Championing the Country /
Sarah Perriam, a fresh voice in rural commentary
One of the best parts of my job is getting out and about and talking to incredible people, discovering their stories, their passions and their challenges. And while every interview is memorable and unique, sitting down with rural commentator Sarah Perriam is one I won’t forget for a while.
Perriam has for Canterbury, family and our local farming community. She is a glamorous lux-earth mother and is rapidly cementing herself as a go-to when it comes to getting down to grass roots and un-earthing the successes, and challenges, of rural New Zealand.
For many there is a stereotype when it comes to conjuring a rural commentator: late fifties/sixties, male, hardened farmer. It is not typically a vibrant, loud blonde, dressed to impress. Yet that is exactly who Sarah is and it is exactly what has people sitting up and listening.
Growing up on a merino sheep station in Central Otago, her intrinsic understanding of a working farm and life in rural New Zealand is ingrained in her blood. She is quick to point out the influence her aunt and uncle played in her early life. ‘Growing up on nearby farms, I spent hours watching my uncle John try to fix the wool industry by the horns. He wasn’t going to wait for government and men in suits. He was determined to help change it from the inside out.
‘I have also taken huge influence from my parents who worked tirelessly to make a living farming. Like many in the 1990s they struggled their way through, yet worked hard to ensure my sisters and I had everything we needed, ultimately ingraining in us a strong work ethic and can-do attitude.
These values of farming will always stay with me.’
Having attended St Hilda’s in Dunedin, Sarah utilised the skills she learnt from her family’s passion and understanding of the power of branding, and applied for her first job at Bayleys Real Estate in Wanaka, spending three years working in the marketing team. ‘I was 21 years old and doing virtual walkthroughs of properties,’ she laughs. It was 2003, a long time before anyone else was utilising video in this way. ‘I guess I have been pushing the barriers every step of the way. I was always the kid at school asking “why not?”’
Despite her natural marketing talents gaining awardwinning success in real estate, and a stint at the Luggate Hotel fuelling her passion for the storytelling of farming through food and wine, media was her calling. ‘An opportunity came up to work at a production company for Country TV and I jumped at it. It transformed my world,’ she explains.
For the next six years Sarah spent her time travelling the length and depth of New Zealand producing and directing over 40 episodes from our rural landscape. ‘It made me love storytelling even more,’ she says with a smile. ‘And I got to experience first-hand, farms of every kind, from right around the country.’
Despite having no formal agriculture or broadcasting qualifications, her ability to understand complex science
Seeing her role as a ‘truth-influencer’ for the agricultural sector, Sarah asks the hard questions in order to get to the bottom of the motivations of policy on farmers and dispels myths about farming to urban sectors.
and politics, break it down into layman’s terms and help transfer that knowledge between the general public and the agriculture sector has seen her following increase tenfold.
A stepping stone in this was her 18-month stint in Auckland as part of MediaWorks radio show Rural Exchange. Sitting alongside Hamish McKay and Richard Loe, Sarah brought a young, fresh, female face to rural commentary. ‘It was here that I fell in love with radio and podcasts as a format,’ she enthuses. And here that she was propelled into the spotlight further, becoming a regular on The AM Show, creating a modern, positive voice for rural New Zealand.
Seeing her role as a ‘truth-influencer’ for the agricultural sector, Sarah asks the hard questions in order to get to the bottom of the motivations of policy on farmers and dispels myths about farming to urban sectors. ‘Rural New Zealand often takes their base foundation knowledge for granted.
The rest of the country only knows what they know. As a rural sector we need to educate those around us and not let them be influenced by the limited facts and stories that are portrayed in mainstream media. Typically the rural sector has only spoken to itself; my aim is to change that.’
Following her time in Auckland Sarah returned to the South Island, establishing the outskirts of Christchurch as home. ‘I needed to feel that connection with the land again. I love being able to see the mountains every day.
‘Canterbury is also the heart of the food and fibre industry
‘It has been incredibly rewarding to see the country start to understand and see the importance of our primary sector since COVID-19. ’
in New Zealand. It is a food basket and the perfect place from which to continue to build on my own production agency [Perriam Media] and Sarah’s Country.’
Live three nights a week as an online TV and radio show, Sarah’s Country sees Sarah discuss issues in agribusiness and politics as well as leading discussions with thoughtprovoking views on the future of farming. ‘It is about putting the audience first with no commercial agenda. I think media doesn’t listen to the audience and what they want. I wanted to change that approach,’ she explains.
Launched in January 2020, there have been moments of guilt since. ‘ Sarah’s Country essentially blossomed in lockdown,’ she shares. ‘Everyone from politicians to CEOs were stuck at home in lockdown and available to talk, so I had unlimited access to great people and listeners seeking out reassurance, and a voice of hope. A strategic partnership with rural newspaper Farmers Weekly helped aid this growth.
‘Despite this sense of guilt about success at a time of hardship for so many, it has been incredibly rewarding to see the country start to understand and see the importance of our primary sector since COVID-19. This is an industry we as a country rely on and I am excited to see it get the respect it deserves.’
Firmly in control of her own destiny, 2020 has been an incredible year of growth for this dynamic woman with much more in the pipeline for 2021 and beyond. ‘I love everything about what I do,’ she laughs. ‘But especially being able to get out and about and get face to face with people, it is a great barometer of sentiment for how we see ourselves as a sector and as a farming nation.’