006: Why Is That Tree Blue?
In this episode, host Merle Massie sits down with Kendall Whyte, the Australian founder of the Blue Tree Project. Kendall’s brother Jayden pulled off a cheeky prank on the family’s sheep farm: he and his friend painted a dead tree bright blue, then waited to see if their father noticed. Today, that blue tree has grown into a powerful symbol for mental health in rural and remote communities around the world.
Note: This episode discusses suicide and its impact on families and communities. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out for support. Suicide Crisis Help Line: call 9‑8‑8, text 9‑8‑8, or visit 988.ca or contact the National Farmer Crisis Line: call 1‑866‑327‑6701 (1‑866‑FARMS01)
When Jayden Whyte died by suicide in 2018, the cheeky story of the blue tree, shared during the funeral, prompted first one friend, then another, to pull out the blue paint. Soon, that shared energy became the Blue Tree Project, turning grief into hope and action, lightness and fun, and opening big conversations.
The simple, hands‑on act of grabbing a few friends, firing up the barbecue, and slapping bright blue paint on a dead tree (or a stump, a power pole, or an old bit of machinery) opens up real, honest conversations about how people are actually doing. Kendall Whyte says the blue trees act as a conversation starter, prompting families, friends and communities to ask, “Why is that tree blue?” then, talk about mental health.
Throughout the episode, Merle and Kendall draw a clear line between awareness and the need for real action. If you’ve ever looked at a dead tree or a junk pile and thought, “I should do something with that,” this episode may be the nudge you need to grab some blue paint, call a few friends, and use your own corner of the yard to start a life‑saving conversation. You can register your blue tree here, and use this link to spot the blue tree closest to you.
Even it’s not a blue tree, if you’ve built something cool on your farm, Merle wants to hear about it. Whether you have created something silly, fun, joyful, or simply a place that brings people together on your land, send your e-mail or audio story to feedback@domore.ag.
We’ve included the full transcript below.
Podcast Transcript: Why Is That Tree Blue?
Merle Massie 0:01
Hey, hello, welcome back. I'm Merle Massie, come on in.
Today on Hay Are We Okay? We travel down under to bring you a story from a sheep farm in Western Australia. This story starts when a couple of kids were supposed to be sorting through rubbish. Instead, they found a can of blue paint.
Kendall Whyte 0:29
He painted this blue tree with a friend of his, randomly, after finding some tin of paint in the workshop, thinking, well, can't chuck this out. What are we going to do? And of all the things, he painted a blue tree as a practical joke, like wondering how long it would be until Dad noticed this blue tree that was painted at our metal dock.
Merle Massie 0:52
That blue tree branched out into a movement for mental health in rural communities. So if you've ever thought, yeah, I care about this mental health stuff, but I don't know what to do. Stay with us because you a few friends and a few cans of blue paint could have a bigger impact than you think.
Hi, I'm Merle Massie. I'm the Executive Director of the Do More Agriculture Foundation. We help farmers and rural communities cultivate a culture of connection for mental health. And you know what? I'm also a farmer.
In the summer of 2025 I was at Ag In Motion. For those of you who don't know, Ag In Motion is a large outdoor farm Show held just outside of Saskatoon, outside a little small town called Langham. And it's multiple acres of machinery and people. There are streets, there's people movers, there's, there's stuff going on everywhere. There's massive, massive pieces of machinery. And I stopped as I was walking up and down and enjoying the sights and sounds. And I stopped to take a look at a really cool piece of machinery. And I got talking to the guy who was there selling the machinery, and I could hear, as soon as he started to talk, that he was Australian. And he said, What do you do? And I said, Well, I'm the Executive Director of the Do More Agriculture Foundation. We do mental health and agriculture. He goes, Oh, mental health and agriculture. Have you heard about the Blue Tree Project? And I said no, but now I'm going to go and find out more about it, and I'm so excited. With me today is Kendall Whyte, who is the creator of the Blue Tree Project. Welcome Kendall to the Hay Are We Okay podcast?
Kendall Whyte 2:57
Hello. It's so, so exciting to be here.
