It was impossible not to be inspired by the amazing women I encountered at the Hort Connections conference, “Women in Horticulture” session. It wasn’t just the speakers; the room full of women from every aspect of Horticulture and all walks of life, had stories to share and miles of support for their fellow Women in Hort.

The men involved were brilliant too and a recurring theme was the role men play in getting more women involved and recognised for their work in farming.

Pip Courtney from ABC’s Landline was our Moderator and gave us some great insights into what she has learnt from working with farmers for many years. She reminded us that ‘United we stand Divided we fall’ and is passionate about farmers collaborating – both within their own industry and across industry. She horrified us all with a story of a former minister who bragged to her about how easy it was to dominate ag policy once you had farmers bickering amongst themselves, distracted and easy to ‘pick off’. Personally, I feel this collaborative approach is what our industry needs to follow as we consider the subject of export.

Also, we need to work harder, Pip believes in bringing city people into the fold.  Don’t disparage their lack of understanding and knowledge about our lives and work, but rather build connections. Social media is the perfect place for this and to her mind women particularly excel here. Pip called this our ‘Social Capital’ and a type of account that, if we make good ‘deposits’ (ie social connections) then we will have access to it for ‘withdrawals’ (ie social support) in times of need such as drought, biosecurity threats or social issues like live export or Listeria outbreaks.

Boomaroo Nursery had sponsored this session and the Women in Hort Award and turned it into a Breast Cancer Fundraiser, encouraging everyone to wear pink and donate. This business, started by 2 men have a strong focus on encouraging women into their company and have increased their percentage of female employees by 26% in one year.

Our next speaker was Rachael Robertson, a former Station Leader in Antarctica. She was a funny and engaging presenter, the epitome of a strong woman and I think would have made a great farmer! I took away her tips about creating better teams, which ranged from “The Bacon War”- there was an ongoing squabble amongst the staff in Antarctica about how the bacon was cooked on the chef’s day off! She came to realise this was just a symptom of other issues around respect and treatment of others – the little things are important too. And her concept of “No Triangles”- this was all about interpersonal communication – and could be boiled down to “no backstabbing” – if you have a problem with someone, speak to them about it, not another person (hence the triangle).

Finally, we heard from Liz Dale-Hallett from The Invisible Farmer Project run by Museums Victoria. Liz is trying hard to rewrite Australian Rural history to include the untold stories of women on the land. She wants to redefine ‘farmer’ and celebrate and acknowledge the diverse and vital role of women in ag. It was shocking to learn that it wasn’t until 1994 that women were recognised by the Law Society as farmers in their own right, not “silent partner/non-participating”!

To have all the work we women do on our farms termed as ‘non-participating’ is highly offensive!!

Times are changing rapidly but Liz urged us all to get involved, use social media to connect and most of all: GET IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA! Photos of women farming are in short supply; Google Images is a perfect example of this. When you type in ‘Farmer Images’ it is almost all men. This is important as it is how wider society views us. So, stop just taking pictures ladies and get in them!

Following the Speaker Session, we had a networking event – lots of champagne and nibbles, chatting and laughter. The warm camaraderie was fabulous and had us well on the way to following Pip’s advice of finding strength in collaboration.

I took up Passionfruit Australia’s offer to have my ticket subsidised for this event, in exchange for this article and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity.