STORIES WE LOVE
An older couple share farming with five aspiring farmers
By Sam Marwood
Story from Agriculture Victoria Young Farmers Network, 5 June 2026
Every now and then I find a story that shows exactly what we're about at Cultivate Farms: real people finding a way to keep a farm working and bring someone new onto it. I share them here because seeing it done by others makes it real. Here's one I love.
From Agriculture Victoria Young Farmers Network, 5 June 2026: "The Future of Agriculture: Share Farming Opportunities, The Gaudions Story" and "Young Farmers in Agriculture: Shayla Lister", by Zoe Tsenalidis. Read the full stories at extensionaus.com.au: the Gaudions story and Shayla Lister's story.
Why I love it
I love these stories because they show both ends of one share farm. A couple in Victoria's north central region own 4,000 acres of cropping and livestock country. Their three daughters have careers elsewhere, and he doesn't think any will take the farm on. So he's share farming with five separate people, two in cropping and three in livestock, and he hopes to own no livestock himself at 80.
The youngest began at 17. Where she works his cattle, she gets a quarter of the earnings and uses her own gear. Where he supplies the paddock, fences, feed and water and she supplies the stock, they split the profit evenly. She now owns a small mob of cattle. She says that without his help it couldn't have happened at her age, and she also took other work to pay her way.
Why it matters for towns like ours
Most of our districts have a farmer whose children live elsewhere, and an aspiring farmer with no land. A share farm puts them on the same paddock. He says a wage or a lease on its own can limit someone building a business, and that it works when you share the good years and the bad.
One step you could take
If your children aren't coming back, think about who already works beside you. Ask whether a share of the stock, not only a wage, could help them build a business of their own. Read how share farming works in our Ageing on Farm guide.
I share these stories because each one shows it can be done, by ordinary farming families, in places like yours. If you know a story like this, or you're living one, I'd love to hear it.