Rural Living
So you’re interested in moving out of the city or town, onto a place of your own in the real Australia. You want to get away from the dirt, noise, pollution, crowds and crime, and all the other dreary features of suburbia.
You’ve heard that life on a farm is great—plenty of fresh air, blue skies and room to move, a cow for fresh creamy milk and golden butter, ponies for the kids, chooks, a vegetable garden and fresh home-grown fruit.
But do you really know what you are getting into?
Running a farm is not easy, particularly if you don’t have a farming background. Look closely at your reasons for making the move. Why do you want to buy a farm or, more particularly, why this one?
Whatever the reasons, check them out carefully. Make sure you can afford the new lifestyle. Is your budget realistic? Have you an escape strategy if anything goes wrong? What are the job opportunities off the
farm for you and your family? Don’t become locked into a particular situation in case you change your mind about rural living.
In many ways, rural living is similar to city living. Friends visit friends, neighbours call in, you go shopping and you are exposed to the same media. In other circumstances, rural living can be quite different. Think
how life would be if your nearest neighbour was kilometres away and unfriendly, and poor roads restricted your movements.
A life of involvement
Co-operative activities are much more common in the country. You will be expected to get involved in the Parents and Citizens Association, Bush Fire Brigade, Hall Committee, Progress Association, and Tennis
Club, if there is one. Country living may not be for you if you are not keen on community activities. Rural life, on the surface, moves at a leisurely pace, but in fact, it can be even more hectic than city life. If you add up all your involvements with local organizations, it may come to a very heavy load. But if you like being involved, country living will give you considerable satisfaction, a sense of belonging and a chance of contributing to the common good.
Everyone in the country becomes an identity—you are the one living in the new house, your children attend the local school, you recently bought a stud bull and you are President of the Progress Assocation.
It is difficult to lead a sheltered life in the country. Whether you like it or not, everyone seems to know what you are doing. To some people this widespread general knowledge of their every activity is intolerable,
but others enjoy being part and parcel of the community.
Taking responsibility
Belonging to a community brings responsibilities. Neighbours and friends will help you with work on your property but you will be expected to help them on theirs. In this way you will reinforce the community spirit
and, at the same time, develop some of the essential skills of farming.
By listening and asking questions while you work together, you will learn a lot from people who are established in the district. You may also learn from the mistakes of other newcomers.
Part of your responsibility to the community is to care for the resources under your control. In the city, what you did on your suburban block may not have affected the environment except if you persisted in burning
rubbish. In the country, what you do on your land might seriously affect its long term use. Your neighbours too, might be affected by what you do.
If you allow your soil to erode, start a bush fire, don’t control noxious weeds and animals, or allow pests and diseases to spread, you will be having a serious impact on our natural resources and in some circumstances you
may even face prosecution.
Above all, if you are expecting to make some money from your farming activities, or even if you aim not to lose money unnecessarily, think hard about your reasons for making the change. Check all possible angles, talk
to local farmers, bank managers, business people, staff from the Department of Agriculture and local councils, and read widely.
Once you have checked everything and found it to your satisfaction, you are prepared for life in the country.
BEST OF LUCK TO YOU.
Extracted from “Farming in a Small Way” edited by Gordon Yabsley, Department of Agriculture NSW
