Watheroo, WA
CATEGORY: COMMUNITY AND PEOPLE (GROWER)
Western Australian farmer Brad Millsteed would love to expand the size of his family farm but circumstances won’t allow it.
Instead, he has made the most of the fact there is a surplus of labour within the business to throw himself into community roles, where he wants to make a difference to rural Australia.
Brad is an avid Twitter user with 2,758 followers and uses the medium to send out messages to community events using his hashtag #6B’s (blokes, beer, bonfire, bbq, bulls**t and bonding).
“This is an open call for rural men to organise a gathering where they can switch off from the daily grind, enjoy a bit of ‘testosterone time’ with other guys and discuss their issues in a more comfortable environment,” he says.
He also is keen to promote other events, like the local Gravel Grinders cycling fundraiser, which takes cyclists from Moora to Watheroo. This, he says, is more about boosting mental health than it is about raising funds for the community.
At their farm Brad works alongside his father, uncle and cousin to produce crops and grow sheep.
He is a keen record keeper and a supporter of quality assurance programs. The now lapsed quality assurance program run by Co-operative Bulk Handlers was adopted on the family’s farm and its principles are still followed. It encourages him to keep extensive records on the production of his crops, and the discipline it installed set up a habit that he wishes to keep.