Ms Crutchley is a third-generation farmer on Puketoi Station near Ranfurly. A qualified agronomist from Lincoln University, she spent nearly six years working as a rural professional before coming home to the family farm.
Despite enjoying her childhood on the farm which is relatively remote, she found returning in her late 20s to be quite a culture shock.
"I had been away at boarding school, university and then lived in towns and central Wellington when I was working as an agronomist. It was actually really tough when I came home; trying to find my place and especially as a young female, the weekend sports on offer weren’t really what I was into."
Running had been a good outlet to keep her mental health in check but in recent times due to an injury she hadn’t been able to do that. "I have learnt the hard way you can’t just lean on physical activity as your one and only go-to thing, because when it goes you don’t have anything else to fall back on."
She started doing a lot of walking and yoga. "But there’s nothing quite like that feeling after a good run!"
With the pace of change happening in the rural industry, Ms Crutchley said it was no wonder farmers can sometimes feel angry, defeated and a sense of apathy towards the ever-increasing amount of policy and compliance.
"It’s easy to see where the negativity can start. Mindset is where I like to steer the conversation. It’s a choice how we decide to view the world, as glass half full or glass half empty. I look at the stuff I can control.
"But trying to think positively does not mean I’m ignoring the challenges; they are absolutely real and frightening but I find it helpful to categorise what I can influence and box up the stuff that I have no control over.
"Currently the only certainty is uncertainty, and everyone has a different level of comfort in that space. Empathy is really important. I also find it helpful knowing that as a human our brains can flick to the negative narrative easily, I try and recognise when that negative narrative is overwhelming me. I keep in check with what I read online and how it makes me feel."
Completing the Agri-Women’s Development Trust’s Escalator Programme last year was a boost for Ms Crutchley’s confidence in her own skill-set. "I guess some might have considered me quite a shy person. The course helped me believe in myself and find my lane, so to speak. It also connected me with like-minded women who I know will be life-long friends."
Her passion for advocacy in the rural sector, particularly in fresh water, climate change and biodiversity has led to "some pretty cool opportunities".
She became Otago arable chairwoman for Federated Farmers in May this year and was talking to Southern Rural Life while at the airport, returning home from Auckland where she had been speaking as a panellist at the Australia Pacific Extension Network (APEN) Symposium.
"My interest in the environmental policy and advocacy space has me jumping on Zoom webinars and reading papers just because I think I might learn something new, in turn I have connected with some really clever people who have the same passions."
As the sector has grappled with more compliance and policy, "some of it that is not quite right", there was an important role for rural woman and a wealth of transferable skills they bring to the sector, even if they are not a farming background, she said. But with that comes an added expectation they needed to know all of it at an intimate level.
"The truth is we don’t have to be all over everything. I don’t beat myself up if I am not all over a policy or if I’m not available to help on the farm. I know there are things that I can iterate to others and in turn I know that others will do the same. We have to work to our strengths and celebrate our successes, even the small wins."
Alongside journalling, making time to do things away from farming had also been key for Ms Crutchley’s own wellbeing. She has an "amazing" husband and two children to spend time with as well as friends and mentors.
"You have to find your tribe and feel like you belong, sometimes these people may not be in the same town but it’s about making an effort. Picking up the phone and checking in. I think we underestimated how important face-to-face contact was before Covid; getting back into the swing of social interactions sometimes takes a conscious effort ..."
Last summer Ms Crutchley attended a few ‘Surfing for Farmers’ days at Campbells Bay, in North Otago. "It was an hour and-a-half there, a few hours surfing, having a barbecue and a beer and then the drive back, and I can say it was absolutely brilliant. I will definitely be going again this year."
-Alice Scott
