Executive Summary

Our farming community is strong. Our rural land use diverse and our Shire is burdened by drought and significant changes in climate.

This Land Speaks is pictures and stories of local people with photos taken by local people to make stronger the links that connect our farming communities.

The underlying purpose of this project has been to get drought assistance information and support to farmers and land owners, their families and neighbors who are experiencing an assortment of challenges thrown up by an unforgiving drought. We give voice to our farmers so that other people can hear them speak of hardships and challenges in record dry years and the devastation that has come with it.

Their stories also tell of hope, dreams, diversity, innovation and promise – farmers with generations of family bonds to the land and their family home; land owners with a passion to exist in a harsh new landscape.

A collection of framed, enlarged photographs with accompanying texts, This Land Speaks is a touring exhibition that tells 16 unique stories of Mount Alexander Shire farmers and landowners collected by the people they know. The book version of the photo collection provides an additional working tool for the dissemination of drought assistance information through the sharing of similar stories.

It is a celebration of the beauty and strength of our local landscape and how 16 farmers and landowners are getting on with the business of farming.

Thanks to the farmers & land owners:

Brendan McKnight Bill Davies Greg Lillie

Greg & Pam Telford Jimmy Lendon John Murdoch

Kerrie & Robert Jennings Lois Larkman

Barrie McKnight Rai Gaita

Ross & Hanna Dohnt Roy & Caroline Lovel

Russell Clarke & Angelina Chaperon Tony & Deb Butler

Shirley Little Alf Treloar

Photos by:

Kerrie Jennings, Caroline Lovel, Shirley Little, Elizabeth Laing, Ian Pollard, Judy Munro, Nancy Whittaker, Paula Chew, Sharlene Lendon, Tony Greaves, Eliza Tree

Photography facilitation by: Deanna Neville

www.focusoncommunity.org

It will rain again Alf Treloar, Maldon This is the one in one hundred years drought. The droughts haven’t changed but the conditions that we operate under have changed. I’m affected but I have had to adjust myself to what is required. In some ways we are luckier than in earlier times because we can transport large quantities of feed to wherever it is needed, from all over Australia.

Management of any farm is important. In times of plenty, you store as much feed as you can. Otherwise you hope to have enough cash to buy what is necessary. Some companies encouraged farmers to over-capitalize, and buy equipment they cannot afford. You can pay it back with the next crop they say. I buy all my equipment second hand, and at the right price. My fa-ther used to say you can run into debt, but can only crawl out of it with great difficulty. If you ever do.

It will rain again. The signs are all around. The increased number of rabbits since November. The changes in the wind patterns and the whirly winds of dust circling in the air. The intense heat we’ve had lately. But the most signifi-cant is that the old timers used to say that when Lake Eyre is full, it will rain in Victoria, and Eyre is now full.

Photo by Tony Greaves

The severe drought that has been causing hardship; no water for stock and domestic use, along with the threat of fire to rural properties, has been of great concern to many, as well as the reliance on potable water from the Maldon Standpipe.

In 2006, however, a dream was realized when Nick Brereton wondered if water from the Alliance Resources Mine site could be re-used. After some discussions regarding the con-cept, Rob McKnight approached the Mine personnel to in-vestigate the possibility of water being piped from the holding dams at the mine site.

It was known that the project would require funds for engi-neering, feasibility studies, materials and installation, consulta-tion, mapping, water testing, planning and approval from Alli-ance Resources Mine, several State Departments including Minister for Agriculture, the Premier, DSE Water Controllers, Mount Alexander Shire Council and local representatives.

With such a list of requirements in mind, Barrie McKnight called a meeting with interested farmers to discuss the possi-bility of obtaining the water from Alliance Resources Mine if and when it was available. The pipeline was to run in three directions: Nuggetty Branch, Shelbourne Branch, and the Tar-rengower Prison and Oakford Branch.

And so it did.

After solid negotiations, numerous emails, faxes, phone calls and discussions, grant seeking and project development, the 15th October 2007 saw the first laying of the pipe, with the wa-ter entitlement agreement signed on 2nd November 2007.

