As we all wind down towards the end of 2021, and prepare ourselves to indulge in Christmas after a year that has been testing and challenging in so many ways – The Graziher and Life on the Land team would like to send you off on your Summer Break with a rolling re-cap of our favourite podcast interviews.

So Each Monday morning for the next six weeks – one team member will pick an episode that has touched them personally and we will replay it for you here.

This week we start with Skye's personal favourite, Christine Ferguson – not each episode in our Summer Series will have it’s own fresh introduction but as I am here – I’d love to tell you why I have chose this story.

Skye interviewed Christine during our first season of the podcast in September 2020, and her gentle recount of her life and it’s weighty difficulties really touched me.

How could a person not be a grumpy shell of the person they once were, after suffering all this I thought? But Christine is wise and generous with her wisdom, she doesn’t sugar coat life’s circumstances and I felt very lucky to have interviewed someone who could so articulately detail – how a love for Life on the Land – can deeply counter all adversities along the way.

Please know that this episode talks about some challenging issues including Domestic Violence. If this raises anything for you, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

This episode of Life on the Land speaks openly about suicide and mental ill-health. If you or anyone you know is unwell or in need of assistance you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

Farmer, mother to four and business and mindset coach Katrina Myers, from farm business Barham Avocados near the NSW, Victorian border oozes energy, enthusiasm and spark.

So much so, that we bet you’ll wonder just how she maintains such a high velocity all.the.time.

Well, as you will learn Katrina is not just ‘like’ this, in fact, she is terrified of depression.

The illness has entwined its into her family, taken the life of her father, and given her unexplained pain for many, many years.

But not any more - and she’s on a mission to make sure we never feel as bad as she once did.

So if you’re feeling it this month, as we hurtle towards Christmas, or as we support each through weather adversities like flooding, lost income or opportunity not to mention the various COVID-19 uncertainties – this stripped bare story of a life reclaimed – through lots of hard work is a resource for us all.

Thank you to this episode sponsor, Motherland Village. It is Australia’s first online rural mothers group program, connecting women across the country into their own, small, personalised group. The program runs for six weeks and will enable you to form meaningful connections and friendships with other rural mums- all in the palm of your hand.

Doors are now open for enrollment for February 2022!

And this is not your typical mother’s group! Motherland’s mission is to reduce the isolation felt by rural mums with kids of ALL ages. You can join the 0 to 3 years age bracket, 4 to 10 or 11 to 18. Because every rural mum deserves access to a mothers group, no matter where you live or how old your children are.

Spots are selling fast. Go to www.motherlandaustralia.com.au

The last 18-months has really thrown a spanner in the works of, well, work. For a lot of people, it has been an unprecedented time – learning to work from the kitchen table, often amid the chaos and debris of homeschooling.

However, this is the normal reality for a lot of women in the bush, who wear many hats for many things. While the rest of the world caught up to this thing called remote work, those on properties carried on, business as usual.

Someone who has been touting the benefits of remote work long before the global pandemic forced our hand is Jo Palmer.

Born in Jindabyne and studying teaching in Wagga Wagga, Jo spent years travelling and working overseas. When a Wagga boy literally fell out of a pub window in front of her on a Croatian sidewalk, her fate was sealed. Jo moved back to Wagga, where she and husband, Hugh raise thier two little girls, Matilda and Anthea.

Jo is an entrepreneur by nature. In 2017 at a backyard barbecue, she stumbled across the idea that would set the foundation for her business, Pointer Remote Roles – connecting people in the bush with awesome jobs across the country.

Thank you to our episode sponsor SkyMesh. Do you need access to a fast, reliable internet service at your regional home or business?

Join Australia’s most awarded specialised rural internet provider that’s trusted by over 45,000 Aussies.

Secure your FREE nbn Sky Muster or Fixed Wireless internet installation today on a no lock-in contract.

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Make the switch today and access better internet for your home or business.

Visit skymesh.net.au to get connected or call 1300 759 637 now.

Service availability is determined by nbn.

Hooray! The Graziher summer issue is on sale! It’s such a stunning issue, with many of the stories featured meandering around the theme of friendship. I think that is probably what makes the Graziher community stand out for us – that rich sense of connection and friendship which binds us all. We can’t wait for you all to see it. And featured in the issue is today’s wonderful guest, Cressida Cains. Cheese, and its sustainable creation is Cressida’s life work. Cressida and her husband Michael craft award winning sumptuous sheep cheese in the Southern Highlands, each bite offering an expression of their farm’s entire ecosystem.

Cressida was the state winner of the 2020 Agrifutures Rural Women’s Award for NSW and the ACT, and was recently announced as the national runner up for her project Dairy Cocoon – an online education and connection platform for dairy farmers.

Named after the Italian word for sheep, Pecora Dairy boasts Australia’s only working, pure East Friesian ewes, the most productive breed of dairy sheep in the world. However, this isn’t a fourth-generation operation. The Cains traded their corporate life for greener pastures in 2011, swapping Sydney’s traffic blare for the bleating of lambs along the way.

Thank you to our episode sponsor SkyMesh. Do you need access to a fast, reliable internet service at your regional home or business?

Join Australia’s most awarded specialised rural internet provider that’s trusted by over 45,000 Aussies.

Secure your FREE nbn Sky Muster or Fixed Wireless internet installation today on a no lock-in contract.

Plans start from just $34.95 per month with Brisbane based 7-days a week support.

Make the switch today and access better internet for your home or business.

Visit skymesh.net.au to get connected or call 1300 759 637 now.

Service availability is determined by nbn.

Most of you will know today’s guest Fiona Simson as the first female president of Australia peak body for agriculture, the National Farmers Federation. There’s not many days that go by that she’s not quoted in a newspaper or seen on the TV or interviewed for radio.

