Ken is a 67-year-old dairy farmer who lives with his wife Margaret. They live on a
small farm in Western Victoria.
Though the farm was previously profitable, Ken and Margaret have had one of their
bleakest years to date. Ken has been forced to buy fodder to feed his cows due to
drought and dry conditions. The high cost of purchasing feed, as well as irrigation
water, coupled with falling milk prices has greatly affected the farm's margins.
Ken and Margaret would like to retire and move to the west coast to be closer to
their children, to do so means, reluctantly selling the family property that has been
struggling financially. They have limited investment funds set aside to support their
retirement and have been told it is unlikely that they would be successful in selling
their farm.
Ken also suffers chronic back pain from a previous farm injury. A neighbour has
become concerned about Ken's ability to cope with his property and has visited
Ken and Margaret several times due to problems with his stock and pasture
management. Margaret believes the farm is "too much for them now," but feels she
can't talk to Ken about this. Ken has become withdrawn and refuses to discuss the
issue. He talks about there being "no way out of this," and that it "might as well be
over." He sees his physician infrequently, having difficulty traveling the kilometres
to the nearby town.