Next generation of farmers flood back
YOUNG people are returning to the land, convinced there’s a future in cattle.
Sam and Emily Fryer and their eight- week- old daughter Bella are back at Ellington Station, owned by Sam’s parents David and Michelle who live on adjoining Railview Station near Hughenden.
Sam, who grew up on Railview, is 28. Emily, 26, was raised on her parents’ property, Fairview, near Longreach. They have returned after leaving in 2014 to find work because of the drought. They moved to Roma where Emily worked in a bank and Sam as a stock and station agent.
“There was no income here because of the drought. We are still in the process of moving and have now started renovating the homestead,” Emily said.
Sam is taking outside stock work to help make ends meet. The property is still in the grip of drought but they have returned because of the optimism they hold for the beef industry.
“There are more like us out here. Throughout the west more and more young people are coming back on to the land. A lot of them have young children. It means we can get together now and again and socialise,” Sam said.
It is like a new beginning in the west and with it something else is happening – succession planning. Young people are conscious of the need for a business plan that gives them security and a stake in family stations. Sam said the young people coming back were working out succession plans with their parents and other family.
“If you do a succession plan it makes it easier for people like us to come back into the family business,” Sam said.
His father, David, 55, said the family was focused on succession planning, despite the challenges it posed. He said he was more than conscious of what could go wrong without a plan.
“It’s not easy to implement but we are happy to be working through it. Succession isn’t just about passing on an asset, it’s about passing on roles and responsibilities as well,” David said.
Mackey Wales Law principal lawyer Patrick Sutton said he had had more inquiries about succession planning in the past two years than he had in the previous eight years.
“With higher beef prices, there are more young people returning to the land. They can see a future for themselves that wasn’t there before,” he said.
He said one of the other attractions for young people coming back to family stations was the scrapping of stamp duty payable on debt that was implemented by State Government.
“Now the children can assume debt and escape stamp duty. Previously they would have to pay stamp duty to the State Government on the debt owed and it could be onerous,” he said.
“They are more aware of their options. But it’s not just passing on the property. It’s ensuring … the parents are looked after into their old age,” he said.
Sam and Emily said all they needed now was rain and plenty of it.
“We had 31mm before Christmas, but nothing since. We are feeding molasses to the cattle. There’s storms around, but we are not getting them,” Sam said.