Farming families keep communities together.
That is the belief of Lisa Hamilton, who was brought up on a sheep farm and has never strayed far from her roots.
Now back on the family farm at Forest Hill, near Winton, Lisa is stock manager on the 600ha property which runs sheep, cattle and deer. She has also added another stock class — pigs.
With 15 sows in her care, Lisa sells piglets, having discovered pigs had become a popular hobby and it was also providing some pocket money, along with the cuteness factor.
Piglets were also a popular attraction at the Winton and Southland A&P shows, where Lisa was in charge of the petting zoo. What started as simply a litter of pups and some kittens had now grown to about 100 animals that she gathered up before the event and had on display.
The zoo was one of the most popular — if not the most popular — attractions at the shows, particularly with young show-goers and, for a farm girl, Lisa was amazed how many children had never had the opportunity to even touch a sheep up close.
So she showed them how to feed the animals and pat them, endeavouring to make it an interactive experience for the children, while also educating them that "animals are our friends".
Lisa enjoyed the variety of work on the farm and loved setting goals and achieving them.
"Every year I’m just trying to make things better and put my stamp on things."
She particularly loved working with her six dogs. She is secretary of the Winton Collie Club and, while she did not trial much these days, she won the South Island maiden Tux yarding event in 2013.
Lisa regularly took a Gateway pupil from Central Southland College for a day a week for a year to learn about farming. It started when a neighbour’s child wanted to do it and then she got a call from a teacher to see if she would take others.
Some of the pupils had a farming background, while others were totally green. It was about showing them was farm life was about and giving them a taste of it to see if it was something they might want to pursue as a career.
If they had some basic skills then hopefully a potential employer would give them a chance. Several had been taken on, and she loved the idea of girls "getting a bit of a kick start" in the industry.
For any young women considering a career in agriculture, she encouraged them to "absolutely give it a crack".
"I think girls are coming in with the ‘work smarter not harder’ attitude. Once they get their head around that, there’s no stopping them. You don’t have to be the brawn if you’ve got the brains.
"Farming gives you the opportunity to think outside the square a little bit. Everything doesn’t have to be hard or done the way it has been done in the past.
"I really enjoy seeing girls realise they are just as capable; they might just have to go about it in a different way. I think some of the best farmers out there are women," she said.
While having the pupils on-farm did require some patience, it was rewarding seeing them go from knowing nothing to setting them on to a job on their own and achieving it to a good standard.
Friday was Gateway day and Lisa endeavoured to organise her week around something interesting to do on a Friday, allowing time to teach them "and do things a bit slower".
— Sally Rae
