From Grassroots

Jason Riley was just 12 years old when he decided he wanted to be a dairy farmer, and now at 22, that’s exactly what he’s doing, working alongside his parents, partner and mentors. In this episode, Jason shares how his mum, a breast cancer survivor, is his main motivation (and puts in almost as many hours with the cows as Jason himself), the importance of mentors, and how not all advice is helpful. 

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Despite being a third-generation pineapple farmer, Jake Brooks had never seen a pineapple burn – that was until the November 2019 bushfires. Within 24 hours of receiving the call, the family business lost more than 1200 hectares as well as tractors, forklifts and about 200,000 pineapple plants. In this episode, Jake talks about how they’re bouncing back, sharing the workload with his twin brother, and whether or not pineapple does in fact belong on a pizza. 

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When Mark Kable was in his 20s, he threw his bag and his swag in the back of his ute and relocated from Dubbo (via Sydney) to Tasmania. He was looking for new opportunities to continue the family business and now he supplies over 90,000 tonnes of different vegetables, employs up to 300 people, and has expanded operations into Queensland and Victoria. In this episode, Mark discusses how the business survived some of Tasmania’s most devastating floods, how to get your kids to eat their veggies and how he reinvented the humble carrot.

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Often people think a tree change is a shift to a quieter life, but not for Lynda Harding and her husband Noel, who took on a 1,500-tree stone fruit orchard in Western Australia with no prior experience. Lynda swapped her corporate life in Queensland to become an organic fruit and veg farmer. In this episode, she discusses how she sobbed until midnight during her first season of harvesting, fed her newborn under the trees while picking, and why today more than ever, in a time where COVID-19 has changed so many lives, she appreciates the life she’s made. 

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Jimmy Kalafatis, a second-generation fruit farmer, comes from a family of hard workers. His late father Angelo emigrated from Greece to Australia at the age of 19 looking for new opportunities and managed to build Kalafatis Farms from the ground up. Today, the family business has more than half a million fruit trees. In this episode, Jimmy talks about the importance of family, the work ethic he inherited from his father, and why you should always think twice before saying yes.

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Taking on the family business is a big job, let alone completely overhauling a 133-year-old family orchard. For fourth-generation apple farmer Andrew Smith, the risks were worth it. In this episode, Andrew talks about how he convinced his father to go organic (making them Australia’s first certified organic apple farm), turned imperfect apples into profit, and how fear helped drive his success.

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In From Grassroots, we share the stories of farmers who personify the character, grit and humour of what it means to be a farmer in modern Australia. Join series host, Edwina Bartholomew, as she meets six Aussie farmers from very different backgrounds. Each has faced risks and hardships, havoc and heartbreak, but their stories of perseverance will inspire you.

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