About Tractoring For Women
Tractoring For Women was born out of a simple need: to empower women in agriculture with practical tractor operation skills.
Our program was inspired by Lexi, a farmer who wanted to learn how to operate her farm’s tractors independently. We realized that many women in agriculture face similar challenges, and we decided to create a solution.
Our workshops are designed to provide hands-on, practical training in a supportive and inclusive environment. We believe in teaching participants everything they need to know and nothing they don’t, making our workshops efficient and effective
Our Mission At Tractoring For Women Is Threefold
To empower women to undertake farm operations with a tractor safely and with confidence, and to share this knowledge with their circle of influence at home.
To help meet the shortfall in experienced workforce across all agricultural industries, with a focus on peak periods and emergency response.
To provide a safe, inclusive, and empowering learning network of women to support their ongoing skill acquisition and development in this area.
What We Want To Achieve
At Tractoring For Women, we aim to make a difference in the agricultural industry. We want to reduce the number of tractor-related fatalities by providing comprehensive, hands-on training to women in agriculture. We also aim to help address the workforce shortage in the industry by empowering women with the skills they need to take on more active roles on the farm.
Ultimately, we envision a network of skilled, confident women who can support each other in their ongoing skill development and contribute to improved safety initiatives on farms.
About Belle Baker
Belle Baker grew up on a property near Lucindale in the South-East of South Australia. She loved working with the cattle and sheep and dreamed of a career on the land.
When it came time to go to Adelaide for boarding school, she threw herself into this new adventure with her characteristic fearless enthusiasm. Belle loved boarding school and life in the city, but realised how much she missed life on the family farm. Recognising that she wanted to have a foot in both worlds marked the beginning of Belle trying to balance where she wanted to be and what she wanted to do with her life.
Despite Belle’s love of working with livestock and her natural affinity with cattle, no one had expected, or planned, for her to want a career on the land.
When her Dad fell gravely ill, Belle had to step up and take on all of the extra duties on the farm. Her Brother was away working, so Belle had to get up to speed and keep everything under control overnight.
Until her Dad fell ill, Belle rarely drove the tractor. That role was always his domain; his responsibility. The tractor was a beast of a loader: old, not well suited to the tasks that had to be completed, and not a friendly machine to learn and use, even at the best of times.
Belle applied her fearless enthusiasm to learning to use the old loader, and despite some near misses, problems, and high pressure got the job done.
When the men folk realised that the farm needed a new tractor, they put their collective experience together and chose a new machine. There was only one problem: Belle was the person who was going to have to use the new and entirely unfamiliar machine, and her needs, wants, and experience hadn’t been taken into consideration while the decision was being made.
Out of these experiences, Belle’s passion for making sure that women learn to safely and effectively use machines on the farm was born. She didn’t want other women to have the unnecessarily uncomfortable learning curve that she had experienced, and she wanted them to be heard as valued participants when decisions needed to be made.
About Belle And Pods
Belle and Pods became life partners in 2017, as well as becoming business partners when they started Adelaide Hills & Fleurieu Farm Services.
Since then, they have purchased a property at Currency Creek and stocked it with cattle, and gained a lot of experience and qualifications to help them grow their business.
They have their own podcast, Adelaide Hills & Fleurieu Farmcast, and have produced droves of informative and entertaining content for people looking to understand what they need to do to safely and effectively live on a rural property.
While Belle is enthusiastic and effusive, and always has a lot to say, Pods is a quiet deep thinker, who tends not to speak until he has something definite to say. What they share is an absolute respect for each other’s knowledge and opinion, and a commitment to learning from each other and doing the right thing.
They love farming, working on the land, and helping people to thrive on their land. They want everyone to be able to work safely and effectively, and Tractoring For Women is how they want to make a difference.
Pods is as passionate about Tractoring for Women as Belle is — you just won’t hear him speak about it quite as often.
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