Farm Force

We are all aware of the challenges that farmers face to provide us with our food and fibre resources. We hear and see things on the news about the perils of bushfire, pests, drought and flood. These severe weather events and natural disasters impact rural communities through loss of production, loss of jobs and the cost of recovering from the damage they cause.

The ‘Farm Force’ Enviro-Stories program involves rural kids from the Hunter region learning about making their property more resilient to reduce the impacts of bushfire, pests, drought and flood. This will enable them to help their families prepare both now and, in the future, when they become the next generation of property managers.

The ‘Farm Force’ program will provide rural kids the opportunity to:

reflect on their experiences of bushfire, pests, drought and flood
learn about things that they and their families can do to prepare their property for the future, making them more resilient and lessening the impact of these disasters
express themselves through their stories and artwork to possibly contribute to an Enviro-Stories book
learn from their peers as the books created will become a resource for the community

An Introduction for Teachers

Farm Force and the Pillowcase Project

Students involved in Farm Force Enviro-Stories will write and illustrate a 15-page storybook about disaster resilience and preparedness supporting the Red Cross Pillowcase Project. This story will be made into an A5 school reader and the students will have the honour of becoming published authors. These books will be distributed to schools, libraries and throughout the wider community as a resource to help others learn about and deal with disaster.

Through the Pillowcase Project, the Red Cross works to reduce the psychosocial impacts of any disasters, the impacts on people’s wellbeing and their relationships with the people around them. The Red Cross work alongside communities to develop a shared understanding of their strengths, risks and role before, during and after a disaster.

The Pillowcase project creates opportunities for community members to connect and work together to develop locally appropriate, community-led activities to strengthen their resilience. This project is supported in the local area by Mission Australia, Mid Coast 4 Kids, Hunter Local Land Services, MidCoast Council and headspace Taree.

What do I have to do?

STEP 1: Download your Story Template.

Farm Force Story Template

STEP 2:Research disaster preparedness and resilience. This should be a combination of knowledge shared from the Pillowcase Project, utilising the resources on the Farm Force webpage and student’s own research.

STEP 3: Write and illustrate a 15-page story plus 1 cover page as outlined in the Story Template. Make sure you…

View our Hints and Tips about how to write a good Enviro-Stories book.
Check out Library to see how the books are laid out and the amount of text that has been used.
Check the story to ensure any scientific or technical details are accurate.
Check the spelling and grammar.

STEP 4: Fill in our evaluation form for TEACHERS and STUDENTS.

STEP 5: Send your story and original illustrations to:

Daniel Trudgeon
Hunter Local Land Services
PO Box 440
Taree NSW 2430

Other Farm Force information

Bushfire Battlers

Australia is a hot, dry continent so each year we live with the threat of bushfires throughout the warmer months. Farming families work hard to prepare their properties to try and protect their assets and limit the impact of fire.

The 2019/2020 bushfires were the most severe on record as they affected such large areas. Rural regions were hit hard with severe damage done to bushland, properties and community infra-structure. Sadly, some lives were lost of those who chose to defend their places and their communities.

After going through a traumatic experience like these fires an important step to recovery is to talk about and reflect on what happened.

We would like to hear from any school age kids about their experiences. We want their stories to contain information about:

Preparedness – What sort of things did your family do to try and prepare your property for the threat of bushfire? Were you given responsibilities during this time to help prepare your property? Are there things that your family are planning to do in the future to prepare for bushfire?

Reflection – Reflect on your experiences during the 2019/2020 bushfires. Was your property affected? How did you feel during this experience? Did you feel like you were informed about what was occurring?

Community – How did your community came together both during and after the bushfire crisis? Think of things like police, firefighters, ambulance, Red Cross, schools, volunteers, medical professionals, army reserve, fundraising, donations, special events, media, neighbours, families, veterinary assistance, livestock care, wildlife care and any other people who have helped support affected communities.

