Rural Life, Farming and Community Involvement with Sandra Ireson

Humans of Agriculture

This weeks guest is Sandra Ireson, a seventh generation farmer from the Snowy Mountains! But she now finds herself on the Hay Plains with her husband and family.

We first came across Sandra's work through her involvement in the Hay Inc Rural Education Program. About 10 years ago, Sandra and a few others started the program designed to bring city kids to rural communities and show them what's involved in farming and agriculture. Today, it's still going all guns blazing with more than 130 alumni and counting!

In this episode, Sandra mentions that the local school is actually closing down at the end of the year... With no local school, it means that kids will either turn to School of the Air, or they need to travel further afield for their education. This is just one of the challenges their rural community faces, on top of natural disasters and population decline. Sandra has some great messages around drought preparedness and not buying into the media hype.

Sandra is one of those people who is super involved in the community and seems to juggle a lot - she volunteers in various groups, she's got the family farming business, and she also wants to contribute to the industry. She's also been involved with a few different programs through Meat and Livestock Australia (episode sponsor) Red Meat Ambassadors Program.

How on earth she fits it all in, we're about to find out!