With National Agriculture Day drawing near, we’re turning our thoughts and thanks to our farmers. While Australia’s ‘Lucky Country’ label has come to be ingrained in our cultural identity, we know that our way of life has been earned by something other than luck.
The food on our table, the blankets we wrap our children in, the land that will continue to provide for the generations to come, this is all because of our farmers.
In celebration of the farmers who keep us fuelled, clothed, and ‘lucky’, we sat down to hear from someone who has dedicated a significant portion of her working life to farming families.
Our Wealth Partner, Kylie Wright, is passionate about putting her skills to work for farming families. A sense of purpose sparked from her own experiences on properties as a youngster, for the past 25+ years, she’s been a trusted advisor to farming families across the state. By their sides, difficult seasons, family upsets, succession and sales, she knows the strength and resilience of farmers better than most, a privilege not lost on her, even after all these years.
What have you learned from your professional experience working with farmers that you couldn’t have understood growing up?
Growing up on properties as a kid, it’s an amazing life. We were active and outside all the time, surrounded by horses, dogs, and chooks (and a pet emu). But as a kid, you’re not aware of just how stressful life can become when things go wrong.
I was camping west of St George recently and got talking to a farmer on a neighbouring property. He told me he’s been hand-feeding his cattle for about six months. That sort of thing is just soul-destroying.
So I guess if you can make a difference to these families financially, that’s something to feel good about, because there are so many other parts of farming life that can be really hard.
What do you think makes farming families unique from an advisory perspective?
I grew up on two different dairy farms and then a cattle property, and one of those dairy farms was multi-generational. So from quite a young age, I saw how closely family and business are tied together in farming, and how much of an impact things like the weather can have.
I see farming as a uniquely high-risk enterprise because so much is outside the farmer’s control. You never know when you’re going to be hit with drought, fire or flood, and what its ramifications will be.
Then there’s the multi-generational side of it. The business often isn’t just generating a living for one family; it may need to support multiple families, and that changes over time. The business premises are often the family home as well.
There are so many things wrapped up together in a farming business that you don’t necessarily see elsewhere. That makes the advice more complex, but I like that challenge.
What have you come to understand about the relationship between a farmer and their land?
Farmers think about their land very differently to how another business owner might think about their business premises. With business premises, people can be quite pragmatic about whether they retain or sell it, and that’s largely based on the numbers.
With land, it’s not a numbers decision. There’s a real connection to it. It’s often where they grew up and where their big life moments have happened. Farmers often feel a special responsibility to preserve the land for future generations.
What do you think advisors miss when they haven’t spent much time among farm life?
Well, let me answer that with a story. A couple of years ago, I had a bank talking to one of my farming families about the return they were getting on their farm asset, saying: “You could sell the farm, put the money in a term deposit, and get a better interest rate.”
At that particular moment in time, yes, they probably could have.
But that was a very confronting, even insulting, thing for that family to hear. To them, the land is not just an asset. It’s their home. It’s something they’re building for the future. They spend all their time thinking about how they can make this land better.
So I think it’s understanding all of that background and all the intangible factors and knowing that in the vast majority of cases, land is not just an asset to a farmer.
That’s also not to say it will never be sold. We’ve had farming families receive really significant offers on their properties and some of them have decided to sell. But as an advisor, the important thing to understand is that there’s a lot more wrapped up in that decision than just dollars and cents.
You’ve worked with some of your client families for a very long time. What does it mean to be invited into their lives in this way?
I feel very privileged to have some of the conversations I have with my clients. I’ve heard parents talking about their hopes and dreams for their family from when their kids were young. Then, over time, I’ve watched those kids grow into adults and seen those hopes and dreams start to come to fruition.
You’re also sometimes on the inside when tragedy happens or things go wrong. In those moments, you’ve just got to be there for people.
What does it take to build that level of trust?
I think it’s turning up, for a start. Most of the time, we’re meeting with farming families around their kitchen table, so it’s turning up year after year to their property and genuinely caring about the family and what’s happening over a long period of time.
Eventually, you become part of the team. They know that when there’s a big life decision, they can pick up the phone and call you.
I think it comes down to doing what you say you’re going to do, and being really present when you’re there.
When you look at families who are well set up for the future, what’s the common thread, what do they have in common?
Farmers are often very focused on land, building their landholding and buying more property. But I feel very strongly that the most successful farming families also have off-farm assets, whether that’s superannuation or other investments.
That’s what will eventually give them the ability to retire and pass the farm down to the next generation. I’ve worked with families where we’ve spent 20–25 years building up off-farm assets, and they’ve reached retirement with more disposable income than they’ve ever had before. Building wealth off the farm makes a really significant difference.
What are you curious to hear about when you sit down with your clients these days?
I’m always really curious when I’m talking to clients about what’s new and what they’re trying on their properties. There’s this furphy that farmers aren’t innovative, when actually there’s constant innovation happening on farms.
One of my clients growing macadamias, for example, is working with a university to look at using owls for rodent control. It means moving away from poison on the property, and I think that kind of thinking is really interesting.
Then you’ve got things like virtual fencing, cameras and technology connected to people’s phones so they can check water levels without having to drive out to a trough, and I think we’ll see drones used more and more as well.
Farmers have to keep adapting with water, fertilisation, crop rotations, fencing and all sorts of things, often in difficult circumstances where connectivity isn’t what it is in town. I love sitting down at someone’s kitchen table and asking, “What’s new? What are you thinking about?” You hear some really interesting stories.
This year’s Ag Day theme is ‘Our Farmers, Our Future’. What does that mean to you?
I think it’s a great theme for this year. To me, it’s about land stewardship. I see how carefully our farmers steward their land from one generation to the next, and I really think that is the future of this country.
We’re in interesting times at the moment, where farmers are often being squeezed from all sides. But even through that, there’s still this careful stewardship of the land and a real responsibility for what comes next. To me, that’s a huge part of Australia’s future.
After all these years, what do you hope your clients remember about the role you’ve played in their story?
I’d hope they feel that I really understood what they were trying to do over a long period of time, and that I helped them turn their hard work into success. At Ulton, we talk about turning intentions into achievement. I’d hope my clients feel that I’ve helped them do that.
It’s your farm and your future. If you’re starting to think about succession, retirement, or your financial position beyond the farm, Kylie and our wealth management team can help you plan for what comes next. Get in touch on (07) 4154 0425.