Merle Massie 3:02
We're just delighted to have you. So we're recording this, it's eight o'clock in the evening in in Biggar, Saskatchewan, Canada. And Kendall, you are on the western side of Australia. What's the time where you are?
Kendall Whyte 3:15
So I'm in Perth, and the time is 10 a.m. So I've been at work for an hour or so just starting my day, and you're getting ready for bed.
Merle Massie 3:27
Perfect timing. That was our first job was to make sure that we found a time that worked for both of us. Tell us who is Kendall Whyte.
Kendall Whyte 3:35
Okay, so Kendall Whyte: I guess I am a 32 year old woman who grew up in the country of Western Australia and was fortunate enough to grow up in a small, close-knit farming town called Muckinbudin. And it's three and a half hours northeast of Perth. For those that know where Perth, the most isolated city in the world is. I love travel. I've been fortunate enough to travel to Canada many times and many places across the world. That's something I value very much. I find a lot of passion in the work that I'm doing, and I'm really excited to be able to share a bit more around that story and and the passion that I have in mental health, and particularly in regional areas,
Merle Massie 4:27
That is exactly where I want to go next. Tell me about the Blue Tree Project. Where did the idea first come from?
Kendall Whyte 4:36
Blue Tree Project is a mental health charity, and like many charities, sadly, Blue Tree Project started from tragedy. I lost my brother to suicide in 2018 um. He took his own life when he was 29. And the story of him painting a blue tree on our family farm in Mucka, as we call it, was one of the stories that was actually shared at his funeral. And the interesting thing is, I didn't know about this blue tree that Jayden had painted many years before we lost him -- as a practical joke! Like wondering how long it would be until Dad noticed this blue tree that was painted at our metal dump. So I'm sure all the farmers out there know what I'm talking about. We've got this, like, big granite rock where all the old truck shells and metal scrap heaps are piled up. And it's a place that we used to spend a lot of time growing up, actually fossicking around. And so he painted this blue tree with a friend of his, randomly, after finding some tin of paint in the workshop, thinking, well, can't chuck this out. What are we going to do? And of all the things, they painted a blue tree. So I like to sort of share that lightness to the story, that it was a practical joke. It was done with a special someone and as a bit of an act of mischief, which was so like my brother, like in his essence. And then hearing that story after really prompted, I guess, one of his best mates, to go out and paint a tree of his own, as a bit of a tribute. But also as a way to start the conversation in our close-knit community. So bit of context, Muckinbudin, I think there's all of 400 people now living in the town. So very small as you can imagine. Loss in communities like that has a really, really big ripple effect. So his best mate went out found the biggest, baddest tree that he could in his farm, which isn't too far from ours. And took him two days, I think it was 45 degrees here in WA it was just before Christmas, so very hot work. And he shared a photo on Facebook. And it was that photo that went viral online. And very quickly, what happened was we saw how it resonated with individuals online, and particularly those in regional areas. And before we knew it, we had photos of people who had gone off and painted their own trees and started sharing it in the comments section. So I think I saw how, how people were grasping on to this concept, and thought, wow, maybe there's something that we can do to try and stop other families from going through the pain and devastation that we can still do. And so I think what started as an Instagram page of me sharing these these photos and these stories has now sort of gone from a grassroots guerrilla movement and now a registered charity. We work across Australia nationally, and there are actually blue trees registered across the world now. And there's one on every continent. So it's quite incredible how quickly the project has grown in the seven years from its inception as an Instagram page now to what I would consider one of the more recognisable charities here in Australia, because we do have that visual symbol of the blue tree. So what has happened is people have taken the concept and because it's a practical hands-on activity, I think it's been very powerful in engaging a lot of male-dominated industries. And an awareness campaign has very quickly become a means of providing training, upskilling, free events for regional areas, and really trying to build that emotional intelligence in both our old dogs and our future generations as well.
Merle Massie 8:54
I think it is such a brilliant story, I would like to pause for a second. Tell me about your brother. Would love to meet him through you.
