Young Farmers Battle Loneliness by Starting Rockhampton Network

When Charlie Smith moved 1,000 kilometers from rural New South Wales to Rockhampton, he expected Australia's beef capital would have plenty of ways for young agriculture workers to meet. He was wrong.

The 20-something discovered that despite Rockhampton's reputation as an agricultural hub, young people in the industry had nowhere to connect professionally or socially. So he teamed up with two locals, Annie Ramm and Hannah Goodwin, to fix the problem themselves.

They launched Young Ag Network CQ in April with their first event at a local pub. Fifteen people showed up, including beef producers, cotton farmers, bankers, and lawyers, all connected to the agriculture industry.

"Everyone was pretty excited about having something that they could come to," Smith said. Some drove hours from neighboring towns just to attend.

For Makayla Bellwood, an agricultural property valuer who moved to central Queensland last year, the group transformed her experience. She had struggled to make friends and wanted to leave Rockhampton until she found the network.

"Now if I think I wanted to move away, I think straight away of these people that I've met and think, 'Oh well, I'd be sad to leave them,'" she said.

The Ripple Effect

The group's impact extends beyond friendship. University of Melbourne researcher Catherine Waite studies why young people leave agriculture and what makes them stay.

Her research shows that collegial relationships play a crucial role in retention, especially for people entering full-time work. When young workers can overcome isolation and build connections, they're far more likely to remain in the sector.

For Erin Goodwin, Hannah's sister, the networking events opened her eyes to career paths she never knew existed. "There's a lot of jobs out there that I didn't even know existed and it's really opened and expanded my horizons," she said.

Lilly Rehbein, a farmer from Bundaberg, drives four hours to attend the Rockhampton events. She arrived at the first meetup knowing nobody but left with a group of new friends who genuinely wanted to hear her story.

Rehbein noticed that her parents' generation found agricultural connections naturally through university and sports. Today's young people face more isolation, she believes, partly due to social media keeping them in smaller circles.

Ironically, the founders used social media to bring people together for real, face-to-face relationships. "Just having these conversations face to face, knowing, getting to know people, having a laugh, like it's way better than sitting at home on your phone," Hannah Goodwin said.

The trio plans to expand with more frequent events, including potential long lunches with guest speakers and an annual ball. They're encouraging young agriculture workers across Australia to start similar networks in their own regions.

Young Ag Network CQ proves that sometimes the best solution to loneliness is three people willing to gather their peers around a table.