Farm saved cow by cow
Blogger’s followers avert crisis
ELLI Lockett isn’t your typical dairy farmer, so it’s fitting the way her family’s business was saved from the brink of financial collapse has a modern twist too.
Elli describes herself as a “bit of a diva”.
She wears make-up and activewear to milk the cows and doesn’t own a pair of Wranglers or an Akubra hat.
While she detests getting her hands dirty, her strong work ethic forced her to dig in on her family’s 180-acre dairy business near Neerim, in Victoria.
Even more so in recent times as drought – coupled with high production costs and low milk prices – has ravaged their region.
About three weeks ago, with tears in her eyes, Elli posted an emotional essay to her blog, The Ornamental Farmers Wife, stating her family had made the call to leave the dairy industry.
In the post she described the decision as being like a double-edged sword of heartbreak and a guilty relief.
Pulling the plug, after two solid years of drought, would signal the end of months of financial stress.
They borrowed money to put food on the table for their three kids – Flynn, Denver and Marli – and scrounged for cash to buy feed for their 150 milkers.
“Pretty much anything we could get our hands on we would sell to buy feed,” she said.
“After three months of milk cheques, where our production costs were almost double, my husband (Kevin) and I just looked at each and said ‘we can’t do this anymore’,” she said.
“The morning after we made the decision, I shared a piece on my blog as I thought it would be my last post as the Ornamental Farmers Wife.”
However, Elli’s loyal followers, who were attracted to her site’s fresh perspective on farming and her quick-witted humour, had other ideas.
They rallied behind the young family, shared her post thousands of times on Facebook and pleaded for an option to donate to their business.
“It was totally overwhelming,” she said.
“People were asking to start a GoFundMe page for us, and asking how they could donate, and one of them said ‘have you seen the bloke up north who has an adopt-a-cow program?’”
Wanting to gain some control of the support coming through, Elli launched an adopt-a-cow fundraiser and as of last week, all their milkers had been adopted.
“What that means is we will be able to buy feed for them for the next two months,” she said.
The outpouring of support saved the business, but more importantly, gave her and Kevin hope.
“My husband can now see light at the end of the tunnel, whereas before he couldn’t see it,” she said.
After running a transport company, the couple returned to Kevin’s family farm about five years ago as that business was expanding. In 2017 they left the family fold to go out on their own.
She said the move wasn’t “brilliant timing” as 2017 marked the start of Victoria’s current dry spell.
The harsh seasons have weighed on Kevin’s mental health.
“I had a helpless feeling,” Elli said.
“I feel, you know I give 110 per cent and help as much as I can but there is really nothing I could do to make this better for him.
“Drought means it’s all out of his control. He has four generations of dairy-farming knowledge but he couldn’t make them milk the way we needed them to. He couldn’t make it rain.”
When her concerns escalated, she invited Kevin’s dad around to have a chat to him.
“It changed, I think, once Kevin realised how bad he was, because he didn’t see it at the time.
“Now he is seeing it in other people – so he will call up his mates and say ‘hey, this is what I am going through, if you ever need to talk. Are you sure you are okay?’”
Elli is proud to have noticed a change in her husband, and no doubt, he is proud to see changes in her.
“When we started share farming with his family, in the beginning he said to me, ‘look I know this is not your dream job, so it’s okay... I don’t expect you to learn how to milk cows’.
“And I was like ‘ripper! I don’t want to get my hands dirty, I don’t like animals and I don’t like being outside; this is perfect.”
However, after an accident when a tree fell on Kevin’s back, Elli had to step up.
“It all just evolved from there. I’m still myself, I wear active wear when I go to work on the farm and up until about six months ago I was hosing the shed out wearing Havaianas.”
With a background in journalism, Elli started her blog so she could keep writing.
“It’s mostly just funny stories. I found myself in the most strangest predicaments. I once got locked in a tractor. People were getting a laugh out of it so I kept it going.”
Her blog has a growing audience – more than 9000 people at the moment – and she hopes more consumers hear her message on the importance of buying Australian-made produce.
“We don’t want to get to a point where we are importing our dairy products. If we can’t feed ourselves in this country, there is really something wrong,” she said. Search The Ornamental Farmers Wife on Facebook to follow her journey.