Kendall Whyte 9:04
Yeah. So Jayden was a very sort of free spirited individual. In fact, he loved Canada. He spent many years living there, and after we lost him, we actually went as a big family and some of his friends to Whistler to the snowboarding trip as a bit of a honourable sort of thing. There are 12 of us, and it was this really, really special trip, because my brother loves snowboarding. I wanted to give it a try. It's now something that I love and have been fortunate enough to travel around doing and yeah, he loved travelling also, and was very intelligent and very sensitive and just really lucky. He was such a beautiful older brother, like so me and my younger sister, we were just so lucky to have such a kind older brother. Like, I wouldn't really say there was any like conflict in particular, like he wasn't a bully to his younger sisters, like, we all got along really well. And, yeah, riding around the motorbikes and go karts and doing the sheep work. And there were just so many opportunities that, yeah, I really treasure.
Yeah, so we lost Jayden in November 2018. We were just starting harvest, and obviously that was the last thing that was on our minds at that time, and our community just absolutely rallied. And we had people bringing their headers and fill bins, chaser bins, trucks from far and wide. And everyone came to help us finish our harvest in a day. And it was just unreal scenes of seeing all the people come together to support us during that time when we needed it. Because it's just what country folk do. And I often share that story, saying it was seeing everyone coming together that made me realize that, yeah, we all can play a role and have an impact and make a change. So yeah, that's often something I share. And we've got, like, some photos of all the machinery on the farm, and yeah, it was very raw and something a very tough time of the year, generally for us. It's my brother's birthday next week, but we always go back to the farm. We have pizza and we, yeah, share some memories. So it's special be able to do that.
Merle Massie 11:51
And having your community rally around you and come and support you. That's that's exactly the kind of energy that we see in rural communities right across the world, yeah.
Kendall Whyte 12:03
And I think that's what rural communities do really well. Despite where they are. It's coming together when times get tough. And yeah, it's just what country folk do. It's yeah, it's really beautiful. And I feel very proud to be able to have grown up in a close-knit farming community where that does happen, because there's so many people in metro areas that just would never experience that,
Merle Massie 12:31
No, they've never seen it, and it's so precious and powerful. Thank you for sharing that story. So take me back into that moment where, where you know, you the first post. You listened to the story at Jayden's funeral, and then a friend went ahead and in his honour, made the first tree. And then, you know, it snowballed after that, and you set up this Instagram page. What do you think people were responding to? Why did it take off the way that it did?
Kendall Whyte 13:03
I think having a tangible symbol in mental health was so powerful because there are so many organizations that work in this space, charities that work in this space, who are doing fantastic work, but they're not front of mind. And I think Blue Tree Project allowed this opportunity for individuals to come together in a unique way for community painting days. So we've seen golf clubs, mining companies, kindergartens, retirement homes, you name it, all sorts of organisations and individuals getting involved, or maybe it's just a group of mates coming together, having a bit of a barbie in the paddock and painting a tree. So I think it's offered this really unique way to bring people together for a practical, hands-on activity, which we know is very cathartic. So there's something about once the paint brush starts rolling, the conversations sort of flow because you're busy. And I think we know men communicate best in that way. They don't sit across the table having a cup of tea. They need to be doing an activity to really open up side by side. So then there's also maybe sometimes the problem-solving element as well. So maybe they do need the machinery of the cherry pickers, or they're building a sculpture on site at one of the mining companies. So what goes on is you have this tangible symbol in place that then goes on to create more and more conversations. And I think that's what has been really powerful. Whilst individuals been travelling around Australia, they've seen the blue trees and sort of prompted. Why is that tree painted blue? And then all of a sudden, you're in the car and you're having conversations around mental health, which is really important. We hear so many families on road trips using it as a way to help build the emotional intelligence in their children, asking them how they're going if they feel overwhelmed or anxious. Or how to be kind to others and kind to our mind, because really, we're never too young to learn how to do that.
Merle Massie 15:10
I love that you're that you've created something that is physically tangible, that people can see and then that sparks the conversation. What have you heard families share with you? Or have you heard, has anyone shared with you that, that just having that conversation has has brought about a kind of change for them?
