At 95, there’s still so much left to do
TO SAY that in a lifetime of farming Frank Donovan has seen some changes is an understatement.
At 95, he is old enough to remember when his childhood farm ran on horsepower, shearers used hand blades, and felling and burning trees was something to be encouraged.
Since then, Frank reckons the growth in technology, mechanisation and agricultural knowledge has been astonishing.
“In my father’s day, horses were used for everything,” Frank recalls.
“But you spent a lot of your day looking after them and feeding them.
“Nowadays there’s a machine for every job on the farm.”
And it is knowledge that has helped him transform his Kilmore East sheep and beef property into a showpiece of sustainable farm management.
“One of the things I learned quite early is you don’t listen entirely to what your parents say about how to farm,” Frank said.
“We have never had such incredible knowledge about farming as we do today, thanks to programs such as Landcare, Best Wool-Best Lamb, Breedplan and the Mackinnon Project.”
And if it wasn’t for a troublesome hip making it difficult to get in and out of the truck, Frank would be happy to keep perfecting his showpiece.
But he’s now calling time on his farming career – one that started in earnest only after he retired from his off-farm job, some 38 years ago.
He sold the last of his stock earlier this year and is leasing the farm to a neighbour.
Frank is retiring on a high, nominating this past year as the best he’s ever seen, thanks to a rare alignment of good seasons and shining wool, lamb and beef prices.
The Donovan family moved to their property, Pintadeen, in 1938 when Frank was 15.
After leaving school, Frank trained as an accountant and had a successful 40-year career in banking in Melbourne. But all through those years Frank’s connection to the farm never waned and he spent most weekends and holidays there helping his father run it.
When he retired Frank and his wife, Mary, moved to the farm permanently and produced poll dorset cross prime lambs from first cross ewes, fine wool from merino wethers and beef calves from an angus herd.
The result is he has spent more time farming in his retirement than some farmers spend in their working life.
Even though they are retiring Frank and Mary will continue to live at Pintadeen. And he won’t be putting his feet up.
“There’s still plenty I can do around the place to keep myself busy,” Frank said.
No doubt there will always be something new to learn.
❝ In my father’s day, horses were used for everything. — Frank Donovan