Whanganui Young Farmers Club hosting free community dinner

Baylee Hodges (second from right) and other members of the Whanganui Young Farmers Club.

Rural people from across the Whanganui district have the chance to get together next month before crunch time hits farms.

A free dinner and catch-up at Kai Iwi Hall has been organised by the Whanganui Young Farmers Club.

Chairwoman Baylee Hodges said anyone in the community was welcome to come along.

The event was inspired by the recent Surfing for Farmers initiative which happened over the summer months, with farmers going out to the beach for a surf, a BBQ and a catch-up.

“This is about getting off farm, checking in with your mates and checking on yourself,” she said. “It’s making sure everyone is all good.

“In our line of work, sometimes you might not see many people during the week. It can be pretty isolated.”

Lambing and calving were fast approaching, she said.

“The weather is bad and there are bigger, tiring days. You do get a bit more down and a bit more worn out. They call it the tough season.”

Hodges, who won the inaugural Shepherd of the Year prize at this year’s Wairere Central Districts Red Meat Farm Business of the Year event, said the farming sector was feeling the effects of recent weather events.

“If you look over at Hawke’s Bay and their farming, they are really doing it tough,

“Last week’s weather caused some slips and flooding but that just happens.

“I wouldn’t say it’s easy at the moment. The prices aren’t good but we still carry on going, don’t we?”

Support for the event comes from Federated Farmers, the Whanganui Rural Community Board, the Ministry of Primary Industries and the Rural Support Trust.

“There’s even the local vet club. Everyone is pulled together and they have the same reasoning behind it,” Hodges said.

Whanganui Rural Community Board chairman David Wells said there had been a big push on the mental health aspects of farming and farmers.

“They (young farmers club) want to help with that by putting on this function,” Wells said. “As a board, we think that’s a very good idea and something we wanted to contribute to.

“We’ve seen some massive problems on the East Coast (post-Cyclone Gabrielle) but we’ve had events like that here in 2004 and 2015 and we’ve seen the benefit these sorts of functions can bring.”

Wells said the Surfing for Farmers events at Kai Iwi Beach in Whanganui last year were a huge success.

“Apparently, people were coming from everywhere. This (function) is following up on those sorts of situations, really. They are quite a motivated group, the Young Farmers.”

The board contributed $800 to the event through its Rural Community Grant Fund initiative.

The club, which caters to people aged between 17 and 31, meets up on the first Thursday of every month at Stellar.

Hodges said it was open to anyone who worked on the land.

“That could be growers, sheep and beef, shearers, dairy, cropping.

“Every month there is an event we’ll attend or we’ll do something as a club. If you get to that meeting on the Thursday, from 7pm onwards, you’ll find out all you need to know.”

The Whanganui Young Farmers dinner is on June 23 at the Kai Iwi Hall. It starts at 5.30pm.

The meal is free and the evening will feature a raffle and a speech from Taranaki dairy farmer Kane Brisco.

For more information on the club, go to www.facebook.com/whanganuiyfc