Submitted by Dervla Doherty on the 2020 winter session program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Animal and Food Sciences…
My visit to the Acheron Station with Scott McFadden was extremely educational and I am so thankful that I got the chance to learn from him and how he manages to succeed in the hill country with no irrigation. I was a little starstruck when meeting him and it was great to experience the same positive energy that I had already seen in the documentary about the Hurunui River and Country Calendar. One of the things that struck me the most about meeting Scott was that he seemed genuinely happy to have us there and he actually appreciated the questions that we asked him. He told me when we were getting ready to depart that he loved having us come and challenge him because it then allows him to mull over the answers he gave us and allows him to possibly come up with some new ideas or improvements for the farm. Meeting Scott McFadden was additionally a great privilege because he was one of the only farmers that talked so openly about mental health. I had never thought about the mental challenges that farming could have on a person. However, after seeing how dry the lands on the high country could get, I got a glimpse of the stress that farmers can face during every season. Scott shared that when running his wool press business he started bringing lollies to farmers which lead to two of them bursting into tears. I have so much admiration for Scott because he demonstrated that helping others overcome these mental challenges could be as easy as giving them candy and having a chat about their struggles. I was so thankful that I could meet Scott because he talked so much about how living a life of good vibes in a holistic manner can just take pressure off of life. Meeting Scott McFadden opened my eyes to the real challenges faced by farmers and he has really shown me that living simply and talking with others can be the key to working with what you love and being happy while doing it.