2020 Shine Awards Spirit winner and finalists
Two Young Nomads farm caretaker Meg Clothier from Orroroo, South Australia, is the 2020 Shine Awards Spirit winner. Read her remarkable story, and meet the 2020 Spirit finalists Phillipa Lawson and Rebecca McErvale.
2020 Shine Awards Spirit winner
Meg Clothier, farm caretaker, Orroroo, South Australia
HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME
MEG Clothier is giving farmers across the country what they most need – a break.
She and her husband, Oliver, have travelled 35,000km across Queensland, NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory, offering free caretaking services on 17 properties so far, so producers living through drought can take time off to rest and recuperate.
“We couldn’t do anything to make it rain but we knew people needed a break,” says Meg, who was inspired by her parents’ own struggles on a farm north of Broken Hill, NSW.
The couple, an occupational therapist and a boilermaker, both grew up on the land and decided to forego their honeymoon to instead volunteer as caretakers. All they ask in return is some diesel to make the trip to their next stop.
Setting out on the journey in December last year, they still have a few farms on their list.
“Some are seeing their grandchildren they haven’t met yet or going to the beach – some haven’t been in 10 years,” Meg says.
Meg and Ollie launched their campaign on social media and it surprised even them how many farmers actually needed a hand – from 2000-hectare blocks to sprawling stations.
The couple are living off their own savings, but were able to nab Country Allure as a sponsor.
With a background in cattle, sheep and cropping, Meg anticipated it would be a challenge for some graziers to hand over the reins of a family property to strangers, even if only for 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 says. “But it’s always them reaching out to us – so they do need the help.”
Meg’s willingness to work and obvious experience gains people’s trust.
Generally Meg and Ollie speak to the farmers two weeks out from their stay and then spend a full day with them before the family heads off.
“Normally by the end of that first day we know they feel their place will be fine in our hands,” she says.
Meg wants other Aussies to know that “drought is not over by any means, it’s hitting quite hard and I think it will be for a little while”.
For having the insight to know Australia’s hardworking farmers need a hand, and the gumption to devote a year of her life as their support crew, Meg Clothier is a deserving winner of the Shine Award for Spirit.
FINALIST
Phillipa Lawson, lentil grower, Pinnaroo, South Australia
LENTIL IDEA, BIG OPPORTUNITY
PHILLIPA Lawson has taken on an extreme entrepreneurial test this year, and passed with flying colours.
She and her husband, Skeet, farm wheat, barley and red lentils at Pinnaroo, in the South Australia Mallee. The land has been in Phillipa’s family for four generations.
On a mission to find new markets for their pulses, Phillipa spent the past six months building a brand, The Pinnaroo Farmer, to turn her family’s export-quality lentils into gluten-free flour.
She started the process in March, “with just an idea”, and pushed the brand from concept to delivery through an accelerator program, which she completed online due to the pandemic. “I had never even used Zoom before,” she says, with a laugh.
“At that stage, we literally had an idea,” she says. “No infrastructure, didn’t have a business plan, didn’t know if there was demand.
“All we knew was that we had lentils.”
The seed of the idea was planted three years ago, when India slapped steep tariffs on Australian pulses, causing frustration for Phillipa and Skeet. More recently, when they were trying to increase the protein intake of their youngest daughter, Annabelle, Phillipa decided to try milling the lentils into flour.
The penny dropped, and lentil flour presented the solution to more than one problem.
In the first three months of trading, Phillipa has sold 250kg of flour, and has 85 satisfied customers. Her long-term goal is to grow the brand so they can create a new market for fellow growers.
“When we (farmers) go to the silos, the lentils don’t all make export grade,” Phillipa says. “We want to find another market for these type of lentils.
“One of our big visions is, even though we have started The Pinnaroo Farmer … we don’t want to just use our lentils, we want to use our district’s lentils. We want to create a new marketing avenue for all Pinnaroo’s farmers.”
FINALIST
Rebecca McErvale, Merino knitwear brand founder, Lexton, Victoria
INSPIRING YARN OF FIRE SURVIVAL
IT DIDN’T take Rebecca McErvale long to realise her family’s Merino wool was something special.
The city girl married her husband, wool grower Rod, 12 years ago. A year later, she had the brainwave to launch a boutique woollen brand and track their fleece from the sheep’s back all the way to the consumer’s shopping basket.
The couple transform about a third of their flock’s fleece into an exciting range of 100 per cent Merino baby blankets, hats, scarfs and men’s jumpers, under their brand Leroy Mac Designs.
Rebecca says the idea hit when she was searching for a gift for her newborn nephew and couldn’t find any Australian Merino blankets that weren’t blended or made in China.
A tenacious marketer, she knew she had the skills to drum up customers, and was confident the products with provenance would command strong returns.
Their greasy wool is processed in Italy, spun in Wangaratta and knitted in Ballarat, before it is returned to Rebecca, who sells through farmers’ markets and online. She has even invested in DNA-testing the fibre to guarantee their wool’s provenance.
“We have full traceability to take a purchaser back to the actual paddock where that wool came from,” Rebecca says.
The venture has not come without heartache. Last December a bushfire ripped through their farm at Lexton, destroying fencing and sheep yards and killing 300 sheep.
“I’ve never felt so useless because as a city girl I didn’t know how to help him,” says Rebecca, who sheltered with their daughters, Maddison and Isla, while CFA member Rod fought the fast-moving fire.
In the aftermath, the operation was nearly on its knees, but a huge outpouring of customer support inspired Rebecca and Rod to push on with the brand. “We’ve never had sales like we have this year,” says Rebecca, determined the business will thrive again.
MORE SHINE AWARDS
2020 SHINE AWARDS WINNERS AND FINALISTS: BELIEF, COURAGE, DEDICATION, GRACE, PASSION, SPIRIT
MEET THE 290 RURAL WOMEN NOMINATED FOR THE 2020 SHINE AWARDS
Courage after outback tragedy shines light for others
Eulo’s Carmel Beresford was consumed by grief after losing her son in an on-farm accident. She found new purpose by writing his life story, and has been named the 2020 Shine Awards Courage winner for her bravery. Read her story, and meet the 2020 Courage finalists, Joy Heenan and Courtney Baker.
Dialysis nurse is the lifeblood of her island
Bwgcolman woman and kidney disease specialist Lauwana Blackley is the deserving 2020 Shine Awards Dedication winner. Read her extraordinary story, and meet 2020 Dedication finalists Sarah Mostyn and Nadine Tipping.