professionals feel welcomed and supported.

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Regional Australia has always been at the frontline for energy innovation and delivery. Sure, it's the politicians in the cities that talk about a transition, but it's in our backyard that these projects actually happen.

Some renewables, such as wind, seem to be particularly controversial in a few parts of the country right now. This episode is not diving into that. Instead, it’s looking at how we design renewable energy projects, to ensure farmers and communities have the value of renewables delivered back to them. This includes exploring how renewable could offset farm emissions, to demanding more from big companies to provide long term support to a community, in areas that will make a difference.

Guests:

• Karin Stark - Cotton Farmer in Narromine, NSW and founder of the National Renewables in Agriculture Conference.
• Susan Findlay-Tickner - Grain Grower near Horsham, VIC, who is part of a wind farm project.

So if you’re curious about renewables, from solar, to hydro, wind and even bio energy, we dive into how to assess whether it’s a good investment for your farm, what questions you should be asking and how to work together as a community.

Also, the National Renewables in Agriculture Conference is coming up on 23 July, in Bendigo.

This episode is sponsored by ByCC Fine Jewellery, thank you for your support. And there’s a special promo for listeners!

This is a Rural Podcasting Co. production - we help you tell your own story.

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There's sometimes a feeling in agriculture, that “climate” and “climate action” is a dirty word. Despite ‘the weather’ being every farmer’s favourite topic, the word “climate” can be seen as divisive. And you'd certainly better not talk about “climate action!”

However, this episode’s guest is not afraid of “climate action”… and also wants the best for farmers. The two aren't mutually exclusive. 

Natalie Collard is the CEO of Farmers for Climate Action. She's been in the job for a couple of years now, but the group itself started 10 years ago as a growing voice for farmers who wanted to be able to talk about the realities of climate change, while also advocating for farmers. 

FCA has steadily grown and is now holding its first National Summit in Canberra, called Farming Forever, on September 1- 3.

In this episode, Natalie talks about why FCA began and how farmers can be better recognized and incentivized for the simple practice changes (that many of us have already made). We also talk about the political mix we're facing in the Federal Parliament, after a resounding Labor win.

We also touch on ‘the climate guilts’ - that feeling some of us have that we could be doing more to be cleaner and greener. But why is it okay to just take it one step at a time!

GIVEAWAY! Listen to the episode to get the promo code, then head to the Ducks on the Pond website. (THIS GIVEAWAY RUNS FROM 19/6/2025 - 14/7/2025)

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It can be a hard case to argue… that your children should be subsidised to attend a private boarding school. But when you live in rural and remote Australia, boarding school is really the only option.

The Federal Government doesn’t fund state boarding schools (and you could only imagine the expense if they did). So if you are running a farm 600 kilometres away from the nearest high school, your only option is an expensive private school or distance education. But how many teenagers do you know, want to hang out with their Mum and Dad all the time?

Yes, some farmers can draw down on their land assets to help afford private schooling. But what about the wage earners in town? Many of them are forced to leave small towns, so their children can go to school in the cities. This has a huge knock-on effect for rural communities. So is there a way to make it easier for everyone?

Hear from:

*Louise Martin - President, Isolated Children’s Parent’s Association. Louise lives on a sheep and cattle property 30km from Tambo, in QLD. She is the mother of twins.

*Alana Moller - lives on a cattle station in central, west of Clermont, QLD. She is the mother of children at boarding school.

Louise and Alana share the realities of what it’s like to send your children to boarding school.  From the fees, to the restrictions… and simply not being able to see your child every morning. These mothers share it all.

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