Kendall Whyte 15:30
Yeah, I think so. We have a register on our website, so if anyone's interested on seeing where the blue trees are, we have a map, and you can click in and see the locations.
Merle Massie 15:40
We will be linking those in our show notes.
Kendall Whyte 15:42
Oh, good. So we've, we've got lots of people that register share their stories, and yeah, it has been a really common story to hear families on road trips and talking with their kids. And maybe it's because you're all in a car, you're all facing forward once again, there's maybe some distractions. So it's not feeling too confronting, but people have opened up in that setting that has then, yeah, maybe alerted parents to information that they weren't really aware of. So there's those instances, and then I've seen it happen at community painting days as well. There's one particular one, obviously, in Western Australia, the mining resources sector is really big, so I've done lots of mine site visits and do workshops with them. And I remember doing a painting event, and biggest, burliest guy like came over, and I was surprised that he was joining, because he just looked like this rough character that you that wouldn't come and paint a tree. Basically, anyway, he came, got involved and started putting the paint on, and the conversation started flowing. And then he really just like broke down and started sharing these vulnerable stories. And I think that is what has been really powerful, once again, with the project, it's, it's given people an outlet and a safe space to open up in that environment, and we're all trained with Mental Health First Aid or have a counsellor there as well to help ensure that they are getting that support that they need at that time. But yeah, it's, it's really incredible to see how far and wide it has spread, because it's certainly not what I was expecting, and it's just incredible how people love seeing them like in Australia. I don't know if you have the game, but it's called Spotto. And yeah, it's like the new game when you're out on road trips, spotting the trees, and it's just that really unique thing
Merle Massie 17:45
That sounds like lots and lots of fun. I'd love to get my picture by some blue trees. I understand, though, that it doesn't necessarily have to be a tree? Tell me about the trees themselves, or or whatever it is that people have decided to to create, to be part of this project.
Kendall Whyte 18:06
So I think an important point to mention is these trees aren't memorials, although many of the people who get involved obviously have been touched by suicide or or losing loved ones or struggling with their mental health. And I think that's like every tree has its own story, but naturally, maybe there's not a dead tree that can be given a blue lease on life, as we say, in in the perfect location. So a lot of organizations, groups, schools, have taken it upon themselves to take the concept and make it work in their environment. Whether that's painting a mural, doing window decals, building sculptures, the creativity of what people make work is so beautiful as well. Like I love seeing the concepts that people have taken on board made it work in their environment. Whether it's a potted tree in their office, it's, yeah, it's the possibilities are endless.
Merle Massie 19:07
What are your top three wild and crazy versions of trees?
Kendall Whyte 19:12
There was this one that was built in a country town, and it's a tree that was fabricated, and they have basketball hoops on the ends of the branches, and it's, it's at the kids playground. So not only are we bringing the mental health messaging into play, like the hoops doing it together, it's just beautiful crossover. So I loved that concept. There's also some, yeah, mining companies that have fabricated sculptures from old mining equipment and using that. Which I think is amazing. It's so funny. It's almost like a competition between all the companies, of like, who can have the biggest, heaviest, tallest, most cyclone- proof trees. So that's always funny watching that play out. And then I love this story from a kindergarten here in Australia, Bondi. They painted a stump in their school yard. And they communicated to the children that if you're ever feeling sad or lonely upset, you can sit on the stump. And if you ever see anyone sitting on that stump, you have to go up and you have to ask if they're okay, or you have to go and tell a teacher if you see someone sitting on there. So once again, it's building that emotional intelligence from a really young age. If someone's not quite feeling well, they're being bullied, or they're feeling lonely or upset, they can make that known, and they can communicate that, and they can get the support that they need. So I think that's a really powerful example as well.
Merle Massie 20:51
So this grew from the Instagram, and it's grown. It's now a national and international charitable project. There are trees, as you said, all over the world and some on every continent. How did this grow even, even sort of through covid and the worldwide pandemic and things that happened there, how did you navigate that and come out the other side?
