Episode Two: Lucerne, Books & One Resilient Farmer with Doug Avery

This episode contains content that may be hard for some people to listen to. It covers topics around mental health and depression. 

In 1999 Doug Avery was in a bad way. 

The Marlborough sheep and beef farmer was barely coping, personally and financially, after his local area encountered eight years of straight drought. It wasn't a case of overnight success with Doug, but fast forward to today and he will tell you the last 20 years have made all of the challenges worth it. 

Heading to a lucerne field day in Canterbury back in the late 1990's, Doug thought he knew everything there was to know about lucerne management. He left that field day not only with new ideas surrounding lucerne management, but with reborn hope. Doug headed home to his wife that night where he began to rebuild their dream.

What Doug found inside himself was a true resilience. An attitude and approach to life everyone needs to hear.  

In 2017, Doug wrote his first book 'The Resilient Farmer' as a way to reach out to fellow farmers who were going through tough times. Book #2 is due out July 2022 -  so watch this space!

If you would like to contact Doug about anything we talked about on todays episode, you can email him on doug@resilientfarmer.co.nz or find him on Facebook @dougavery.resilientfarmer or you'll be able to find Dougs information on our instagram @breadandbutterpodcast.  I also highly recommend reading Doug's book 'The Resilient Farmer' - available at most leading bookstores or online. 

Thank you again for listening in today, your support doesn't go unnoticed. 

Until next time, 
Mel x