Dreams, Courage and Legacy in Farming with Fritz Bolten.
*This article mentions suicide and mental illness. If you are requiring assistance or needing someone to talk to, Lifeline is available on 13 11 14
“I've come to the realisation it can be quite toxic when you're trying to fulfil someone else's dream” - Fritz Bolten
Since the age of 11, Fritz Bolten, now Farmer and Nuffield Scholar, has called the remote Eastern Kimberley home. When he arrived in Australia, he was unable to speak a word of English and his family originally from Germany, would become first generation farmer’s in the Australian outback.
Fritz recalls the day he, along with his parents and two younger siblings arrived, as being a “complete and utter shock”,
“We walked off the plane 43 years ago. Early April, we had a bit of a sun shower…. I remember getting into a car and burning my legs because the seats were so hot. It was quite an adventure”
This welcoming was just the beginning of a new chapter in Fritz’s story, as his father set upon pursuing his dream of farming in Kununurra.
“It was his dream to develop these farms up here”
Photo credit: Image supplied Fritz Bolten.
However, life in the North wouldn’t turn out quite as the Bolten family had planned. His father endured mental illness and it would lead to him ultimately taking his own life.
The family would continue farming, with Fritz’s mother Frauke taking the reins while he furthered his secondary schooling in Perth.
“If there are people that are listening to this, that are feeling discouraged. Just be courageous and keep going. It can only get better.
And that's something that I really learned from our mother”.
“the courage I think still blows me away now, but she [Fritz’s mother] could have packed up, went back to Germany and had a pretty comfortable life there”
As Fritz returned home to the family farm, he realised the challenges that confronted him as they pursued a dream that wasn’t entirely his.
“I've come to the realisation to it can be quite quite toxic when you're trying to fulfil someone else's dream, or even finding a dream…”
Encouraging his children to pursue their own dreams, has created opportunities for themselves while Fritz has been able to pursue other ambitions, like his Nuffield Scholarship. It’s also lead to the realisation that some of the more manual tasks and operations can be better suited to other people like Operations Manager Aaron.
“I know that physically, I can't keep going the way I have been.
So I needed someone to step in and help me with taking the load and making the decision”.
“Aaron is a young farmer that wants to make decisions and is passionate about farming.
And so, to be giving him the opportunity, and being a part of that has been challenging, and extremely rewarding, and beautiful.
For both of us”.
“to have seen him make decisions that are better than mine is quite incredible.
But the level of trust that Aaron gives me, and that I give him is, I think to the level of Father, Son. So that's quite unique”.
Recalling his Nuffield Scholarship, Fritz took learnings from across the world that has supported his personal development, the growth of his business and a topic that he see’s as having great potential in his region as well as Northern Australia more broadly.
“I don't know, if it should be called a Nuffield Scholarship, it should be called an Nuffield network, or Nuffield family.
You become a part of this big family and I can ring anybody in the world and talk to them about challenges or joys or problems and, and they will respond to me at a whole different level because of this network that I've become a part of”..
“It's just pretty special… And I'd never thought I'd be part of that, or that I was in close to being good enough to doing.
And certainly when I was writing my report, I certainly didn't think I was good. Now I'm very dyslexic, and I struggled a lot.
But we got through”.
Listen to Fritz’s episode on your favourite podcast app, or below :
Photo credit: Images supplied by Fritz Bolten.
This episode is part of our partnership with Nuffield Australia. Over the next 12 months, we'll be sharing a variety of stories from different scholars, understanding their journeys, pathways and how their Nuffield Scholarship has helped shape their careers.
Nuffield Australia awards scholarships each year to farmers in Australia. The objective is to increase practical farming knowledge and management skills and techniques generally. These scholarships give Australian citizens the opportunity to study farming practices in New Zealand, Europe, Asia and the Americas and those countries best suited to the scholar. They will also promote a closer understanding between farmers in the countries visited.
Since 1951, Nuffield have been building capacity for producers, their businesses, industry and rural community. It's a learning opportunity, with business friendships formed with our approachable, global network. There are over 500 Nuffield Scholars in Australia and almost 2,000 worldwide.