Jenny Chambers

“Isolation is our Strength”

This week Carryn and Brendan travelled to the Chambers farm, 40kms north east of Ravensthorpe to chat with this very busy person. A Coffee with Jenny Chambers, Farmer, Community Champion, Mother of five, Grandmother of seven.

What was supposed to be a relaxed coffee was, in fact, us sitting at the kitchen bench asking questions while Jenny whipped up lunch for 9 adults and five energetic grandchildren.

Please tell us about your journey to the farm at Ravensthorpe

I grew up in York where my dad worked for CBH. I left Northam High School towards the end of year 12 to work at the Commonwealth Bank. Fortunately, I was allowed to go back to sit my exams at the end of the year.

At the bank I quickly created a niche writing personal loans for all my friends buying their first cars. Word got around. There were lots of new cars in York that year. My boss encouraged my interest in lending and found me a position in Esperance as a loans officer in a totally male-dominated field.

While in Esperance I met a strapping young bloke from somewhere out of Ravensthorpe. Andrew was one of 3 brothers clearing a new land farm, looking to expand away from their family farm.

We married in 1985 and I moved to the farm, sharing the workers’ quarters with the brothers, while Andrew built the house.

We moved into the house just before our first child was born.

Was farm life tough during that time?

It took five years for Andy and his brothers to clear the first farm. The boys worked off farm at times to provide an income. We also ran pigs to supplement our income, which was quite labour intensive.

In 1987, with a one year old in tow, we took a break from the farm and worked our way around Australia.

We purchased a second farm in 1992, still requiring some development, with bank and Vendor finance. Interest rates were extremely high in those years and, along with many of our peers, we had support through RAFCOR and the Commonwealth Development Bank which got us through the low yielding new land cropping years.

The business structure evolved from the boys being in partnership with their parents, to the three brothers farming together, then Andy and I farming with one of his brothers and his wife.

In 1996 we split the partnership again and Andy and I began farming on our own. The bank was not prepared to back us with both blocks of land, so we were financed by Elders. The Steiger was refinanced again for the third time.

We bought our third farm in 2005. Then with some of the kids indicating they would come home we purchased a fourth block in 2012, and fifth in 2015.

Andrew (centre) and his 2 brothers circa 1982

Tell us about your involvement in Ravensthorpe Community Groups?

I had an interest in land conservation and joined the Ravensthorpe LCDC in 1989. I was the treasurer for quite a few years, then project manager and Community Landcare Coordinator.

This group evolved into RAIN in 2001, the Ravensthorpe Agricultural Initiative Network.

At that time Ravensthorpe was a ‘black hole’ for Government services, agri services and agronomists. The RAIN Group brought the community together to share successes and failures. It was a forum for shared information, an ideas pot. ‘Our Isolation became our Strength’.

I was the RAIN executive officer for a few years, have mentored new staff and after 30 years’ involvement I am currently the secretary.

I have been involved in lots of other committees relating to the family’s age bracket and my interests including P&C, Pony Club, Community Resource Centre, the Community Centre and Regional Arts Council. I also sit on the board of the Ravensthorpe Hopetoun Future Fund.

I have been awarded Life Membership at two of these organisations.

I am also a Justice of the Peace. I have sat in court sessions, been involved in community policing and seen some interesting stories and some very vulnerable people.

Andrew has similarly been involved with Agcare, the footy club, RAIN, SEPWA , and the bushfire brigade.

What is your proudest achievement?

I was quite involved with the Ravensthorpe Community Centre during the time when it converted the old Commercial Hotel into a Community Building for all local volunteer organisations to meet, have events and seminars.

It has become a key community asset. Ravensthorpe still relies heavily on its volunteers and community groups, and this Community Centre is a great base for them.

The development of RAIN has been very important to me. In some ways the isolation that is often felt by farmers has become our biggest strength. It has made our community pull together because they had to, the distance made it too hard to go elsewhere for advice or help. Consequently, we have created an amazing network of farmers with great abilities and the desire to share the info.

It’s been a fun journey. We are now farming with three of our children. There are three generations all here now. There will certainly be challenges ahead with costs, markets and climate but we think they will be pretty resilient.