Sustainable Farm Forum
MC Dick Sinclair with speakers Richard Weston, Dale Grey, Maria Thompson, Stan Alves and Ben Thomas with Margaret Abbey and Coordinators, Judy Watts and Bridget Clarke
On Friday evening of September 9th, community members from across the shire attended the Sustainable Farm Forum coordinated by Yea Community Health and the Upper Goulburn Landcare Network. Speakers included Richard Weston from Centrelink discussing the importance of succession planning, Maria Thompson discussing the effects of stress on your body, Ben Thomas from Meat and Livestock Australia spoke about market forecasts and Dale Grey from DEDJTR discussed seasonal weather forecasts. All of our speakers were very entertaining and informative, also answering questions from the attendees. To finish our evening Stan Alves spoke to the audience about how to manage in tough times and embrace change rather than fight it.
Comments from some of the attendees;
“That information from Centrelink is really valuable, I didn’t know you could get that type of service from them”
‘Wow, what a great night! Really informative, the speakers were all very knowledgeable and entertaining and the food was great!”
The message for the evening was to be prepared for change and what life brings, whether it be on the farm or in life. Stress affects everyone in the family but there are strategies to manage it. There are also resources available from the Upper Goulburn Landcare Network to assist with planning to prepare for stressful times such as drought or poor market conditions, and from Yea Community Health if you need support to manage stress in your life.
Ben Thomas from the MLA discussing market forecasts for beef and sheep.
The evening was supported by the Victorian Farmers Federation ‘look over the farm gate’ initiative, the Murrindindi Shire, Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, and the National Landcare Program
