CHATSWORTH
HOUSE PASTORAL

The Whinneys run a mixed sheep and cattle operation on 2400 hectares at Chatsworth in western Victoria.

They, under the business name Chatsworth House Pastoral, run 12,000 composite ewes, breeding prime lambs for the domestic market, and trade up to 500 cattle a year

They are passionate about livestock and running a sustainable farm that doesn’t compromise the environment.

“A big focus for us is regenerating our landscape, and livestock are a good tool to allow us to do that through our grazing methods,” Mrs Whinney said.

But another big passion of theirs is farm safety, and last year they engaged in the Victorian Farmers Federation’s (VFF) Making our Farms Safer (MOFS) program to get expert insight into what they could improve on their farm to better protect themselves, their workers and any contractors that came onto the property.

“We’ve always had a focus on health and safety, we’ve been developing a work health and safety program over the last few years,” she said.

“We just saw the MOFS program as a great opportunity to make sure we were on the right track and to help us find any gaps in our systems and processes.”

As part of the MOFS program, the Whinneys had a visit to their farm from VFF Senior Farm Safety Advisor John Darcy.

“We did a walk around the farm, spending a bit of time in the workshops and wool shed, identifying any issues that may have been present,” she said.

“Then we sat down and just had a really good conversation about what we did, what the gaps were, and what we needed to focus on.”

Mr Whinney said the biggest learning from Mr Darcy’s visit was around increasing and improving consultation with staff and contractors.

“It’s all very well to have the latest safety gear, your high-vis shirts and things like that, but you can’t just assume that all your staff are confident and agree with certain procedures in place,” he said.

“We are very consistent now in having Monday morning tool box meetings, and each week, rather than just asking ‘does anyone have any incidents to report?’, we focus on a specific policy or procedure and see if there’s any way we can improve it.”

Mrs Whinney said at the end of the day, their main goal was to ensure that “everybody gets home safe”.

“People are our greatest asset, without them we can’t do anything, that’s why we’re really passionate about farm safety,” she said.

The Whinneys encouraged other farmers to get involved with the MOFS program.

“You can make small steps, you don’t have to change everything in one go,” Mr Whinney said.

To learn more about the Whinney family and  Chatworth House Pastoral, we encourage you to check out their website and social media pages listed below.

Facebook: @ChatsworthHousePastoral
Instagram: @chatsworthhousepastoral
Website: www.chatsworthhouse.com.au