A special bond: Russ Fowler and Molly the muster dog

There's a lot of benefits to having dogs when you’re working with livestock. It helps improve the wellbeing of the animals through their ability to handle stress. When we go to get the stock in the yards, they're very calm and collected.

And all that has little benefits, not only financially, but in the wellbeing of our animals. I think that's really where I see how my generation is embracing the importance of animal welfare and that there are benefits to that. 

I think it's important to showcase what farming is about, and the changes that we're doing, so that people from the cities and the urban community can get that understanding of agriculture.

I mean, Australia has for so long been a country where families had ties to the country, even if you lived in the city. And I think we've sort of lost that connection. You know, people don’t have that grandparent or uncle that has a farm that they can go out to during the holidays. So that's sort of been lost. 

So I hope that [the ABC show] Muster Dogs has done a really good way of showing people that connection and getting them involved and understanding about agriculture. The connection I have with Molly, and doing this stuff, it’s humbling. I'm not in it for myself, I'm in it for imparting that stuff on to people.

Farming is, yes it’s a business, but it's also a lifestyle. It’s hard work and it's long hours but you get that satisfaction at the end of the day, because you are a part of what you do and in the nature of it. Anyone that has a veggie garden knows that feeling, you put a plant in there, you water it, and then take it right through to eating it, and it’s very satisfying. 

What we do is just a bigger scale of satisfaction, to see our livestock and our crops go through that whole cycle every year. It's very satisfying. And I feel as though we're only on the edge of that. 

So it’s only going to evolve more as we get a better understanding of nature and what makes this area tick. The Aboriginals have got that really tapped in, they're probably more in tune in that aspect of it. They've really got a better understanding of that culture and that nature connection.