Kendall Whyte 21:15
So I'm not sure if anyone really knew, because there was a lot going on in everyone's own countries, but here in Australia, Western Australia blocked itself off to the rest of Australia. And we were living in our own secluded world. We were still travelling as normal. We were doing everything as normal, because, once again, being the most isolated city, I guess, maybe, had its perks in that instance. And so we shut ourselves off to literally the whole world, and were living very normally for a long portion of time. So what happened is, everybody invested in caravans and camping equipment. We've got a giant state, and everybody went travelling within their own state. And what happened is, in those early stages, everyone was seeing the trees on their travels, and it was prompting those conversations more and more, why? What's going on with these blue trees? Because that was still very early on in our charity sort of journey. And then obviously, naturally, it did get to us and impacted us, just like many people in the world. And mental health became a topic that was very, very important. So it almost acted as this incubator.
Merle Massie 22:26
Brilliant work. I love that, you know, turning what we often think of as a problematic time in our recent history, as, became an opportunity for incredible growth and incubation. So that's a, that's an amazing story. How do you see the Blue Tree Project growing across the world?
Kendall Whyte 22:47
I'm going to be very honest here. I'm so bad at the bigger picture thinking! We were very mindful of not just being another awareness campaign, that has a certain day that you bring out the cupcakes. All that's definitely not us, and we're very much boots on the ground, place-based and community-led initiatives is is something that's really important to us, and I guess I'll speak to our regional outreach. We were lucky enough to secure some government funding where we used it as a pilot programme to show the way that we're doing things differently is actually working, and getting to, getting in front of older men in regional areas who typically don't uptake on services and support. So we go and we do post-footy training chats, we host barbecue nights or steak nights, quiz events, live music at the pub. So we are going to the places that are safe for individuals and incorporating the mental health messaging subtly and building that trusted relationship. But we don't want to just blow in and blow out of towns as well, because that's something that's really important for regional communities. So we actually go back and give free mental health training to what we say, upskill local champions and create the support layer that otherwise wouldn't exist. Because, like, you have to travel hours to see any kind of professional support and seek that. So if we can create a peer support system in the community, then that's that's really powerful in a first step in the prevention space. So, yeah.
Merle Massie 24:30
That's what I'm seeing, is that people still have that I don't know what to do, I don't know what to say, I don't know how to fix it, I don't know how to help. I'm not qualified, right? You know? And I'm like, Okay, you're, you're, you are qualified you. And we can help you become more qualified, yeah, and just increase your confidence and courage, absolutely.
Kendall Whyte 24:51
And I think that's something we noticed on our regional tour. And off the back of that, we created a help directory, and it lists all of the services that are around. Because we were really surprised with the lack of knowledge of what support services there are. Because I think often you have the big conglomerates, as I call them, that everyone knows the big help lines and stuff. But there's so many organisations that are smaller, doing incredible work, and we were just handing these out like candy. A nd they've been so popular now that we've just continued printing them and continued handing them out. So that's been something that's really powerful, taking our knowledge in this space, and then we've also built in an action plan at the end.
Merle Massie 25:32
That's what I love.
Kendall Whyte 25:33
Because obviously all the farmers, they're all doing, their their budgets and their, their cropping plans and all of that gets done, but there's nothing really factored in about well, what's your personal well being plan if life were to really go tits up, like, Who are you going to like? Where, where are you seeking that support? And I think once you start putting pen to paper and thinking about people who actually have the emotional toolkit to help you during that time, there might be some gaps. So that's when it's really important for people to go and have a look at what other services might be available that they can they can lean on if they are struggling. So yeah, really, so many learnings still.
Merle Massie 26:15
Can you talk to me about the difference that you see between awareness and action?
