In conversation
- Recorded
- 2012
- Length
- 37:21
“There's always opportunities out there if you can see them.”
About this conversation
Tim Wright tells The Story Project's Helen Wilkinson how, during the the 1950s Korean wool boom, an ingenious scheme of his father's helped pay for the family property.
Tim Wright shares some of the history and development of the Balala district in Uralla, one of the first settled areas in New England, NSW. Tim talks about the sheep herding history of Balala, of the original Balala homestead and buildings, and of some of the challenges the early settlers and Balala property owners faced. Tim's own property, Lana, was part of the original Balala holding until it was split up under the Soldier Settlement Scheme post-World War 1. Tim tells how his father took on Lana in 1942, of the early times and challenges at Lana, and how his father took advantage of the Korean wool boom at a time when sheep were dying off. Tim describes his father's role in introducing aerial superphosphate to the area, and how Tim, after taking over Lana in 1980, introduced a different approach to farming that looks at the land holistically. He describes the beginnings of Balala Landcare and his / Lana's role in its formation. Lana is now a showcase organic farm. Tim ends by describing the Balala community as it is now.