On the 19th November 2007, at 2.59pm, after 18 months of forward thinking by a force of concerned and committed locals, the water from the Alliance Resources Mine to the farming communities of Maldon and Baringhup was turned on.

Realizing the dream Barrie McKnight, Nuggetty

Photo by Shirley Little

Supporting the local community Bill Davies, Walmer It’s always nice and quiet, getting up on the hill in the early morning at daybreak to check on things when the sheep are lambing. You can see all the wildlife, even the foxes and rabbits getting about. You can also sit there and look at both lots of land, and see right across the farm.

Farming changes all the time, and you’ve got to be aware of what’s going on that will affect you. DSE and government bodies will suggest things and you’ve got to think them through thoroughly. It’s a matter of if you’re going to do something different then you’ve got to think a lot about it. And get a nice quiet spot and have a think.

Some of the issues can meet you head on. After the ’69 fires we all had to think about whether to stay and keep on farming or give it up and go and get jobs somewhere else. I was lucky to end up farm managing at Crown Hill for 10 years. Then things picked up and we could pay for fencing and the like and get going again.

There’s tremendous support from the local community during these sorts of challenging times. Whatever the issues that come along and meet you, someone’s always there to lend a hand – shearing when someone’s laid up or helping out with the harvest. And especially if someone’s down on their luck or through illness or if something’s hap-pened then we say we should go and help out. Or it could be floods – when someone loses fences you just say can I give you a hand. Or you’d buck in and help the neighbours if they’re crook.

I remember the dances in the local shearing sheds when you’d look forward to the milk coffee at the end of the night! And families get-ting together and mixing and figuring out through just talking that you’d drop in and lend a hand the next day or that week. And every kid at Porcupine Flat School got a tin kettling – they’re the sorts of things people did to support the community.

Photo by Sharlene Lendon

I grew up on a farm but bought the sheep section from my father who diversi-fied into a thoroughbred horse stud. I started from scratch and had to beg, bor-row and work hard to acquire everything I have. I supplement the farm income with a bit of welding, fencing or anything that comes up and that has kept me going. My wife also works as well to help support us.

We've always had to diversify, even be-fore the drought. However, my father and I realized that the cost of feed for horses was likely to increase due to the drought and so we took a risk to buy a Keenan mixing machine. Initially we estimated it would take about 14 months to pay back the cost of it, before we started to save. But the price of feed went up so much that we returned our costs in half that time, and that has now reduced our costs significantly.

Another expense is the cost of water. We used to truck water into the property, and that was very expensive. Now we buy wa-ter from the Maldon mine, and pipe it down to our place. It's a bit salty but okay. We manage to grow our own lu-cerne feed with it.

Since the price of wool is so low, we have to reduce our costs everywhere as much as we can. But even with the difficulties, I really like the lifestyle of farming, and be-ing my own boss and working on the land.

The lifestyle of farming Brendan McKnight, Baringhup

Photo by Tony Greaves

e

Tony and Deb have strong community links and a long family history in the area – their son, Simon, is the 7th generation to farm in the family and the first 7th generation in the district. The Butlers arrived pre-goldrush times, adapting to a new environment as bullockers. To Tony, on reflec-tion of what those times must have been like, survival comes to mind.

Tony and his brother and their families run mainly cereal cropping, with some sheep for wool. Apart from all the negative influences - and they are many - Tony says that basically most farmers are, or have to remain, optimistic and are adaptable in tough times, in many ways like the bul-lock drivers. The farm is currently 10 times the area of what it was in his father's era and returns a fraction of what they were then, and these days he feels the disparity of the agricultural and mainstream economy.

He sees the farm as a birthright and he wants to carry on, although he feels the weight of the ghosts of the past sometimes. They have adapted with technology and have the advantage of an underground aquifer to run sheep (and were doing direct drilling before it was fash-ionable) - but it's not limitless. He feels they are good at what they do and are better managers of moisture. Currently Tony is experimenting with raising murray cod in a converted tank from an unused piggery on their property. Although it has potential, Tony says it remains a hobby until runoff water can be secured.