Kendall Whyte 26:21
Yes, so I think, like 90% of our prevention or intervention when it comes to mental health and suicide, is on the individual to make themselves known and to seek that support. And we know if people are struggling or having a mental health crisis, that's literally nearly impossible. So to have that expectation to if someone's struggling to reach out for support, is is ridiculous. So I think that's the approach that we take, is we have this community approach. Where we go into the footy club and because all the guys are going to be there anyway, all the guys go, and you're getting that whole group. If I were to go and try and host mental health training, I can guarantee most of those people in the footy training room are not going to be at that training but by the end of that footy training event, we've created the connections. We've shown that we're just humans pulling on the boots. Mental health doesn't have to be this scary topic. And it really changes the way that they engage with you. And so what we found is, once you build those trusted relationships, and we say hey, like we've kind of spoken about, like the bare minimum of what you might be able to do to support yourself and support your mates. If you want to actually learn a bit more, we've got this free training. It's half a day. Why don't you all sign up? And then they all do, and then we get to go back into those towns and be able to upskill them. So it's about going to those spaces that are safe. And we're the ones feeling uncomfortable going into those safer spaces. Not me, because I grew up in country town and footy was like the social fabric every weekend. It's just sport is what everyone does all the time as their social concept. So that was very comfortable for me. But for a lot of organisations that are very government or clinically-led, they would feel uncomfortable in those environments, and they wouldn't even like entertain doing a regional tour to engage people that way. They simply will put on some training, hoping people are going to sign up with an organization that they've maybe never heard of. So yeah, I think that's what puts us in a unique place in that sense. And yeah, we host some really fun events, hahaha.
Merle Massie 28:42
if someone's listening to this podcast, Kendall, and they get really excited, 'I've got paint, I've got a dead tree, I can do this!' Or I've got a community, whatever it is and all, and they're listening. What do you want them to do next?
Kendall Whyte 28:58
So we really encourage people to lead the way in their communities and be advocates for mental health. We all play a role in helping build a more mentally healthy future. Ultimately, it comes down to our family units, our friendship groups and us being responsible for our well-being. So we all play a role in helping certainly build a future that's worth living for. And I guess if anyone is wanting to get involved with the project, we would love to have more trees over in Canada! And everywhere else. You can obviously, if it's your private land and you've got a dead tree, you can go and paint that. Absolutely! Nothing's stopping you from doing that. We really encourage you to rally your mates, have a barbecue, make a little bit of an event of it, and get people together, maybe share a bit about the story and how the origins have come to be. And that reminder that every time you drive past this blue tree, use it as that reminder to check in with yourself, check in with a mate who you maybe haven't heard from in a little while and your loved ones. So yeah, I don't take for granted how it takes so many other individuals to help us make the project what it is. It's the people going out there and buying the paint and getting their friends and family involved. That helps us spread our cause and mission worldwide. So super grateful for anyone that might be wanting to get involved. And our website has so much information around how you can do that, and we'd love to have them registered as well.
Merle Massie 30:33
How do people register their tree, if they've made one?
Kendall Whyte 30:37
You can head to our website, and we've just got a form that you can fill out. You can attach photos even, and, yeah, share a little bit about what the tree means or how you came to be involved. And we've got a really beautiful following on social media. And I encourage you to give us a follow and have a look at all the trees that are popping up right across the world.
Merle Massie 30:57
I love it. What a great vision. Kendall, any final thoughts?
Kendall Whyte 31:04
If you are listening to this and you are feeling a little bit emotionally exhausted or burnt out, please make sure you know that help isn't as far away as it maybe might seem. I feel like this time of the year, everyone's sort of really running on empty, almost. And I really encourage them to carve out time for themselves, because I think we live in such a fast-paced world now, it's actually not sustainable for us as humans to keep up with it. So please be proactive about your well being and carve out that time for yourself. Prioritize it and be transparent about it. Because I know, yeah, I know. I share my story, not to share pain, but to share the hope.
Merle Massie 31:51
Sharing hope is exactly what the Hay Are We Okay? podcast is all about. It's about recognizing and celebrating that community is absolutely part of we are all part of the solution. That it is not just up to an individual, particularly an individual, as you said, Kendall, an individual who's maybe not feeling particularly well. They're in, they're not feeling well enough to go and reach out for help. It's one of the hardest things they can do is to reach out for help. So that's where we as community members and friends and relations and cousins and siblings and everyone can come together and wrap ourselves around each other and walk each other home.
