Tom Haynes was born in 1948 to Clarrie and Dorothy Haynes, who had taken over the farming property run by Clarrie’s father, Tom, at Mywee.

Tom Snr and his wife, Lilian, originally came from Bearii with young Tom, named in honour of his grandfather who, years earlier, had purchased the Mywee Post Office and a farming property that was included as part of the sale.

Tom and sister Judith attended school at Mywee Primary, where their mum taught, before the siblings headed to Numurkah High School for their secondary education.

Tom possessed no desire to continue school after completing Year 9 and was to bid farewell to his formal education for a life on the land.

He just wanted to be a farmer like his dad!

Since the age of 14, Tom has spent his entire life working on the family farm.

Initially, he helped milk a small herd of 40 cross-bred dairy cows, rising each morning around 6am to help milk the herd before leaving for school.

At times, he had been permitted to steer the ute for his dad when he was just seven years old.

However, by the time he left school he had up-skilled and was capable of driving the farm ute, the tractor and slasher, even while too young to hold an official licence.

At the age of 12, the third-generation Haynes ‘farmer in training’ was given his first pony and from that day forward began a great love for horses, which became a long-time passion.

He loved them in any capacity, riding without a saddle, as a rodeo rider, breaking them in, as a trainer, a breeder and as an owner of several thoroughbreds that he raced with some success.

He said his first win was with Fair Sun, who won at Wodonga, Jerilderie and Corowa as well as a few seconds and thirds.

“I paid $400 for him and I guess got my money back, with a bit extra,” said Tom, who also had a number of other winners.

At the age of 18, Tom and some mates checked out a local rodeo and ‘caught the bug’ after indicating an interest in having a go!

They were, after all, young farmers prepared to try anything.

Tom said he had always looked at the horses and bulls and thought he should give it a go.

“It’s very different today! It’s professional and there’s big money involved. I started at 18 and finished when I was 24,” said Tom, who believed he had had enough by then.

“Some of my mates and I started in division two events riding steers, which was fun and not too difficult, and if we showed some talent and won prize money up to $400 we were put in a higher division and put on the bulls,” he said.

“We had to stay on for at least 10 seconds, then the siren would sound. Up until Easter each year we competed most weekends, sometimes at two events across South Australia, NSW and northern Victoria. We even went to Mt Isa and Cloncurry a couple of times.

“You needed a win every week if you hoped to make any money. Yet, it was about the thrill of the sport! A win would see you take home in the vicinity of $100 and would cost $2 to $3 to enter.”

Tom took on the job of breaking in young horses, and those left out in a paddock and rarely ridden.

He would take the horses for a month, working with each one for an hour each day, sometimes four at a time at his training facilities at Mywee.

From there he became a registered trainer, enjoying some success with his horses and those of his clients.

With the farm running smoothly, Tom secured a job with Murray Goulburn milk factory as a tanker driver. It certainly provided a more regular income than owning and training race horses.

He worked for MG for a period of 30 years and enjoyed the relationships he built with dairy farmers and the factory.

When he reached the age of 64, Tom had something of an epiphany that it was time to give up riding horses — and he purchased a quad bike.

It was the right decision, he discovered.

Today, the farmer still rides the quad bike and manages to get his chores done at a far greater pace than he did on horseback.

Over the years Tom and his dad, Clarrie, purchased additional land and today the property comprises 700 acres (283.28ha), which runs 70 heads of beef cattle producing 60 to 70 calves annually.

Now at the tender age of 77, Tom, while relatively fit, is easing back the workload and taking life a little easier.

Besides growing 100 acres of oats each year, irrigating and feeding and maintaining his beef cattle, life is relatively simple.

He enjoys occasionally getting out on the beaten track to places such as Casterton to watch working dogs compete, or to horse events and rodeos in Corryong and the high country in Omeo.

A country music fan, Tom has also travelled to Tamworth to get his fix of top performers in the industry.

As the third generation of the Haynes family on the property and the remaining owner, Tom feels he owes it to his father and grandfather to maintain and care for the farm, which has been worked by his family for more than a century.

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Sunday, 6th April 2025

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