Another successful ‘Paddock Day’ was held at Hereward Station, on Monday which brought together producers and encouraged deeper community connections.
On Monday October 10 about 20 guests gathered at Hereward, 75km west of Longreach, who enjoyed smoko and lunch together and heard from guest speakers Desiree Jackson and Peter Whip.
‘Paddock Days’ are hosted by the Longreach Baptist Church Outback Connect program and supported by Outback Futures and Carinity’s Collaborative Community Projects in increasing social connections and supporting the emotional and psychological wellness of people in rural communities.
Desiree Jackson is a livestock management consultant and said there was a need for these types of events as over the years people have become more and more independent.
“Once upon a time people used to rely on each other and they used to support each other,” Ms Jackson said.
“Particularly during the dry times, it becomes mentally draining over the drought years, which happen over such a long period of time.
“It’s about pulling together as a community and not trying to do it alone.”
Ms Jackson’s role involves helping producers manage nutrition for their livestock.
“The idea of the days is trying to improve financial resilience and livestock resilience, but my role is helping in nutrition resilience – it’s a big part of the drought years managing nutrition for livestock.”
The ‘Paddock Days’ topic this week was focused on mental health and well-being delivered by Outback Futures
“When people come out of a drought nobody wants to think about the next one,” Ms Jackson said.
“It is a good time for people to not focus on the negative, but to look at what went well and didn’t go well and what changes they could make to manage better.
“We’re certainly not out of a drought, but cattle prices are improving and the pressures off.
Guests were taken on a tour of Hereward pastures to make observations of the quality of feed, identify species and how to improve land conditions.
“One of the activities I ran the group through was to consider how much feed can sheep or cattle eat each day, to gather some and weigh it and then consider what changes could take place to improve it.”
The ‘Paddock Days’ team are looking to host more events in other communities around the Central West and new properties.
“Guests receive free technical information and real nuggets of financial information that they can apply straight away.
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Paddock Days started in August and are aimed at building relational connections between farmers with a focus on community-led care to support isolated people.
The first three paddock days saw church pastors travel over 1,000km to hold events on properties at Winton, Aramac and Yaraka.
