Healthy Minds Healthy Vines

We all get bogged sometimes, it's nothing to be ashamed of and getting a hand up when you need it can go a long way. Are you bogged mate? is all about helping country blokes talk about mental health and suicide while spreading awareness about depression in the bush.

Depression in the bush is a lot like getting bogged in the mud. It might have been just a sticky patch of the road or paddock where the vehicle stopped moving, maybe yo...

Working on the farm is hard enough on its own without having to really think about the business side of things, but neglecting your finances can get you into strife down the road. There's a lot to keep in check and it's hard know how to prepare for challenges no one can predict... Fire, flood, frost, hail and drought are just some of the hazards growers have to grapple with and it only takes one major event to throw everything off ...

Working on the farm is hard enough on its own without having to really think about the business side of things, but neglecting your finances can get you into strife down the road. There's a lot to keep in check and it's hard know how to prepare for challenges no one can predict... Fire, flood, frost, hail and drought are just some of the hazards growers have to grapple with and it only takes one major event to throw everything off ...

Adrian Hoffman is a born and bred Barossa native and fifth generation grape grower who's lived all his life on his family property. Dating all the way back to 1857, the Hoffmann family have been mixed farming the land, planting their first vines in the 1880's and moving into commerical grape growing. Having grown up in the 70's and 80's, witnessing a difficult period for Barossa growers, Adrian planned on becoming an engineer like ...

Trudie Stanley grew up on a farm in the Mid North and has spent the bulk of her career working in landcare and natural resource management in regional communities, including 15 years working in the Northern and Yorke region based at Clare. These days Trudie's in Adelaide, heading up PIRSA’s Recovery and Resilience team as the Family and Business Support Coordinator.

The Family and Business (FaB) Mentor service is available to those...

Lachy Allen is a second generation vigneron and a family owner of Barrister's Block Premium Wines. Lachy grew up on a farm in Naracoorte and went on to work for a decade in grain management before joining the family business in 2020. The Cuddlee Creek bushfire destroyed just about all of the crop at the family's Woodside vineyards when it tore through the Adelaide Hills in December 2019. In the wake of that devastating event, Lachy...

Dr Ian Zajac is a Senior Research Scientist at the CSIRO and Director of MensPsych Psychology Services in Adelaide, where he works as a Clinical Psychologist. Ian specialises in men’s mental health and has a unique insight to offer as a clinician, a researcher and someone with his own lived experience. Nine Aussies die by suicide every day and seven of them are blokes. Men have typically been known not to speak up about their menta...

Ash Keegan is CEO of Food and Beverage Australia Limited (FABAL) and with 1600 hectares of vineyards to oversee across 20 sites nationwide, you better believe he gets his steps in. After making his bones as a chiropractor, Ash unexpectedly found himself in viticulture and soon fell in the love with the industry, helping to develop Bantry Bay Vineyard Estate in Margaret River before moving to SA to join FABAL. Ash is big on putting ...

Tom Keelan has been in the grape game for more than two decades, but if you ask him, he'll tell ya, he's just getting started. Tom began as a grower, before a burning desire to take on the industry giants and fight for the little guys, saw he and wife, Rebecca Willson, launch their own wine label, The Pawn Wine Co. The Pawn is known for its handcrafted, small batch wines that proudly represent the ground they come from; the Adelaid...