Kendall Whyte 32:29
Amazing. Well, thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure. And yeah, I really until next time,
Merle Massie 32:35
it's been a pleasure to chat with you as well. Thank you so much for coming on the Hay Are We Okay?Podcast.
Kendall Whyte 32:40
Thank you. It's been such a pleasure.
Merle Massie 32:47
Kendall Whyte is the founder and the CEO of the Blue Tree Project. I'll put a link to it in our show notes and a link to that world map of blue trees.
If you're thinking, I've got blue paint, I've got a dead tree. This is your sign1 Invite some friends over. Channel your inner Australian. Fire up the barbecue, bring munchies, bring drinks, and crack open that blue paint. Maybe you've got a dead tree, or maybe you've got a dead piece of equipment or even a power pole. Paint it blue, register it on the map. And when you see a blue tree in the wild, and there are many around the world, take that gentle nudge and check in with yourself, or maybe check in with someone else that you haven't heard from in a while. Because, like Kendall said, it is incredibly hard to reach out when you're not feeling well. That's where we as friends, family, neighbours, as farming communities, that's where we have to step up and ask Hay Are We Okay?
Farming is not easy, but there are so many reasons we stick with it. One of them is the freedom and the ridiculousness and the fun.
Rob Stone 34:27
Hi everyone, Rob stone here. And we farm just a mile north of Davidson, just in the shadow of Western Sales.
Joe Stone 34:36
I'm Joe Stone. I'm Rob Stone's son. I'm a grade 10 student at Davidson school. I'm 15 years old.
Rob Stone 34:42
We recently sent Merle a copy of the Farm Present, which is a newsletter, uh, newspaper that Joe and his brother Ben have been doing for some time now.
Joe Stone 34:54
Yeah. So I started the paper in 2020, kind of as a Covid project. I was just kind of bored and just wanted something fun to do. And I enjoy writing. So the, and that was the time when we were putting up our new shop, so I kind of wanted to write about that. And it I started as a daily paper, but there's not a whole lot that happens. So it's kind of been going monthly, and now it's a quarterly paper, and
Rob Stone 35:21
I really appreciate his contributions in in the paper. I've seen his writing improve over the years. It's kind of a family project. Donna does the, puts in the word jumble, and Ben does the comic strip. And we have paper subscribers as well as E subscribers to this. And the Farm Present has made its way from here to right under the Federal Minister of Agriculture's desk when we had the opportunity to hand-deliver it to him last summer when they were visiting as a part of some other engagements. So really proud of my boys, and we're proud of watching all of the, all of the development in it,
Joe Stone 35:55
Yeah so basically, it serves as, like a kind of cool record for the farm too. And I just enjoy writing about what's happening here, and it helps me learn a lot. When I question my dad about what's happening and then I get to write about it.
Rob Stone 36:11
I really appreciate his interviewing style too. It really does feel like a legit interview. You sit down and Joe's got a lot of questions that he's ready to, ready to ask. One of the most prepared interviews that I've ever had. I'm not a media mogul by any means, but I've done a few interviews, and certainly some of my favourite interviews are for the Farm Present. Okay, so thanks, Merle and you guys. Have a great day.
Merle Massie 36:34
Over to you. What do you do, just for fun on your farm? What have you built? What have you created on your land? Just for the heck of it, grab your phone, hit your voice recorder and send your story to feedback at Do More dot Ag. This applies to your friends too. If you know someone who's built something cool on their farm, I want the details. Send that story to feedback at domore.ag. Hay Are We Okay? Is brought to you by the Do More Agriculture Foundation, with generous support from the Agco Foundation. To learn more about what we do, visit domore.ag , follow us on socials, sign up for our newsletter. And if you think more people should hear this, share it or better yet, give this podcast a review. Together, we can build a culture where we ask Hay, Are We Okay? Because together is a good place to be. I'm Merle Massie, thanks for listening. Take care.