Thirty years ago, Graeme Lawrence spent nine months learning to cultivate corn and soybeans on Russ and Marilyn Rosenboom's farm near Clifton.

Part of an FFA exchange program, he returned to Australia's state of Victoria and promptly won a corn growing contest in the early 1980s. At the time, he was milking cows with his dad and dabbling in row crops.

Over the years, Russ and Marilyn have watched his career with significant interest. This August, he returned to the U.S. for a visit. This time, he was much more interested in Kansas and California's irrigation techniques than dry land corn growing.

BACK IN THE US: Graeme Lawrence revisited the U.S. this summer, which is Australia's winter. This time around, he spent time in California picking up tomato growing tips. He noted the U.S. has much more sophisticated tomato harvesting equipment. On his farm, harvesting is conducted by the company that contracts production. He hopes to take the knowledge home to bolster efficiency and reduce loss. He also spent a week at the Rosenboom farm helping out and catching up.

His operation has changed – a lot. Yet, his perseverance shows a young farmer, regardless of nationality, can overcome challenges and make a go of it.

Buying a farm
In those early days, he was milking cows with his father. To supplement his income, he ran a custom precision planting business, concentrating on sunflowers, corn and soybeans.

Like many young farmers, Lawrence grew the operation by renting and share-cropping more ground, growing both winter and summer crops. As his passion for farming grew, he looked to expand. As he grew older, his wife, Michelle, set a deadline.

"She told me I'd better by my first farm before I reached 50," Graeme remembers. "If I didn't, then I better find something else to do."

He did just that seven years ago. He was 45 at the time. Graeme bought a 706-acre piece of land about 2.5 hours north of Melbourne, near Boort, a town of 800 people. This was on top of the 500 acres he was already renting.

Drought struck his first year as a landowner. It continued for a total of four years. Since Australia only offers crop insurance for fire or hail damage, at an unsubsidized rate, he was in a serious bind.

That first year, he penciled in a yield of 1,000 metric tons of grain. He harvested 50 metric tons for the entire farm. On the fourth year, his cereal crops yielded only 3.5 metric tons.

Graeme decided to give up on dry-land crops and grow irrigated processing tomatoes. It was a decision that saved the farm. It also brought a completely different set of challenges.

"Water is my biggest headache," he says.

~~~PAGE_BREAK_HERE~~~

Water management
In Australia, farmers pay for water in several ways.

First, when buying a farm, the water rights are typically sold separately. On his farm, Graeme paid for the permanent right to use 61.5 megaliters each year. One megaliter is equivalent to approximately one foot-deep of water spread over one acre. The going rate for such permanent water rights is currently around $1,300 per megaliter – that's nearly $80,000 for the water rights on his 706-acre farm.

If Graeme goes over his annual allocation, he can purchase water on temporary basis. In August (which is winter in Australia), the rate was around $50 per megaliter. That's up from about $20/megaliter in 2012.

Sounds complicated, right? Well, it's even more frustrating.

Each year, the Australian government purchases about half the water from the reservoir Graeme draws on for environmental reasons. The government lets the water run out the Murray River in an effort to keep the mouth clear for recreational and environmental purposes.

The government's use, plus drought stress, means Graeme often doesn't receive his full allocation of permanent water. Plus, these numbers don't include the annual delivery fees. Also, Graeme had to pay for a costly meter upgrade last year.

In 2012, he spent between $30,000 and $40,000 on water for his tomato crop. With such a costly water bill, Graeme has spent a lot on infrastructure upgrades to keep the water on his farm. Once he turns on the irrigation system, he's already bought the water.

"If you are farming properly, the water shouldn't leave your farm," he notes. "You can't afford to lose it."

Despite the significant challenges, Graeme is thrilled to be working the land and helping feed the world. His passion shows the lengths farmers will go to in order to keep doing what they love.