Beyond the Bale   October 2007   (see published article as pdf)

Leading rural change,

helping rural families        

by Jane Milburn and Kellie Penfold

New England Merino wool producer Carol Watson came to wool growing with a background in agricultural science. She is just completing a second degree in psychology and is interested in focusing on relationships in farming families giving her an understanding of the emotional aspects of running a family farm business. She is also exploring how leaders operate in managing change in rural Australia.

Carol, who with her husband Andrew Burgess runs Ruby Hills fine wool merino stud at Walcha, is the current AWI funded participant in the Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP) having started Course 14, a two year program in February, 2007.

 “It is an honour and a privilege to be selected for the highly regarded (ARLP) program and I am thrilled to be offered the opportunity along with 30 other rural leaders. My main motivation was to find out what skills I needed to become more influential in the decision making in the community,” says Carol, who had previously worked as the CEO of a number of livestock breed associations and had served community organisations, such as school parent groups. Carol is currently a director of NEGS Limited, which operates of the New England Girls School at Armidale.

“I had left my professional working life to spend more time with her young family and on the farm and having jumped off the merry-go-round I wanted to see what skills I needed to have more impact in regional governance. I’d worked through the science of agriculture and then moved on to the humanitarian side of rural Australia but I felt it would be fascinating to learn how leaders operate.”

The group of ARLP participants kicked off their program with a survival exercise in the Kimberley’s. This is followed up with intense training, further study on leadership and an overseas trip to India looking at rural communities in other countries. Carol says she is already feeling more inspired and confident, especially after the challenging Kimberley experience.

“The great exposure was out there, everyone was at the same level. The bloke who might have the biggest sandwich in his lunchbox back at the office, is stripped down to the essence of self having to establish just what are the essentials for personal survival and team building. It was about your identity as a person away from the working environment and working together with others in teams – identifying and working with your core values and beliefs.

“Out of the Kimberley experience came a very supportive, caring group of people. My observation has been that some women in groups try to bring other women down, whereas in the ARLP it is all about honouring and supporting each other to achieve our goals. I found a strong culture of support and professionalism. A valuable exercise was the daily debriefing and feedback session around the campfire. It reflected on what leadership skills went well and what didn’t go so well.”

One stand-out leadership skill is the ability of leaders to network, not just in their own area of expertise but into other industry networks. “It’s about having links into the social capital in diverse areas … not just farming, or not just education.” Another vital skill is emotional intelligence or getting along with other people and making them feel they are valued and important.

One of Carol’s goals for her own community is to invigorate the amount of grassroots grower education available through extension programs and field days to promote the latest research and what is on offer through groups such as AWI’s grower education group Wool4Wealth.

“Our enterprise has gained a lot from being involved in these programs and it is important that valuable information is shared,” she says.

 A Ruby Hills fine wool merino sire is one of only four specially selected wool sires to contribute genetic material to SheepGenomics gene mapping flock being conducted at the AWI’s FS Faulkner research station. Ruby Hills has been performance recording fine wool merinos for 16 years to reduce micron, increase cut and commercial profitability of fine wool sheep.

The property runs 5500 merino ewes and Andrew Burgess’s past emphasis on selection for worm resistance across the flock has made it one of the most resistant flocks in Sheep Genetics Australia’s MerinoSelect performance evaluation.

“We’re pleased with our progress in genetic selection and are turning our attention to climate change and drought recovery with the future focus at Ruby Hills being to build the ecological diversity in drier times,” Carol says. “Our aim is to develop eco-friendly and sustainable sheep production for the long-term viability of the business.”

More information
www.arlp.com.au
www.rubyhills.com.au