Glen & Cheryl Ford
The video story pretty much explains it all but I started out at 15 years old working in the railway industry but that didn’t last very long. I then, at 16 years of age, worked for our next-door neighbour on their farm and that’s when I was bitten by the bug. I was hooked on farming.
At 19 years old I spent a bit of time shearing – it’s definitely a young man’s game but it gave me a good understanding and appreciation of how this process influenced the quality of the wool in readiness for the next stage of processing.
Eventually, I went into partnership with my mother (after my father had passed away) on our small family farm of just 1,500 acres here in Williams.
Since then we have grown the property to some 14,000 acres. I now work with my eldest son on the property who will be the 4th generation of the Ford family.
My mother Dorothy Ford, or ‘Nanna Doll’ as we call her, has 32 grandchildren including great-grandchildren. Family is very important to me and I hope that one day one of these children will continue our legacy.
I am very proud to be a farmer and a wool grower and I am particularly proud of my family.
Q. What does it mean to you to know who is wearing your wool?
A. From the sheep’s back to the consumer’s back together we are creating jobs, growing and prospering.
Q. What would you like to say to the person wearing your wool?
A. I feel much more connected from the country to the city by knowing that someone is wearing and enjoying our wool and learning about our life in wool.