If you’re interested in creating a Bushfire Battlers book, please contact Daniel Trudgeon from Hunter Local Land Services on:

Phone: 0419 436 185
Email: daniel.trudgeon@lls.nsw.gov.au

Useful bushfire links

Websites and documents

Videos

Flood Fighters

Hunter Local Land Services will be working with local schools to help them gain a better understanding of how floods effect the region. In turn, they also wish to learn from the students by giving them a chance to reflect on recent floods and share their feelings and observations.

The ‘Flood Fighters’ Enviro-Stories program will give schools the opportunity to become published authors by writing and illustrating a book about their experiences with floods. These books will be then used a resource throughout the community to help educate others in the fight against floods.

If you’re interested in creating a Flood Fighters book, please contact Daniel Trudgeon from Hunter Local Land Services on:

Phone: 0419 436 185
Email: daniel.trudgeon@lls.nsw.gov.au

About floods in the Hunter region

The Hunter region is a diverse landscape that ranges from the dramatic escarpments and gorges of the Great Dividing Range, down to rich alluvial floodplains, lakes, foreshores and freshwater, estuarine and coastal environments. The region is abundant with life supporting rainforests, open woodlands, eucalypt forests, grassy plains, and wetlands.

The Hunter has good soils, a subtropical climate and abundant rainfall which support a wide range of industries, including farming, forestry, fishing, oyster farming, tourism, and nature-based recreation. Residential and commercial development also dominate the coastal fringe.

It is the availability of water, distributed through the many major rivers, creeks, lakes, and estuaries, that make the area so rich in natural resources and a fantastic place to live. This water, that brings life to us, can also at times be temperamental and floods are part of life throughout the Hunter.

Floods are a natural part of any river catchment with many animals, plants and their ecosystems relying on a diverse range of water flow heights and periods of being covered throughout different times of the year.

Unfortunately, floods can sometimes come into conflict with human interests as we have developed or use areas along our waterways. This has a major impact on our towns, farms and other infrastructure as floods can cause immense damage and cost millions of dollars to recover from.

Monitoring of our weather patterns is also showing that climate change is having an enormous effect on water, both in the Hunter region and throughout Australia and the rest of the world. We are experiencing more longer periods with no rain (drought) and more events of lots of rain (floods). High flood levels that previously occurred once in 20, 50 or 100 years are becoming more common place and therefore causing more and more damage. It is important that we learn from these events and take necessary precautions to try and minimise the effects of flood in the future.

Some of the ideas we would like the books to include are:

Preparedness – What sort of things did your family do to try and prepare your property for the threat of flood? Were you given responsibilities during this time to help prepare your property? Are there things that your family are planning to do in the future to prepare for floods?

Reflection – Reflect on your experiences during the 2021, 2015 or any other floods. Was your property affected? How did you feel during this experience? Did you feel like you were informed about what was occurring?

Community – How did your community came together both during and after the flood crisis? Think of things like police, ambulance, Red Cross, schools, SES, volunteers, medical professionals, army reserve, fundraising, donations, special events, media, neighbours, families, veterinary assistance, livestock care, wildlife care and any other people who have helped support affected communities.

Changing times – How is climate change altering flood patterns? Does this make it more challenging to manage the effects of floods in our community? What are some of the things that you think need to be done in the future to lessen the impact of flood?

Flood Fighters Story Template

Useful flood links

Weather on the go: Floods and Droughts
Is your property flood ready? A guide to making your property flood ready.
Hunter Local Land Services – Floods
Hunter Local Land Services – Planning and Preparing for floods
NSW State Emergency Service – Floods
Red Cross – Get Ready
Get Ready Animals
What I will do with my animals during an Emergency
Are you ready? Passport

Need some help?

For any questions please contact:

Daniel Trudgeon
Hunter Local Land Services
Based in Taree
Phone: 0419 436 185
Email: daniel.trudgeon@lls.nsw.gov.au

Peter Coleman
Enviro-Stories
Based in Victoria
Mobile: 0411 729 444
Email: admin@envirostories.com.au

This program is supported by NSW Local Land Services, Mission Australia, Australian Red Cross, MidCoast 4 Kids, Midcoast Council and Headspace Taree.