From “sheep shifting” to “wheat watching”, YouTube has given grower Mark Merrett a platform to bring viewers from around the world along as he works on his family farm.
The 25-year-old from western Victoria, working with his family on a 2800 ha mixed sheep and cropping farm, told GrainGrowers he had been inspired by other grower-YouTubers.
And said he first decided to have a crack at farm vlogging in 2019.
“I’d seen some American farmers doing vlogs, which I thought were really interesting to watch, but I couldn’t find any Aussies doing it in the same way,” Mr Merrett said.
“I decided to give it a go, and then when lockdowns happened in 2020, I started putting more time towards filming and editing my content, and that’s when I saw my YouTube channel start to take off.”
Since starting out, Mr Merrett has uploaded nearly 150 YouTube vlogs and has also branched out to TikTok. Featuring spectacular drone shots and detailed commentary, Mr Merrett’s farm vlogs are designed to show the day-to-day of running a farming operation in Victoria.
“I wanted to showcase the best of agriculture, and I also wanted to create a resource for other growers,” he said. “Our farming process here is quite unique because we crop on sandy soils.
“The process we go through to improve the land and make it more productive, such as clay spreading, is interesting to other growers. I’ve found through feedback that our unique features here are interesting to both growers and those outside of agriculture.”
As a farmer, a father and a content creator, Mr Merrett said his secret to keeping up with it all is loving what he does.
His passion for promoting farming means that aside from a few late nights editing, it doesn’t take any time away from his day.
Plus, Mr Merrett always finds the time to answer the questions that lodge in his comments section.
Mr Merrett’s advice to other young growers wanting to get started on vlogging, is to do it for the right reasons – to show the beauty of farming, and not to gain fame.
“Promoting Aussie agriculture is so important because everyone plays a role in keeping our businesses thriving,” he said.
“Even if all you can do is post a photo on Instagram to show what’s happening on your farm or having a chat with a relative in the city who doesn’t understand agriculture that well, then just do that. It’s all a team effort.”