But did you know that politics and advocacy were never really in Fiona’s sites.

She’s ended up in this position because she didn’t have a huge demanding job. Years ago she was the one in her community that had some extra time to take on the lengthy plight of farmers effected by the land development proposals of a multi million dollar mining company.

This process solidified where her passions really lay and she’s gone on to represent farmers on all kinds of levels. But behind the scenes – Fiona Simson – really is your girl next door kind of woman - who loves making marmalade, camping who batch-cooks for her family for when she is away and remains incredibly humble.

Thank you to our episode sponsor SkyMesh. Do you need access to a fast, reliable internet service at your regional home or business?

Join Australia’s most awarded specialised rural internet provider that’s trusted by over 45,000 Aussies.

Secure your FREE nbn Sky Muster or Fixed Wireless internet installation today on a no lock-in contract.

Plans start from just $34.95 per month with Brisbane based 7-days a week support.

Make the switch today and access better internet for your home or business.

Visit skymesh.net.au to get connected or call 1300 759 637 now.

Service availability is determined by nbn.

When you’re a teenager – you’re on the cusp of life in the big wide world and that is exhilarating and debilitating in the same breath.

It’s a time when a mish-mash of expectations from all corners of the universe collie – leaving you, the teenager, on any given day feeling, fabulous and confident, full of bravado and then tired, then anxious, then insecure, uncertain and full of tears and fears.

It’s such a challenging time.

Our guest today Ruby Riethmuller is building an organisation where girls lead girls through this tricky time, by matching teenage girls with a sister-like figure who’s not intimidating, who’s young and she gets it.

Last month Ruby’s idea shot to fame when she won the BFTB and PayPal AU Big Break competition – which means a whole suite of new tools can be added to her innovative approach to young mental health.

Thank you to our episode sponsor SkyMesh. Do you need access to a fast, reliable internet service at your regional home or business?

Join Australia’s most awarded specialised rural internet provider that’s trusted by over 45,000 Aussies.

Secure your FREE nbn Sky Muster or Fixed Wireless internet installation today on a no lock-in contract.

Plans start from just $34.95 per month with Brisbane based 7-days a week support.

Make the switch today and access better internet for your home or business.

Visit skymesh.net.au to get connected or call 1300 759 637 now.

Service availability is determined by nbn.

Resilience is a word that is bandied about and the experts are still unsure how it forms. After

speaking to women on the land, week in, week out, Emily Herbert has the sense that robustness is forged from walking through the fire. Living through the mess. Picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and putting one foot in front of the other. Just like every other muscle, it seems emotional sturdiness is made stronger through use.

Today's guest is Yolande Woods – mother, beef producer, designer, private pilot and I

know she won’t love me saying this, but also, warrior. Yolande’s life story weaves and turns like the Macintyre river she and husband, Bruce have built their home on in Goondiwindi, on the border of Queensland and NSW.

Like any river, her life has had pockets of extraordinary change; floods, droughts and rapids –

accidents, divorce and breast cancer – yet Yolande doesn’t see it as unique or any different to

anyone else. Raised in the outback, her bush roots hold strong, seemingly no matter what rushes her way. Aptitude seems her strength and if she’s not training for a marathon during radiation treatment, she’s learning to fly, fixing fences, working as an interior designer, raising cattle or starting a new business.

Welcome to a special episode of Life on the Land and a big congratulations to the National Winner of the AgriFutures Rural Women's Award, Yawuru/Bunuba woman Cara Peek from Broome in Western Australia.

This AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award ceremony was beamed into the homes, tractors and even paddocks of 600 Australians virtually via video links that connected MCs and finalists in all states and territories.

These awards are all about grit, determination and courage — and this is 100 per cent Cara.

She’s tough, and she's determined and I so clearly remember when we interviewed her earlier in the year, her bold doggedness to give opportunity to her people — in a way that is right for them culturally.

Her project is Saltwater Country — giving indigenous people and at-risk youth an alternative way of being involved in life, learning life skills on country and helping them become re-engaged in the world around them.

This week, Life on the Land sounds a little different and is a first for us.

Last episode, we spoke to Ju Roche, an artist living on a farm outside Wagga Wagga. Ju and Emily Herbert chatted about her painting process and how the land plays an integral part in her conceptual practise, sometimes painting outside under the moonlight. They also spoke about her family and in particular, her relationship with her artist sister Jacqui Meyers.

Ju spoke about Jacqui in such an infectious way that we just had to have her on the podcast…. Jacqui is Ju’s older sister, she has Down Syndrome and was idolised by Ju as a child – Julia says she used to follow Jac around like a bad smell. These days Jacqui is an artist, a wife and a brilliant Aunty. For today’s podcast, the sisters sat down in Jacqui’s home in Wagga, hitting record over a cuppa and meandering down memory lane.

The land has a deep and enduring effect on today’s guest. Julia Roche is an artist who lives on her family’s farm outside Wagga Wagga, in the heart of the Riverina in New South Wales.

Ju is part of a new generation of artists coming from regional Australia

To stand in front of Ju’s large, abstract landscapes is to bear witness to her inner world. Her paintings are evocative, visceral, layered and incredibly expressive. When not painting in her age-old woolshed studio – Ju has been painting outside and by moonlight, really distilling her pieces into what she can hear, smell, feel and taste, rather than relying on eyesight and aesthetics alone.

In this conversation, we talk about Julia’s practice, how she has balanced commercial viability with her creativity and how she works from a place of abundance rather than scarcity. We also talk about disability and inclusivity in the art world, and Julia’s personal and working relationship with her vibrant older sister Jacqui - who is also an artist, and who has Down Syndrome.