My podcast - Farm Life Psych with Steph Schmidt!

I've been saying this has been on the horizon for a while now. If I scroll back through my notes, I'd planned to launch this in the first week of March, but it wasn't a realistic goal. Juggling the stress of pre-seeding, before moving into (dry) seeding, school holidays, and a trip to Rocky meant my 'go' date for episode 1 just kept being put on the backburner.

Then, the sheep live export ban was announced. And so much of WA, SA, and parts of Vic are still waiting for their season break. The multitude of increasing pressures means there is real concern for the mental health for farmers at the moment... which was the exact push I needed to pushing go on the podcast.

The first two episodes of Farm Life Psych with Steph Schmidt are live. Episode 1 is a bit of an introduction to me, and an overview of what you can expect from this podcast, while Episode 2 is about the importance of filling your self-care bin.

Look, my plan was to have a month of episodes prerecorded prior to launch. But you know what they say about the best laid plans...... As luck would have it, I came down with COVID last week and continue to have coughs and sniffles. So recording is interesting. But I'll just be over here, keeping it real!

Episodes will drop every Friday morning, covering all the ups and downs of farming, but with a psychological spin.

Listen on Spotify Here

(I'm having teething problems with Apple, if you are an apple listener, watch this space. If you are a tech/apple wizard, please let me know!)

Don't want to miss any podcast news - click here and I'll make sure to keep you updated

I've changed the structure of the weekly Little Rocks reminder email slightly to adapt and include the weekly podcast drop. The aim of Little Rocks continues to be to provide short and sweet reminders in your inbox, but you'll also get an overview of the week's episode and a reminder to listen in. 

Beef 2024

I was delighted to be part of the Beef 2024 program, where I joined the ANZ Tender Steaks and Tough Talks dinner on Wednesday night. I also took great delight in meeting people in person who, up until that point, had only been tiny online square faces. Seminars, networking, and marvelling at the strong united identity in agriculture were all key takeaways. It was a big 3.5 days... but so rewarding.

At the Tender Talks and Tough Steaks Dinner, I had the pleasure of chatting with Belinda Sharpe and Troy Setter.  Some key learnings I took away from the conversations were:

• Sticking true to your values. As the first female NRL referee, Belinda is often asked what it's like to be a trailblazer for other women. Belinda discussed that for her, it's really been about doing what she loves rather than focusing on "being the first". Interestingly, she began refereeing because she loved the sport but her dad wouldn't let her play the game because of safety. What an awesome example of finding a way to do what you love and finding a work-around!
• Creating culture change through small, achievable steps. We spoke about the significant impact that alcohol has on mental health in the bush.  Troy spoke about some of the changes they have made at Consolidated Pastoral Company while at the same time recognising the importance of facilitating connection and camaraderie within their teams. So yes, they may still provide alcohol at social events, recognising that this continues to be a way that people in the bush come together, but they are also finding benefit in offering non-alc alternatives as well. 
• Don't worry about the background noise. As the panel conversation progressed, there were a few tables who were keen to get on with enjoying the night rather than listen to our conversation. Luckily, I'd been pre-warned that the same thing had happened at dinner the previous night. As the panel facilitator it would've been easy to take it personally, however I could remind myself that it was definitely a "them issue" not a "me issue". As well as reading the room to pull my 5 minute wrap up speech down to a quick few sentences.

My wrap-up thoughts for the night:

Watching the cattle and bulls on display in the Big Arena during the week, I reflected on what was emphasised by the judges and commentators. The cattle weren't judged on their weaknesses. What was applauded, demonstrated and emphasised were the strengths of each animal.  Each animal was chosen as a top breeder based on the strengths and ways it would improve the mob. 

What if we treat farming mental health the same way? What if we focus on building on our strengths, rather than constantly focusing on our weaknesses and deficits?

I have child-free workdays on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. However I choose to work flexibly & send emails outside normal office hours. No need to respond to my emails outside yours.

In the spirit of reconciliation, I acknowledge the past and present traditional owners of this land on which I live and work, the Ngadjuri people. I pay my respects to Elders past and present.

Any information provided in this email is general in nature and should not be taken as medical advice. For emergency mental health support please contact Lifeline 13 11 14