Twelve years ago, a trio of middle-aged farmers had a good hard look at themselves and weren’t happy with what they saw.

“We were all sort of finished playing footy, had a family,” Ben Wundersitz said.

“And, from 30 onwards, we just began to eat a bit of fast food, go to kids sport [and] lost our will for our own physical fitness.” 

The farmers, from Maitland on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula, decided to give the local gym a go.

“To be honest our wives were noticing that the three of us were all snoring so we were booked in for a sleep apnoea test and, at the end of mine, the doctor just said, basically, you need to lose some weight,” he said. 

“Eventually, I think we all stopped snoring and then we thought, ‘Well, wouldn’t it be good if we could get a few more people involved?’.” 

They held a breakfast barbecue to fire up some enthusiasm. It attracted about 20 mainly middle-aged farmers.

Since then, the South Australian rural health initiative has also spread to Victoria, benefiting almost 20 rural communities.

The group soon became known as the Fat Farmers, and the catchy, if not politically correct, name proved to be part of the appeal, says co-founder Greg Hean.

“One day, I came in years ago and I just yelled out, ‘Hey, f***ing fat farmers’, and it’s stuck,” he said.

 “So, I’ll claim it.”

Mr Wundersitz said they had considered changing the name.

“We’ve certainly been asked the question if we’d like to change the name maybe to Fit Farmers,” he said.

Push ups and saving lives

Behind the tongue-in-cheek name were some life-changing results for farmers like Cameron Ferguson.

“My fitness was probably non-existent, almost. I don’t even think I’d ever done a push-up before,” he said.

Mr Wundersitz  said he was also surprised to see the impact of the combination of exercise and mateship on farmers’ mental health.

“And, I think, that’s what really just keeps me inspired to keep pushing on.”

The mental health benefits were largely why Sam and Nicole Croser decided to help start a Fat Farmers group at Millicent, in South Australia’s south east, where farmers were dealing with one of the driest seasons in years.

A few years ago, Mr Croser was also struggling.

“I did reach a point where I pushed myself too hard and it was getting a bit much,” he said.

It showed him the toll life on the land could take when you didn’t take a breather.

“Some people are struggling at the moment, so I’m a little bit passionate about wanting to help my mates through that.”

‘Not our thing’

Some farmers Mr Croser contacted were reluctant to head to the gym for the weekly early morning class.

“If you had asked me a few years ago, I probably would have had the same response,” he said.

Someone who was up for the challenge immediately was Andrew Skeer, who had already overcome challenges in his life.

“My life changed dramatically, but it didn’t end.

“I’ll just gently attempt and have a go at anything I can try, even if the instructor says you mightn’t be able to do that.”

He’s learnt to skip, something he hadn’t done since he was 10.

For most of the Millicent Fat Farmers, the gym was a pleasant surprise with a mix of familiar skills like the appropriately named “farmer’s carry”, and less familiar exercises like boxing and stretching.