For Deb water is also a key function of her life on the farm. A lover of gardening, Deb feels lucky to have the aquifer for her vegetable and flower garden, which she hopes to establish as an open garden this year. Also from a pioneering family in the area, the Passalaquas arrived as early Italian immigrants in the mid 1800s, and as new arrivals built a barn on their Guildford property to shelter stock from expected winter snows! Deb has always loved country living … being on the land … the peacefulness … and raising kids in the fresh country air. Sometimes the lean years have brought frustrations of not having the long holidays or material stuff that other kids have, but living in the original 1922 farm house has character, holds stories and brings a strong sense of belong-ing. And the ability to kill their own beef, eat daily from the veggie patch makes the living easy.

Optimistic and adaptable Tony & Deb Butler, Newstead

Photo by Judy Munro

Enjoying a rural lifestyle Greg and Pam Telford, Walmer

Photo by Sharlene Lendon

15 years ago in a farmer’s kitchen over a cup of tea we discussed the pros and cons of sheaf hay binding and how to bring it into the 21st century. By the end of the night the seeds of our invention of a self propelled binder had been sown. We were looking for an alternative income to bolster our small organic herb farm, and this appeared to be a niche in the hay industry for which Greg could use his engi-neering skills to build one off machinery that would fill that gap.

The hay binder was originally drawn by horses and is now towed by a tractor which cuts the hay into sheaves fol-lowed by a team of men who stand the sheaves upright, forming stooks which then dry in the field.

When the binder was originally converted from the horse to tractor drawn system it became awkward and clumsy and lessened its manoeuvrability. By modernising the binder we could increase its cutting efficiency by 50 percent, turning it into a one man operation and bringing the machine back to the agility of its horse drawn days.

The construction and development of Greg’s machine took several years of work and improvement until subsequently we have been contract cutting crops with the machine for 13 years for farmers around Carisbrook and Baringhup West.

The next chapter to this story follows a discussion had with the chaff mill operators about the future of the sheaf hay industry and the cost of manual stooking. Greg decided to have a go at building a bigger binder that could also stook the sheaves. This is a work in progress and is being used as a wind rower at the present whilst there is a downturn in the market.

Working with the sheaf hay binder gives us the ability to en-joy living a rural lifestyle and to remain living and working on our farm.

Proud of my heritage Greg Lillie, Baringhup

I took over from my father in 1994 and it has been in drought for most of those years. Prior to that I helped on the farm ever since I was a kid, except for 3 years shearing around Australia. Farming is in the blood. I'm the sixth generation farmer and proud of my heritage. I enjoy the lifestyle of working on the land and the challenge of making a living from it. Watching the sun-rises and sunsets over the countryside is magic.

This drought is worse than any other I've experienced. I've planted 600 acres of crops many times over 5 years and each time they have failed. Lately I've planted only 150 acres, and used no chemicals. The header has not been out of the shed in three years. For my livestock I have to be more diligent in feeding to make sure that the nutrient level is better because I have to make do with less. I will probably have to buy hay this year as the hayshed is de-pleted. But I guess it's better than during the depression, when my Dad and his brother fished for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

I believe that in part the drought contributed to my marriage breakdown. In terms of dollars and cents the farm is not a good business. But it's hard to walk away when you've put so much into it. Just like my father and his father. New fences and new lanes. Working carefully on preserving the soil structure. Costs have gone up but the returns have gone down. I've looked at some other options such as biodynamics and growing olives for bio-diesel, but these require careful study. In the meantime I work shearing on other peo-ple’s farms when I can. I know I just need one good year to recover. Two good years and I'll be ahead!

Photo by Tony Greaves

Living with nature Jimmy Lendon, Walmer

It is no secret that we are experiencing hard times on the land, times that I have not seen before.

I moved to this property 13 years ago, from a smaller property serviced with an irrigation water right. Now I’m relying totally on rainfall.

