Crossing the Internal Frontiers - Agri-culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature - page 180

community and economy is under threat. Farming seems to get tougher
year on year, businesses struggle, children must travel further to school,
and existing associations seem somehow tired and inappropriate for the
challenges that modern society brings. Cotton is big on the Downs, but
it, too, is struggling against growing pest resistance and increasing
environmental degradation. However, farmers are beginning to get
organized to share ideas and practices for novel pest management, and
there are 350 families in the growers' association. There is some progress
towards sustainability. On the Jimbour Plain, Carl and Tina Graham
reflect on the changes, by saying: 'Ten years ago, if you saw your neighbour spraying,
we'd go out and do it, too.' Today, they are scouting the fields, using trap crops,
managing beneficial insects and using natural viral pesticides. They are
creating a mosaic landscape so that sorghum can build up parasites, or
lucerne can benefit the cotton. They know there is much to do, and say:
'We still have a lot of learning to do.'
But something else is changing, too, and it involves relations between
men and women in the farm community. On a blisteringly hot noontime,
I meet with the Women in Cotton group in Dalby. It is led by Catrina
Walton and has 60 members. They convened for the first time in 1997
to talk about the pesticides used in cotton cultivation. One says: 'We found
it so powerful, just to get us all together.' They meet once or twice a month,
sometimes for discussion, or to hear talks from external professionals of
their choice. They organize farm visits for several hundred children each
year. The benefits of the group seem to centre on two things. The first is
the value of the meetings. Says one member: 'You feel safe; you don't have to
tread carefully with your words.' Another member explains: 'Social networking is
one of the greatest things I get out of this group.'
The second, though, is more subtle, and this is about changed relations
within families. Women say that they did not know enough in the past
to ask sensible questions, and mothers tended to be pushed into the
background. But now there is greater understanding in families, improved
communications and more joint decision-making. One member says: 'It
makes for a better marriage.' Back at Jimbour, Carl says: 'When I come home from
the paddock I get asked heaps of questions, and we interact more.' Tina says: 'Women feel
more involved. Now I have ideas for improvement, and can answer questions.' The
women themselves are adding productive value to the system. They read
reports, help with marketing and learn about pests and predators. Men
tend to lack the social networks that women develop, and these networks
help to spread good practice and ideas. But it is not easy. One male
agronomist arrived at a recent meeting to give a talk and, in front of 50
women, said: 'Oh, so there's no one here yet.' Together, though, women and men
are slowly redesigning their farm systems, making them more sustainable