Sharing the real stories of farmers
With three captivating seasons of candid stories from farmers across the Wimmera and southern Mallee, a popular homegrown podcast series ‘Farmer Wants a Healthy Life’ is proving it is here to stay.
‘Farmer’, as the podcast series is fondly known, has quickly cemented itself in the hearts and minds of the Wimmera farming community, connecting people and making a moving impact on listeners from across the region.
Aimed at farming families and rural communities, the podcast was inspired by the desire to work with people living in rural settings to start a conversation about a variety of health and wellbeing issues.
Well-known Wimmera identity and mountain climber turned storyteller Brigitte Muir, OAM, is the podcast’s host.
West Wimmera Health Service is the podcast’s developer.
West Wimmera Health Service health promotion manager Dorothy Mclaren said the podcast was intended to be ‘just like having a chat’ among mates about some of the ‘more vulnerable and challenging’ parts of health and life on the farm, and how they have managed to overcome adversities in ways that might surprise you.
The latest season hears from a variety of guests – all with a compelling
story to tell. One example is Warracknabeal district farmer David Drage talking about the impacts of climate on farmers and how he changed his farming practices and business to move with the times.
A popular episode from the first season was an interview with Gurjit Sondhu, who shares the heartbreaking reality of losing someone to suicide, and what part hindsight played in coming to terms with it as she navigated life as a farmer’s wife after moving to rural Australia for the first time.
In another episode, Justin Knorrpp
shares how he is helping farmers to be more active in Warracknabeal, what made him want to start an ‘Active Farmers’ group, the people who attend and the benefits they gain from it.
“We hope that by sharing the real stories of farmers in the area that we can, in some small way, make it easier for others to make the choices for a healthy life,” Ms Mclaren said.
The podcast was developed with collaboration and support of representatives from Grain Producers Australia, Grains Research and Development, National Centre for Farmer Health,
Nhill and District Young Farmers, Rural Outreach Program, Southern Mallee Landcare Network, Victorian Farmers Federation, West Wimmera Health Service’s allied health department and Wimmera Hearing Society.
People can listen to Farmer Wants a Healthy Life on the West Wimmera Health Service website at www.wwhs. net.au/farmer-wants-a-healthy-life or via Apple, Spotify or wherever people listen to a podcast.
People can also visit representatives of West Wimmera Health Service at the Wimmera Machinery Field Days.