Nurse, midwife and 'apprentice' farmer shares her story on social media

Initially starting her page as a place to post videos of her travels in the top end for her friends and family, Matilda has managed to gain a whopping 20,000 followers since then, with her most popular video viewed more than 14 million times and getting more than 200,000 likes.

While she's a nurse by trade, Matilda decided to pull on her work boots during the 2023 harvest and hasn't looked back.

Matilda says her dad's farm is a one man operation but she has been more than happy to step in and help out in recent months as he's getting older.

"We don't even run a chaser bin during harvest, it's just fully into grain bins, so I think in the last 12 months or so my dad's realised he might need a bit of help from someone other than my mum," she said.

"I've always helped on the farm, but it wasn't really in my career path until last year when I decided to come back for harvest.

"I thought I'd just be moving bins around for dad and doing bits and pieces, but he's a bit of a throw you in the deep end kind of guy so he gave me a two minute lesson on the header and sent me on my way."

Although the task was daunting, Matilda took it in her stride and said learning a new skill was one of the things she enjoyed most in life.

"I really love learning and testing myself with new things," she said.

"I think it's definitely given me a bigger appreciation of what my dad and farmers do because when I was younger I didn't think about it too much.

"I guess you can fall into the thought of there's just seeding and harvest and the rest of the year is easy, but it's the opposite.

"You have to work out seed and fertiliser and chemical and when you're spraying and rolling - there's so much more happening throughout the year than a lot of people realise."

The unknown of the industry was part of what spurred Matilda on to share her day-to-day life on TikTok.

"I originally posted about solo camping and then started sharing videos about just my trip home from Darwin, down the east coast and into SA," she said.

"I got a few followers through that and then when I started on the farm I had a bit of time just sitting in the header so I thought I'd share what I was up to.

"The algorithm kind of put you in the feed of like-minded people, so I've ended up getting some really positive feedback about showing what I'm doing as a bit of an apprentice on the farm."

Matilda said through the app she's been able to promote women in agriculture and connect with other women in similar positions as her as well as help educate others on the industry.

"There's a girl in WA on TikTok, farminbritt, she's someone I followed who's putting out really cool content and we've been able to connect through the app," she said.

"She helps her dad out as well and I find her stuff really inspirational.

"We now follow each other and she's someone really great to chat to about what we're doing because we both understand what the other is up to."

While farming can be isolating for some, Matilda said social media apps like TikTok were a tool to connect with others in the industry rather than just your neighbour down the road.

"Back in the day you could talk on your two way or not at all," she said.

"I do see how mental health comes into farming because they spend a lot of time alone.

"For me, I like just sitting in the tractor and cranking some tunes because I can switch off from the hospital, but for others who do it all day every day I can see how it gets isolating for them.

"Now, you can see farmers chatting to each other in the comments and being more open about their struggles and it's great to have that connection.

"It's definitely a different way to connect with other farmers from around the world rather than just who's in your UHF reception region."

Matilda says her life goal is to join the Royal Flying Doctor Service, but in the meantime she'll keep working rurally and remotely as a nurse while helping her dad in the busy periods.

"If I got into the RFDS in the next 12 months my dream would be realised," she said.

"Until then though, I think I'll finish seeding then look for another remote role before harvest comes back around."

You can find Matilda on TikTok under @matildal2.