The first few years we had average rainfall and all went well, experiment-ing with different crops and pastures and developing the property as we could afford to do so, but nature dealt a serious drought that has not been documented in the past 100 years.

As the drought progressed I became aware that you could not alter the weather pattern, and learning to adapt became more important.

To cater to the conditions sheep selection and reduction was crucial. Wether lambs sold and only breeding stock held. Lambing gestation times changed to suit the conditions and shearing brought forward to alleviate the risk of dry seed contamination.

Pasture and crop seed also became the topic of conversation leaning to those suiting dry conditions. It has been a time of learning and seeking advice. Succeeding and failing. Battling each hurdle as it presents it self. Strength is found in experiencing the force of nature in all its perils.

Even in these times you cannot help but be amazed by the path nature takes and wonder how a small lone tree flourishes and a large established tree falls victim or how the creek will flow one end of the property and dis-appears into the sandy creek bed without a trace.

Who knows what the future holds?

I am lucky to maintain a full time job that provides a regular income unlike others on larger properties that solely depend on their production.

One thing I know I can rely on is my loyal dog! He lessens the workload and stands proudly by my side. A true friend, who listens …

Photo by Sharlene Lendon

Stress? What’s the point of worrying – the problems are there, just keep on going and do the best you can. You have to watch sheep die and know there’s sweet bugger-all you can do about it. It’s frustrating, but that’s one’s lot so I have to grin and put up with it! I’m too small of an outfit to apply for drought relief benefits and once again I fall under the government’s radar for relief and have to make do with what I have got. I’m on soil that’s some of the best in the dis-trict, but there’s not much one can do in a drought other than trying to adapt to the situation that is going to be part of the future norm!

Where I live, was once the site of a proposed village called Orville. In 1851 it was set aside by the Governor of the day to be sold to the populace who had money to spend and wanted land (ie the gold miners with their new found wealth). The squatters who had vast tracts of land were forced by the government of the day to make their selec-tion of 600 acres; the rest being sold off. My Great, Great, Grandfather bought what I refer to as Corriedale Cottage and it’s attached land in 1873. My Great Grandfather was the last licensee of the Orville Hotel from where he also ran the Muckleford post office. My Great Grandmother oper-ated the Post Office out of the hotel until her death. It was then transferred to where my parents lived, when my mother became Muckleford’s Post Mistress.

In my younger years we ran Coriedale sheep and I still run them on the property today. Corriedales are a dual-purpose sheep and I use Corriedale cottage on the Maldon/Castlemaine Road as a promotional centre by selling Cor-riedale wool products. Corriedale Cottage also acts as a gallery, with history and relics on view for interested tourists. It’s a way of diversifying what I do!

I’m the 5th generation here – and it’s my home. It’s because of the history of this place that I’m here, so no government incentive package can clear me off it. I’m staying!

It’s my home John Murdoch, Muckleford

Photo by Eliza Tree

A remarkable lady indeed! Someone who is heavily involved with her local Landcare group, but still finds time for an active social life while running a small holding with all the worries and expenses that the animals can generate – chickens, dogs, horses, cattle, ostriches, the odd – very odd – emus, and any-thing else that happens to be passing; including a pair of hawks; no doubt with more than a passing interest in the chick-ens! On top of all that is the ongoing work and expense of be-ing hostess to all those Japanese girls who visit our town to see how life is lived in the rural district.

Australians are very good at the job of lopping down tall pop-pies, but that is usually reserved for those who blow their own trumpets, which is fair enough, but how many of our ladies just go quietly on day after day, managing to get the jobs done without any help from anyone and doing it so well. Well here is one.

Perhaps having an oddball sense of humour helps, it is certainly needed in these difficult times but this is one lady who can laugh her way through the most heartbreaking jobs.

But what happens when a flock of galahs, driven thirsty by the drought, eat out the whole crop of fodder which had been meant for those starving cattle which now have to be hand fed? And other bill has to be paid!

