I object, being held in distant empty regions from countrymen (7)

I believe the answer is:

farmers

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'countrymen' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'i object being held in distant empty regions' is the wordplay.
'i object' becomes 'me'.
'being held in' is an insertion indicator.
'distant' becomes 'far' (synonyms).
'empty' means to remove the middle letters.
'regions' with its centre taken out is 'rs'.
'far'+'rs'='farrs'
'me' inserted into 'farrs' is 'FARMERS'.

'from' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for farmers that I've seen before include "Cultivators of land" , "Agronomists" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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