RACHEL'S RETURN - 'I chose my farm OVER FAME'

LIFE ON THE LAND OFFERED THE ACTRESS A NEW PATH

From The Thorn Birds to On the Beach and Beautiful Kate, Rachel Ward has been conquering the big and small screens as both an actress and screenwriter since the ’70s.

However, these days the British-born, honorary Aussie, is on a far more important mission – shedding light on the importance of regenerative farming.

Her new documentary, Rachel’s Farm, follows the 65-year-old as she sets about regenerating her beef farm in NSW’s Nambucca Valley.

It might seem like a world away from her glamorous days as a Vogue favourite and muse of Andy Warhol, but the filmmaker has always been passionate about the environment.

“It’s really exciting to be excited about clover or a new species of grass. Suddenly cattle poo even becomes interesting,” jokes the mother of three.

An important wake-up call came in 2020, after Rachel watched the Black Summer bushfires rip right through a local forest neighbouring her property.

She was terrified. Not only for herself, but for her grandchildren and the future of the planet they would be inheriting.

“It was Mother Nature screaming at us, ‘Halt! This isn’t working,’” recalls Rachel. “Having my first grandchild at the time, that really brought it home. Seeing his innocence and wonder at everything around him … I was just thinking, ‘Bloody hell, what’s in store for you?’”