Post-harvest get-together ticks all the boxes
Module Overview
Te Puke kiwifruit industry contractor Stephen Crossan recently organised a day’s clay bird shooting to give local growers a break from the busyness of a booming industry.
These are heady times for Kiwifruit with record commodity prices, export volumes and ambitious plans for growth. Rather than just barrel on to the next task, kiwifruit spraying contractor Stephen Crossan, decided to organise a post-harvest catch-up to celebrate the hard work and enjoy a little downtime.
“We’ve had a bit of rain here so it was a longer harvest than usual. If you didn’t celebrate these things, it’d be possible to just keep on flogging yourself. People finish the harvest and all of a sudden they’ve got three more months of hard work in the cold ahead of them. That’s what people often do, so I thought let’s stop for a moment, celebrate the end of harvest and come together.”
Stephen is part of a growing network of farmers and growers who advocate on behalf of nationwide rural wellbeing programme Farmstrong and organise events to designed to boost the wellbeing and resilience of their local community.
Stephen’s adopted Farmstrong’s Five Ways to Wellbeing – simple, daily habits that are proven to top up people’s wellbeing and help them deal with the pressures of life and work. One of them is regularly connecting with others, another is taking time to notice and appreciate the good in your day.
That was the logic behind the clay shooting and a barbecue he organised at Loaded, NZ’s largest clay target shooting field, in Te Puke. Stephen says the area’s pack houses and companies also got behind the event and over 50 people from throughout the industry came together for the day.
“Some people were experienced shooters and others hadn’t fired a gun before, but they still had a great time trying something new.”
Stephen’s a crack shot himself but spent a lot of his day on the barbecue and chatting to others. He also gave a short talk about why he’s part of Farmstrong.
Five Ways to Wellbeing
“I just wanted to get across the whole idea of the five ways of wellbeing. I explained how simple it is to make a little time each day to do the things that keep you well, whether it’s sitting down at lunchtime and enjoying the view, or going to a cafe on a rainy day and having a coffee or just taking a moment to check in on your thinking and reset mentally.”
“I’m a busy contractor and I can tell you that this stuff really does make a difference. The mental clarity that comes with it is unbelievable. For example, I just had my big break, four weeks off work, went to a different country, a different time zone so there was no way I could work, and I came back feeling refreshed and ready with some new ideas.”
“I want to be in this industry for the long haul. The prospects are very bright, so I need to be able sustain my energy levels and motivation for a long time.”
“We are very lucky here, our little town has become this booming hub, but there’s a lot of people who aren’t stopping to have a break because things are so profitable. I think sometimes the ups can be just challenging as the downs in an industry.”
“When there’s always another target, you keep moving the goalposts mentally and it can be hard to sleep at night. I’ve been a victim of that at times myself. We only have so many hours in a day and we’re constantly trying to maximise those, whether it’s pushing our bodies to the limit or our mind to the limit and so you lay in bed planning the next day and the next day and the next day after that. It’s the stuff of burnout. I’ve found you’ve got to cut yourself a bit of slack with the odd day or an afternoon off or even just an hour to grab a coffee with a mate.”
“That’s why I’ve got behind Farmstrong. I’m going on my own journey of wellness and mental health and it’s so rewarding, I’m figuring out stuff about myself every day which is good for me and my business.”
Stephen who also organises an annual cricket match between dairy farmers and growers says he has a blueprint for organising industry gatherings that is achievable for anyone.
“Things can be as big or as small as you want them to be. You just need a good idea and a few dedicated people behind it. I guess the shooting was the draw card but the barbecue and the beers at the end is the one to get people hanging around talking. Something like that ticks all the boxes in terms of wellbeing. This was our first time doing it and people are already looking forward to next year.”
The event was a break from routine for local growers and a chance to try their hand at something new.
Kiwifruit spraying contractor and Farmstrong champion Stephen Crossan cooking up a storm on the barbecue.