But while the drought is causing the death of so many of our forests and old trees and drying up the waters in our dams and creeks, here is one Aussie that can still raise a smile when her little Japanese visitors make a daisy-chain to go around the neck of a dead ostrich, just because it ‘looked as if it had died happy’ after being caught in the government-issue ostrich proof fence.

So while the drought rolls on and Drought Assistance comes into being, farmers all over the country do what good Aussies have always done – they wait, while the rest of us can only cheer them on from the sidelines!

A remarkable lady Lois Larkman, Maldon

Photo by Elizabeth Laing

We couldn’t have foreseen, when we moved here, how challenging our dream of revegetating and repairing this land would be. Moving from Melbourne, we were looking for a lifestyle for our family; country living that would enrich our lives whilst repairing a de-graded land-scape. We’d spent five years working in an urban community nursery learning to collect, sow and plant indigenous seeds. This was the foundation of our passion.

Goomit Hill has become our home of 12 years where we continue to strengthen and restore a dry, harsh, yet rewarding landscape and provide habitat, restore soil health, eradicate weeds and ferals and strengthen our own landscape whilst dealing with this drought and climate changing times.

Friends and neighbours have remarked on the changing face of the hill. It’s a slow but rewarding sight of greenery and growth of indige-nous plantings. We are delighted with the progress and we love shar-ing its growth and sense of achievement with friends. Many people have helped us in its restoration and revival and many spots on the hill hold great memories of plantings and good times.

The drought has emphasised to us, amongst many things, the impor-tance of providing habitat in landscapes so exposed and vulnerable to the wind, lack of water and heat. Living on this land requires of us the responsibility to be land carers – it is often a hard life and the de-mands can be exhausting – however our revegetation project of some 100 acres of granite hills have strengthened our belief that car-ing and nurturing our local landscape not only looks fabulous but has provided and reclaimed land lost.

It is hard to capture in a photo what our revegetation provides. How-ever, it includes a variety of undercover, small shrubs, old trees and new growth that will provide habitat, soil health, beauty and food for many creatures. This dream of revegetating will be on-going for many years to come and will continue to provide us with many chal-lenges and joys. Looking at the hill from any angle and distance gives us huge satisfaction. We have many other interests in our lives but this one is a living, breathing, visual picture for us that will always provide for us much strength.

Strengthen and restore Roy & Caroline Lovel, Baringhup

Photo by Caroline Lovel

The house sits on a hill that divides the hilly granite county you can see in the background and the volcanic Moolort plains. Because of its simple but elegant design and because the ground rises in folds on three sides, the house looks as though it has befriended the land that protects it. With its many large windows it welcomes the land into it, and be-cause there are no barriers - no fences, not even high shrubs - between it and the paddock, it generates the wonderful calm that one often feels when one's heart is gladdened by the unity of land and dwelling.

Environmentally friendly, the house is built from straw bale and rendered in lime and cement. Our power needs are served by the solar panels that are visible on the northern side of the roof. We took this photograph – rather proudly - after the sec-ond year of our efforts to restore natural grasses by fencing off one third of the 147-acre property and spraying against the many weeds that grow with depressing persistence. The seed heads of the grass are so soft that when my grandson ran from the car into the grass, he stopped and caressed his cheek with them. A neighbouring farmer farms the remaining two thirds of the property on a quid pro quo basis. Sometimes he crops it; at other times he grazes his sheep on it.

Though my wife and I bought the land only seven years ago, it is only eight kilometres from where I lived for over ten years as a boy. It was then that I fell in love with the landscape and its very distinctive, sometimes harsh, beauty. That love deepens as I grow older - a mixture of joy and sorrow because exqui-sitely beautiful though it is, it is also a wounded landscape. Tenderly we try to heal those wounds by restoring the grasses, planting bushes and trees in a way consistent with grassy woodland.

The house was designed by a Melbourne architect and friend, Phillips Schemnitz and built by a Maldon builder, Garry Or-chard, one of the finest craftsmen I have known, assisted by Guy Peters.

