Farmer of the Year 2017: The Weekly Times Editor’s letter

THE culmination of the year’s work is this — The Weekly Times Coles 2017 Farmer of the Year Awards, writes NATALEE WARD.

Jock Nivison of Yalgoo Genetics at Walcha in NSW. Picture: Stefanie Cook

EVERY day across the country thousands of people head out into the paddocks to make a living as farmers, producing meat, vegetables, fruit and nuts, dairy and crops to feed the globe, put the wool on our backs, the cotton in our socks.

They survive fluctuating prices, the vagaries of the weather, fickle consumer demands and volatile markets. It’s a landscape few business people would dare to take on, a certain type of boardroom suited only to the bravest of souls.

Throughout the year, The Weekly Times’ team of journalists traverses the country in search of the brave, and for 52 weeks we report on farming success far and wide.

Natalee Ward. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

The culmination of the year’s work is this — The Weekly Times Coles 2017 Farmer of the Year Awards. Now in its sixth year, the awards showcase the best in the business of beef, sheep, cropping, dairy and horticulture, as well as the FARM Magazine Innovative Farmer of the Year.

Eighteen farmers in all, each one viewing the vagaries of the business as challenges and then resoundly defying the odds to create successful businesses.

It takes ingenuity, foresight and gut instinct. It takes outstanding individuals, families, friends and business partners all with a common goal.

This year’s finalists include those who grow wheat crops on thousands of hectares in the cropping heartlands from Western Australia to the Western District in Victoria, while another needs just half a hectare of rich Tasmanian soil to produce saffron, where 4kg is a year’s work. There’s a family of dairy farmers who produce milk despite the Queensland climate being too hot to grow pasture, and another who takes beef from source to main course.

So, kick back and enjoy this magazine. It’s a text book on how to farm successfully. We salute all those farmers in the following pages, and thank them for sharing their stories with all of us.

• Natalee Ward is Editor of The Weekly Times