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13/02/2024
You can’t be what you can’t see, and South Australia’s Steph Arnold has spent her career advocating for a greater representation of women in the grains industry.
And while the gap is certainly closing, this former grain buyer now Rabobank Port Lincoln rural manager believes there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
“At the start of my career I’d often find myself as the only female on an industry crop walk – and there’d be no provisions for even the simplest of inclusive initiatives such as toilet breaks,” she explains. “Today I do see more women taking part in crop walks, maybe three or four, but it’s not nearly enough.”
Having forged her early career as a grain buyer for AWB, female colleagues were few.
“I would constantly think to myself ‘where are they? Why aren’t they here?’”
Inspired to encourage other women into the grains industry, Steph contributed her time to Women in Ag, providing women with grain trading courses, and was part of the inaugural Women Together Learning (WoTL) committee, assisting to deliver the inaugural Thriving Women Conference in Adelaide.
“This was an incredible event to be part of, the networking opportunities were phenomenal and WoTL has been a game-changer not only for females, but for the industry, helping women become more confident within the industry and realise career and personal pathways in rural Australia.”
While WoTL and the Thriving Women Conferences continue to go from strength to strength, Steph’s community endeavours have taken a back seat as she raises two young children, four-year-old daughter Marley and two and a half-year-old son Henry with husband Josh.
A new career supporting ag
More recently, Steph has had the opportunity to contribute to the industry in an exciting new capacity, as Rabobank’s Port Lincoln rural manager, joining the bank in July 2023.
“Working in the agribanking space has always been in the back of my mind, and when the opportunity arose I spoke to a few friends I know who work at Rabo and they all genuinely love their job, which is a huge endorsement.”
“Another important question I asked was, ‘Can I be a good mum, and be good at this job?’ – and the answer was a resounding ‘absolutely’!”
A keen ‘Annie’ fan, Steph laughs that her childhood dream was to work in an orphanage, and after high school she toyed with the idea of nursing. Now, she believes, her role as a rural manager fills that lifelong yearning to help people.
“I have family who went through a succession-based business transition, and I know first-hand how their Rabobank manager helped them. Personally I feel so grateful to Rabobank for this, and I would love to be able to provide that same sort of support to farming families.”
And while her banking learning curve has been steep, Steph’s expertise and existing relationships in the agricultural industry are already proving valuable assets in her new role.
Having worked on the Eyre Peninsula for the past ten years in a grain-buying capacity, this passionate ag professional is well-versed on the region, and its people.
“I’ve helped many local growers sell grain, so I know their business, I know what a good yield is, a bad yield, an average yield – and I know what a bad season looks like so I have a level of compassion that comes from years of agricultural experience.”
Admitting grain trading can be quite transactional, Steph is enjoying forming genuine relationships with clients – visiting them on farm and getting to know their businesses and their goals.
“As a grain buyer I had up to 400 clients, now I have significantly less but I’m busier than ever. Being an agribanking manager is a privilege, and forming those personal relationships a real pleasure – our farmers are proud of what they’re doing, they want to take the time to show me, help me understand their vision and be part of their business, which is so exciting.”
A long way from cotton country
Growing up on a small cattle property in the Dalby region – a cotton-producing heartland – Steph worked in administration for Queensland Cotton and Better Blend Stockfeeds before studying a Bachelor of Agribusiness at the University of Queensland’s Gatton campus.
“My game plan was to work in the cotton industry, buying cotton or perhaps even a stockfeed salesperson in the beef industry.”
“In my mind I thought once you had a company car and could travel and stay in motels, that’s when you’d really made it!”
Yet with her graduation coinciding with three years of drought, job options in the cotton industry were few.
“I went to a career fair and applied for the AWB grad program, which proved to be a fateful decision! I did 18 months of placements in Toowoomba, Narrabri and Melbourne however with the continuing drought AWB also had limited job opportunities.”
With only two AWB employment options after her grad program finished, Perth and Port Lincoln - both far from home and in regions where she knew no one – Steph made the brave decision to move to Port Lincoln to pursue her career.
“I had great respect for AWB’s Craig Povey, and in Port Lincoln I knew I would be working under him, and that it would be really valuable – he was a wealth of knowledge which I will always be grateful for.”
“However I’d never even been to South Australia before, I was working with two men in their mid-40s and I’d just had an ACL reconstruction so couldn’t play sport – I felt a bit doomed making any friends!”
She needn’t have worried, bubbly and can-do, Steph was soon immersed in the community – largely thanks to the Young Tradespeople and Professional Committee (YTAP), a networking platform for young local professionals.
It was here that she met her now husband, and her three-year plan went out the window – much to her mother’s dismay!
Port Lincoln is now well and truly home, and she beams that there’s nowhere else she’d prefer to be raising her family.
“We have a 12 hectare block with cattle and sheep, the kids can be on motorbikes in the morning and launching the boat into Coffin Bay in the afternoon – it’s the best of both worlds, plus I get to work with farmers every day, helping them achieve their goals.”
“I was so disappointed when AWB didn’t have a job for me in Queensland after my grad program, but now I’m forever grateful my path led to Port Lincoln – life has a funny way of working out.”