Roger Telfer: Australian Farm Albums
I’ve been farming for 35 years. After school I came home to the farm for a year to decide what I wanted to do. My dad had about 1,200 acres cleared back then and I helped him tidy up some of the new land. We cleared another 600 acres and bought merino sheep. Until then Dad was running beef cattle and only had a few sheep. We have developed our merino flock to produce high quality fine wool.
I never found anything that I wanted to do more than farming, so I stayed on. I did some courses through TAFE – welding and agricultural mechanics – and I travelled, including an overseas agricultural exchange in Minnesota. More study saw me earn a Diploma in Financial Management (Financial Planning) and a Cert III in Commercial Cooking!
Eventually my parents retired to the coast and I married a farm girl from further out. We have made a lovely home on the farm for our kids, and our eldest son is now home on the farm too. In recent years we have been re-fencing paddocks and doing some land conservation work in salt affected areas. I’m really proud of what I have achieved on our family farm.
Now that our children are growing up, and our son is home on the farm, I have cut back on my farming work which has allowed me to take a more active part in my wife’s photography business, and to support Australian Farm Albums.
