Farming Challenges on the Acheron by Max

When we arrived at the Acheron, I could immediately tell that this farm visit would be much different than the farms we had visited prior. We met Scott McFadden and his partner Ange outside and they brought us into their home. We sat around their pool and Scott placed himself in the middle of the 40 of us. This conversation with Scott felt far more intimate than any of the prior conversations. On the other farms we spent a lot of time discussing things like sustainability practices, general farming principles, and land use. Scott really got into a lot of personal detail regarding both the physical and mental challenges that go along with being a farmer.

The challenges that Scott faces come from many different sources. The media in New Zealand portrays farmers as animal abusers and destroyers of rivers, making it extremely difficult to have pride in being a farmer. He talked to us about the importance of burnout and recognizing it before it becomes too much, and how to step back and stop yourself from  overworking yourself. Scott talked about how much of a struggle the past year has been for many farmers in New Zealand. Droughts have made it more difficult to grow enough food for sheep and cattle to eat which forced him to reduce the number of sheep that he takes care of. Despite doing this, the Acheron struggles to be profitable and Scott plans on selling the Acheron in the near future and hopefully retiring on a high note . Scott talked about how two farmers that he knew passed away last year, which he believes was due to the stress they were under while trying to keep their farms afloat.

Despite all of this Scott still finds farming at the Acheron to be extremely rewarding. He has a wool pressing business outside of the farm which he described as a good break from the animals. He also talked about how crushing it can feel when there is a lot of work to be done, but how much of a rush it is when all of that work is finished. Scott moves his sheep between paddocks on a motorbike which I can imagine adds to the fun of doing a job. I can see why he loves what he does after we walked to the top of one of the largest hills at the Acheron. I can't picture myself getting tired of that view either.


Scott McFadden and Max

The Acheron

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