The unity of land and dwelling Rai & Yael Gaita, Baringhup

Photo by Rai Gaita

From our new home in Eastville, on part of the fam-ily farm, we moved to the 1850’s built home and farm in Baringhup, began our new life, and our family, and yes, we’re still renovating!

The farm needed internal fencing, shedding that we could fit a tractor and truck in, irrigation to establish, haysheds to build … a shearing shed at Eastville, so that was built. The farm still had to be run – crops, sheep, hay. There was more work to do than we had time, and there were three young children. We didn’t see much of each other in those early years.

The children grew, they learned to drive, to handle livestock. We’ve invested money, yes, but most of all we’ve invested our time, our lives. Farmers need to be multi-skilled, resourceful, turn their hand to whatever presents before them. For those that decide to leave the land – it’s difficult to prove these skills to a pro-spective employer.

Today, our children are grown, Ben travelling and working, Sarah at university, and Jess doing VCE. I walk the dogs on the river around sunrise each morn-ing and wonder, as many do, where all that time went. There’s the work done on the farm, and I guess a bit like the old house, the work is still in progress ... and I think of the children … good kids, focused young adults, our best work. Their lives are ever changing, we offer support, guidance.

There’s the things still to do … farm and environmental … challenging always - and always relevant to one another. We continue to learn, and hold hope that we can make a good living amongst the uncertainty, a future for our family, and a difference to this world. Attitudes are changing. Amongst our thoughts is that of a more sustainable place. Each new day on the river brings a fresh start, a new beginning…

Family Robert & Kerrie Jennings, Baringhup

Photo by Kerrie Jennings

Ross has been farming since he left school 40 years ago. He says it’s in his blood to be outdoors and he is committed to taking on the challenges that comes with working on the land.

From a stock feeding perspective whilst it’s dry and there’s no feed coming up, his point of view is about being a bit more efficient with feed – putting hay rolls in rings so it’s not wasted and to keep the sheep from walking all over it, as well as using a self feeder and troughs for feeding grain.

“And keeping a close eye on rainfall patterns and adjusting to it”, says Ross. “I used to grow a little bit of wheat but with the drier years I’m start-ing to change the crops that I grow, and con-centrating more on barley and oats these days as a more adaptable crop”.

Ross is also concentrating more on keeping stock than cropping, believing that if you can get feed then stock’s a better option. The breeding side of farming has seen him over the years strive to im-prove his merinos and cross-breeds to breed good ewes to get fat lambs from.

Ross reckons it’s the variety of the work that he likes the most. One day he might be shearing lambs, the next day feeding sheep, then there’s machinery jobs to do – he’s not tied to doing the same thing. He’s also a qualified woolclasser so on or off-farm shearing and wool classing jobs add to the variety of the work.

“To take on the challenge of difficult conditions, I think you’ve got to work with it and stay commit-ted. I’m that passionate about it”.

Work with it and stay passionate Ross & Hanna Dohnt, Baringhup

Photo by Ian Pollard

Driving to Grangehill Vineyard, through Bells Swamp, was a stark reminder of how bad the drought is. I have only seen water in it once, ten years ago. The vineyard is owned and operated by Russell Clarke and his partner Angelina Chaperon. Russell took me for a drive amid the vines to see how they were going on one of the few cool days we have had of late. The bush vines were very green and laden with dark wine grapes ready for picking.

In spite of my preconceived notion that the drought would have decimated the vineyard, it was looking really healthy. Russell explained that it was largely due to a long-term plan to establish a dry land vineyard using traditional methods. He un-dertook extensive preparation of the soil 14 years ago under the tutelage of Gra-ham Due, a highly qualified winemaker and dedicated dry land vigneron.

The bush vines were planted in 1994. Then, it took eleven years before the vineyard sold anything. They have received some subsidies in the last year, which has helped them to survive. After planting, the young vines were watered three times about a fortnight apart, with about 2 litres to each plant in grow tubes. They have not been watered since, except by rain. The dry land method has caused an ex-tensive, big, deep root system to develop under the vineyard floor. Russell’s theory is that the vines, like gum-trees with deep root systems, can survive most climate-induced extremes. He also believes in lots of cover crops and mulch.

