TRADITIONAL family farms, passed down from generation to generation, are becoming rarer and rarer these days.
With the growth in corporate farming, greater diversity of employment options for young people in regional and metropolitan centres, and the inherent challenges of maintaining land and stock for profit, this trend is likely to continue.
Eddie and Marg Healy, however, are proud to say that their farming legacy will continue, with their son Lawrie following in his father’s footsteps.
The Healy’s own various properties, including Coonamble Farm in Carwarp, about 40 kilometres from Mildura.
“We took over Coonamble about seven years ago,” Mr Healy said.
Born and raised on a farm in Walpeup, he’s no stranger to life on the land.
“We were looking to add another leg to our farms in Pooncarie, as well as Mount Dispersion near Euston, where we grow table grapes,” he said.
Mr Healy said water shortages, as well as a decline in demand and prices for grapes, made diversification essential.
He said growing wheat and running sheep had been tough going at times, although the good prices being offered for lamb were helpful.
“Sometimes I wonder why we crop. Like most Mallee farms, we experienced two years of drought, which wasn’t helpful,” Mr Healy noted in his typically dry, self-depreciating manner.
“Droughts create weeds when we direct drill to sow the crops, which is no good for the sheep.”
Despite this, Mr Healy said there were positives for owning land in the northwest, away from the regional centre of Mildura.
“We have 10,000 acres, which is a reasonable size, better than in town. It’s a bit stony in places but we get by,” he said.
“The lambs have been good value too. We run about 1000 ewes and have been getting $180 to $200 per head.”
This profit made from livestock sales has been essential, as the price of wheat has stagnated despite growing costs.
“Over the past 30 to 40 years prices have stayed the same, but costs have tripled,” he said.
Another challenge for Mr Healy has been rapid changes in farming technology, although he is thankful for help from his savvy son.
“We are reliant on satellite navigation to keep our crop lines straight. Luckily Lawrie is only a phone call away,” he said.
Mr Healy said the Carwarp farming community could also be called upon to support each other throughout harvest.
Labour costs are increasing, while the number of young locals available and willing to work on the land are decreasing, meaning that many communities are reliant on migrant workers.
However, Mr Healy said that wasn’t the case in Carwarp.
“There are a number of retired farmers who come and help out. They may have sold their farms but they’re not quite ready to cut ties with farming.”
On that topic, Mr Healy, at 75 years of age, says he still has a few years left.
“I think I’ll get to 80 and then move on, hopefully no longer than that,” he said with a chuckle.
Similarly, his wife, the evergreen Mrs Healy, isn’t quite ready to pack up the caravan and leave the farm behind just yet.
Born and raised at Annuello, 30 kilometres south of Robinvale, Mrs Healy is accustomed to rural farming life, while also dabbling in a range of occupational and community pursuits.
In addition to raising their children, Mrs Healy has taken on varied roles in nursing, first aid and mental health over the years, including being a strong contributor in the restoration of the Pooncarie Health Centre, which opened in December 2025 thanks to a $100,000 grant from Crown Lands.
While doing her bit on the farm, Mrs Healy facilitates regular first aid courses to ensure that residents, including farmers, are not left stranded in the rural towns she frequents.
Despite the challenges of farming, she is optimistic that families like her own can continue to operate properties into the future.
Mrs Healy acknowledged that family farm operators were “up against it” but, in her typically resilient and upbeat manner, added “you do what you have to do.”
With children, and grandchildren, of her own now living in rural towns like Pooncarie, Mrs Healy said access to education and an understanding of the future needs of agriculture were vital if the next generation was to pursue farming independently.
“My kids were raised on the station before going to boarding school, which is something that you can only afford if your farm is successful,” she said.
Mrs Healy said she was optimistic that her grandchildren, and others, could stay on farms in the future, pointing to Pooncarie local, and former AFLW champion, Courtney Wakefield as an example of a young woman who has continued to work on her family’s sheep property at Top Hut.
“My grandchildren still love it on the farm. It would be great if they could stay there if that’s what they want to do,” she said.
However, Mrs Healy added that simply wanting to be a farmer was not enough to survive in modern farming, which required a diverse, constantly evolving skillset, with corporate farming and unfavourable government policies remaining a constant threat.
“Bush kids are more adaptable than town kids and they’ll need to be,” she said.
“To be successful they will need to be educated – not just as farmers but as accountants, as scientists and agronomists – who are able to adapt to changing conditions,” she said.
“The farming life is not an easy one, but it will always be needed. People need food, they need fibre, so we do serve an important role in the community.”
