Nomads shine at giving a helping hand

Meg Clothier has travelled 35,000km this year on a mission to give farmers across the country what they most need — a break.

‘We couldn’t do anything to make it rain but we knew people needed a break,’ says Meg Clothier of a mission to give farmers some time off. Picture: Oliver Clothier

Meg Clothier has travelled 35,000km this year on a mission to give farmers across the country what they most need — a break.

In lieu of a honeymoon, newlyweds Ms Clothier and her husband, Oliver, have been providing free farm caretaking services so producers living through drought can take time off to recuperate.

So far, they have looked after 17 properties across Queensland, NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Ms Clothier is a finalist in the spirit category in this year’s Shine Awards, which celebrate Australia’s rural and regional women. “We couldn’t do anything to make it rain but we knew people needed a break,” said Ms Clothier, who was inspired to act by her parents’ own struggles on a farm near Broken Hill.

Last year, when cleaning up after another “horrendous dust storm”, she asked her mother when she had last had a break.

“I worked out she hadn’t had a holiday for 12 years,” Ms Clothier said. “I said to Olly, ‘Let’s do something about this — people are not getting a break from the land. They don’t have that balance in their lives, and we know they are buggered.’ ”

An occupational therapist by trade, she grew up on the land, as did her husband. And given her background in cattle, sheep and cropping, she anticipated it would be a challenge for some graziers to hand over the reins of a family operation to strangers, even if for only a few weeks.

“It’s such a big risk for them to take. It’s a gamble because they don’t know us and we don’t know them,” she said. “But it’s always them reaching out to us — so they do need the help.” The Clothiers put out a social-media call last year inviting farmers who needed help to get in touch.

Appropriately named Two Young Nomads, their initiative has had a huge response from producers on properties ranging from 2000ha blocks to sprawling stations. “Some are seeing their grandchildren they haven’t met yet or going to the beach — some haven’t been in 10 years,” Ms Clothier said. “Basically, we take over from where the farmer has left off. So if they are feeding out every second day, we are feeding out every ­second day.

“We are doing water runs, cleaning troughs, right down to mowing the lawn, feeding the dog and cat — just whatever is needed to keep the whole show going.”

All the couple asks for in return is some diesel to make the trip to their next stop. After setting off last December, the couple took a short break during the height of coronavirus travel restrictions but have been back on the road since August.

Ms Clothier wants us to know the “drought is not over by any means, it’s hitting quite hard and I think it will be for a little while”.

The Shine Awards winners will be announced on Wednesday and a commemorative magazine will be published in The Australian on Friday