To coincide with the inaugural National Agriculture Day today, we are featuring a story on the day in the life of a local farmer.
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For busy fifth generation farmer Gavin Tom and his wife Elly not every day is typically the same.
By the time the Champion Post visited on Thursday morning, they had spent a couple of hours mulching trees in the orchard before meeting with their insurance representative for their yearly visit.
“The Tom’s came here as first settlers and it’s always been a traditional wheat sheep area,” Gavin said.
“But over the last few years we’ve found cropping inputs to be very expensive and with the price of most grain going down we’ve purposefully concentrated more on sheep for both wool and meat and we have a small mob of red angus beef cattle.”
The couple also grow a few paddocks of oats, peas and lupins.
Gavin was born and bred on the family farm and studied a Bachelor of Engineering at university in Wollongong and Melbourne.
He had careers with Versatile and Caterpillar before he and Elly and their children, Rhonda and Shane, moved back to the farm in 1994.
“Dad was dropping hints that he would like some help,” Gavin said.
“The plan always was to come back.”
Gavin said mixed farming is all about managing your calendar year.
“Most of what we do is more or less as per dad’s traditional way,” he said.
“And it turns out there are a lot of reasons things are done at certain times of the year – I’ve learnt that because I’ve tried to change them and ran into trouble,” he laughed.
Gavin’s retired parents, Andy and Doro, live at the other end of the farm.
“Dad still helps out in the shearing shed and around the farm,” he said.
Elly said after working off the farm for 20 years she is happy to be on the land full time.
“I worked in admin at the hospital and then as a Support Learning Student Officer Parkes High School,” she said. “I enjoyed my time working and now I’m loving doing everything on the farm with Gavin.”
The Tom’s are very much interested in renewable energy and sustainable farming for the future.
“We’ve done a lot of tree planting,” Gavin said.
“We’ve had nearly 10,000 mallee trees planted on the property. Tree lines provide shelter belts for the lambing ewes but also provide corridors for bird life which can help reduce the insect activity attacking crops.”
Elly said greenies are concerned farmers don’t look after the land.
“Admittedly there are some cowboys that have over-cleared, but we invite anyone to come and talk to us, have a look and see what we do. Come and see how farmers are farming for the future,” she said.
Despite being a busy farmer, Gavin has worn a few other hats besides his broad-rimmed shade hat since coming back to the farm.
He is Chair of the Parkes/Forbes branch of NSW Farmers, Vice Chair of Central West Lachlan Landcare, Chair of the Mid Lachlan Valley Team Rural Fire Service, Chair of the Tichborne Fire Brigade, Chair of the Parkes Branch of the National Party, and Chair of CANFA (Conservation And No-til Farming Association).
“We are in these industries because we really believe in them and we want to see them keep going,” he said.