In the rolling hills of Crookwell, nestled in the heart of the Upper Lachlan district of NSW, Paul Hewitt tends to his family farm with a dedication that spans generations. A true steward of the land, Paul’s commitment extends beyond his own paddocks, as the driving force behind the Upper Lachlan Landcare Grazing Group. Since joining the group in 2016, he has begun to foster a sense of community and resilience among local graziers, transforming challenges into opportunities for growth and connection.
Paul’s story is deeply rooted in the Crookwell district. After leaving school he worked for his parents on their farm, and then ultimately took on part of that holding and raised his four children with his wife Shauna, running Soft Rolling Skin Merinos.
Like many generational graziers, Paul has a deep understanding of the land, and a deep connection to it. With that experience comes wisdom, and Paul recognised in the early 2000’s some of the conventional practices had to change.
“That was probably the lowest point in my farming career, because I just couldn’t make the sums work. I was seriously considering selling the farm and buying better country but then I went to a drought information day with Resource Consulting Services and that was music to my ears, as it all made sense. In the 20 years since then I’ve been grazing for healthy landscapes.”
Recognising the increasing pressures on modern farming such as climate change, market volatility and social isolation, Paul felt a growing need to give back to the industry and community that had given him so much, and after encouragement from local Landcare Coordinator, Ruth Aveyard, Paul took on the job of facilitator of Upper Lachlan Landcare Grazing Group six years ago.
“I said I would take on the job as facilitator, but the stipulation was that we needed to expand it. At that time most grazing groups held ‘keep in touch’ days, and although it was like-minded people gathering, I’ve seen lots of those things run out of steam because no-one’s challenged.”
“I suggested we needed to add an educational component and Ruth agreed to that, so that’s how we evolved and it went from there.”
At the core of the group’s mission is sustainability, but a wonderful by-product has been the growth in social connection and positive mental health outcomes amongst farmers who are all going through the same challenges and struggles.
“The mental health component of our group sort of happened by stealth. We tend to focus on the cause, rather than the symptoms of being stressed and feeling under pressure, so what we tried to do was encourage members to take control of their situation and be proactive.”
“You can’t make it rain but you can lessen the effect of a drought by being proactive and adjusting things to suit the conditions.”
Paul recalls a meeting from 2019 where he felt an enormous positive shift from many of the group members, as they started to come on board with the idea that although times were tough, they had to prioritise the landscape over the animals they loved.
“You just saw the pressure lift off them.”
Around that time the group also introduced individual farm visits, where Ruth and Paul would go out and talk to members on site and delve more into their business at a holistic level. This strategy promoting sustainable farming practices and fostering community ties is still effective within the group to this day.
Paul said he believes some of the positives for a group like theirs is they don’t necessarily give answers at their meetings, but rather they try to empower their members with collective wisdom.
“We aim to send people away asking more questions than they came with, and we try to help them come up with their own solutions. We don’t give advice we just throw ideas and suggestions out there and hopefully they go away and think about it and make the right decisions.”
“We introduced a thing called our ‘three E’s’ which encourages you to measure any decisions against environmental outcomes, emotional outcomes and economic outcomes, in that order. We’ve found if you’re doing the right thing by the environment you’ll feel good about yourself, so that ticks the emotional box, and then nine times out of ten the economic model will come into line too.”
Looking ahead, Paul is optimistic about the future of the Upper Lachlan Landcare Grazing Group, and his dedication to his farm and his community is a wonderful example of the power of collective action. He has reared not just livestock, but a network of support and resilience in the Crookwell community.
Find out more here: www.upperlachlanlandcare.org.au