The grapes are totally organic, as Russell has used no fertilisers, herbicides or pesti-cides for over eight years. A huge flock of about 100 crows protect the grapes from smaller birds. Russell explained that the crows only eat whole berries, about ten berries each at the most, and tend to feed on the ground. Their presence scares smaller birds away. Little birds just pierce the berries, which then develop ‘nasty bugs’ in them, which spoils the flavour of the grapes. Once punctured, the juice leaks down and ruins whole bunches. Russell is a firm believer in working closely with nature, rather than against it.

During the recent extreme temperatures, leaves dried up and died on some of their vines. This meant that the grapes had to be pruned early to keep the vines in balance. Grapes cannot ripen without a canopy of leaves to protect them, and the plants would have become too stressed to survive. Due to drought conditions picking is a little earlier every year.

Russell and Angie operate the Maldon chocolate shop Chocolade for off-farm in-come. Tasting and sales of Chaperon Wines are conducted at Chocolade, instead of from the cellar door, as in the past.

Traditional dry land farming; the way to go Russell Clarke & Angelina Chaperon, Maldon

Photo by Nancy Whittaker

In 1988 my husband and I came into Maldon on the end of a camping holiday -for one night. We were smitten with the entire town, and its heritage. Overnight we de-cided this was THE PLACE.

We bought 100 bare acres 4 kilometres out of town, and built a house, stables for our Clydesdale horses, and sheds. The land itself was quite eaten out, so it was a challenge. My husband, Geof, spent some weeks each year, over three years, literally digging out an enormous infestation of wheel cactus, and trucking it to the tip. He came in each night looking like a pin cushion.

He then, with the help of Nuggetty Land Protection Group (of which we are members) and DNRE seed-planted forty acres with a variety of native trees. This helped to regener-ate the pasture in an area very acidic and unproductive. The horses did not like the grass there, and it also had a salty seep in the centre. This is now a paddock that gives my horses good pasture between the trees, and a lot of shelter. I keep telling them they are in paradise.

I do find I have to be prepared to hand feed over the sum-mer months rather heavily due to this drought, but I have only five Clydesdales now. I found myself at 60 years of age driving Terry and Tangles, giving tourists rides around Maldon in a carriage, then at 70 pumping petrol at the Central Ser-vice Centre in Maldon.

My husband passed away - suddenly - sixteen months ago, and I have had to reorganise my life, but have never thought of leaving my little bit of paradise, the friends I have made in Maldon over the last twenty years, the views from my verandah, and my memories.

For an old girl who lived in Melbourne all her adult life, and worked in the rag trade in Flinders Street and Flinders Lane for thirty years this is quite a career change - but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Shirley’s retirement Shirley Little, Maldon

Photo by Paula Chew

Centrelink

Exceptional Circumstances Assistance 132 316 Rural Services Officer 5430 5941 Social Worker 5430 5820 North Central Rural Financial Counselling Service Assessing farm/business finances 5468 7499 0409 189 018 Drought options, referral to relevant services 5442 2424 Small business support 5450 3285 0447 506 401 Department of Primary Industries 13 61 86 Small farm information & support 5430 4451 Drought management 5430 4670 Animal health and welfare 5421 1717 Counselling Services – CHIRP Individual, family, drug & alcohol 5479 1000 Division of General Practice 5443 9577 0419 320 770

Centacare – Bendigo 5438 1346 Salvation Army Drought line - Peta Pittaway 5442 7889 0418 570 406 Bendigo Uniting Care Outreach Ruth Hosking 5443 3485 Crisis Contacts Mental Health Assistance (24 hr ) 1300 363 408 Lifeline (24 hr) 131 114 Mount Alexander Shire Council 5471 1700 Drought information and assistance Phillippa Calwell 5471 1744

Key Drought Assistance Numbers