Check out Teegan's Instagram Page @teeg110
Given the unprecedented times at the moment we wanted to shine a light on our farmers working in a fairly thankless industry and to highlight that even though the world came pretty much to a grinding halt, us farmers kept powering on. With falling beef & milk prices and another drought I thought I would introduce you to a couple of farmers that are killing it on Instagram and creating awareness in the Agri-indusrty all the while flying the flag for Women in Agriculture
Teegan Nevell
Who are you farming with- employees, family etc.?
I am working with another employee and I have been there for 9 and 1/2 years and it is the only farm I’ve only worked on. I was the calf rearer for 5 years since then I became the herds-woman for the past 4 years.
How many acres are you farming and what sort of cattle numbers are you running?
The farm owns 220 acres are we rent the rest.
We have 116 milking which 9 are dry. 165 beef cattle and 98 young stock. We rear all our calves for beef or for replacement cows.
What is one thing that has impacted the farm in the last 12months?
When the beef price dropped a few months ago but luckily it’s gone back up again now.
What would you say have been the biggest changes you've implemented on the farm since you've been farming here?The biggest changes is with this milk contract we are on now for Morrison’s Arla Lots of things we had to change (For the better). One of the changes is that we had to start taking milk samples every month which is great as we can see who’s effecting the SC (cell count). Now I’m able to do selective dry cow treatments. Which we are doing mostly with non antibiotics which is amazing.What changes do you predict farming will see over the next 25 years?⁃Oh I’m really not sure hard to predict something as the prices of our meat and milk is always fluctuating. But I just hope the prices all stay at a nice place and that the milk price doesn’t plummet like I has in previous years.What is the hardest part of farming for you?The hardest part about farming is making a tough decision Wether a cow needs to be put to sleep. Like all farmers we don’t like seeing out animals suffering.What is the most satisfying part of farming for you?The most satisfying for me is calving a cow and just seeing each of them grow up. Most of the cows I’m milking now are all ones I have raised when I used to do the calve rearing at the start of my farming career.Who inspires you in the Ag community ?The people that inspire me are my other female Instagram friends showing other females that it’s possible to get into farming even when you’ve not been brought up on a farm as a child.What advice could you give to any young greenhorns interested in getting into farming?The one bit of advice I can give is if you have the determination to succeed you will. Be hard working, listen to advice and always try your best. If you're struggling to get into farming try find a farm that wouldn’t mind taking you on to teach you. Another way is doing an apprenticeship or going to college full time. I went to college full time for the first 2 years and I got my job 5 months after college.
