After graduating from university not once, but twice (with two teaching degrees), Rachael McInerney only ever had her mind set on a career which would see her guide and develop the minds of her young students. Fast-forward a few years, and yes, she’s still teaching the kids in her hometown of Riverton, but she’s also forged her own path as a new farm business leader in South Australia’s Mid-North.

Working alongside her husband Mark and his parents, Rachael has spent the last two years establishing new systems in HR, administration, WHS, budgeting, finance, compliance and business management and structure, ensuring her fifth-generation farm is using best practice principles when it comes to daily business management operations.

It all began when (unsurprisingly), between raising her three kids and working part time as a teacher, Rachael was also handed the task of taking on the farm’s bookwork. A story we hear all too often. However, it was when she saw an email from their agronomist, sharing a flyer about a WoTL two-day HR masterclass on the Yorke Peninsula that she thought: “that’s exactly what we need”.

“So I signed Mark and I up for the session, thinking we could both get something out of this. I’d never attended a WoTL event before and didn’t really know what to expect. I left that event full of new knowledge, yet still had so many questions and unknowns, so I launched myself into learning,’ Rachael says.

“What I quickly found was that this session was a game-changer for us, and that we could be doing so much more on the farm in regard to administration and business management. I never really expected the professional development journey I was about to take.”

Opening up to opportunities

So, Rachel began her new (additional) career as a farm business and administration manager. She asked “thousands of questions” as she puts it – and dove head-first into all of the PD opportunities that came her way. Prior to this, Rachael had been at a crossroads in her career and worried that her teaching career had to get put on hold while she helped on farm.

“I love teaching, and was about to start moving into more leadership roles, but the farm needed someone with the skills and close understanding of its own dynamics to guide it through these changes, so I took it on,” she said

“It didn’t take long before I could see just how important my role was in the business, and I became quite passionate about continual reflection and management improvements – so Mark and I set a goal to aim for best-practice when it came to managing the family farm.”

The other thing Rachel quickly began to notice was that her story wasn’t uncommon. Women – and specifically those who married farmers – were taking on roles they had no training in. Furthermore, the farmers were often taught everything they knew from the generation before them (a wealth of practical knowledge nonetheless) – but times had changed, and so farming practices, regulations and legalities were all dictating how the family farm businesses had to operate. We as the new generation have had to learn to manage this and need to change with it.

“I feel like farming is becoming a lot more adept now when it comes to business management skills. As an industry, we’re so lucky we have groups like WoTL in SA that can help guide us with learning, and also provide networks that we can seek advice and support from.

“I also wanted to make sure that the partners were gaining from these PD opportunities as well though, so we ended up encouraging another WoTL workshop in Clare that promoted both partners of the farming team to take part, and what we saw was that there were a lot of husband and wives doing it together. This was certainly the first time Mark and I had done any training together. A shared and collaborative vision with Mark was exactly what I needed to finally take ownership of my new role and understand my new why.”

And all of the training was paying off.

Not only did Rachael notice that her farm management practices were improving, but that other women in her same role within the area were seeing what she and Mark were doing, asking questions and taking part in the workshops too.

“When I spoke with other women in similar roles many asked for advice on what they should be doing. Some people even asked me to come to their farm and set things up for them. I didn’t have time for that, so instead I supported the need to bring some workshops to our Mid North region that anyone could attend. I just wanted to help show that there’s great information out there if you’re willing to go along to the sessions,” Rachael says.

“Mark will say how thankful he is that I went to that first WoTL workshop and started us down this path. We joke now about how I don’t think I could replace myself on the farm because there’s no one who could take on the roles I do…just yet!

“We just figure if we can set this place up with all the right systems and structures, then I can leave the farm in a good place for our kids one day if they choose to pursue it.”

Rachael also described how lucky she was that Mark’s parents were organised and prepared for succession and open minded to the new generation to come in and make changes in line with new farming business practices.

Above: Rachael and Mark at a professional development session.

Extending the impact 

She also talked about the legacy of WoTL training in the Mid-North area. She believes it has been a catalyst for creating a new women’s ag cohort, which comes together around once a month to share farming challenges, provide top quality speakers, share advice and support and work through some of the trickier topics that you can’t just ‘go and ask your next door neighbour’ about.

“I think this is the kind of impact that will improve our whole district’s understanding of farming best practice, and especially it shines a light on the areas that women have traditionally had to deal with on their own.”

“The ripple effect of programs like WoTL are invaluable. It helps people form relationships and support networks off the farm, which are critical to progressing this industry. The younger generation coming onto farms, particularly the young women can now see their role on the farm more clearly and with more respect and acknowledgement for the pivotal role they play in supporting farm business.”

So what is Rachel’s official title on the farm these days?

“There’s plenty of names we give each other, but I think for now we’ve settled on something like Farm Business Manager,” she says.