Succession planning is one of the biggest challenges facing any farming family. Nikki Mahony (nee Joyce) and her three siblings grew up on Gyranda, a 9,500-hectare cattle property in central Queensland and a foundation stud for the Santa Gertrudis breed of cattle in Australia.
Nikki says it was a wonderful life working stock, learning about the environment and indigenous ways. But her parents Burnett and Louise, made it clear not all the children could come back to Gyranda. Instead, they encouraged the children to study and experience life away from the farm before deciding what they wanted to do with their lives.
Encouraged by Nikki and her husband Peter, the Joyce family started succession planning early.
It took 15 years of facilitated meetings, long discussions and plenty of tough conversations to develop a plan that all the family accepted.
Nikki recalls fondly one of her sisters thanking her for pushing the issue allowing their father’s last days to be a time to reflect and celebrate his life rather than worry about the future.
Author: Robin McConchie
Rural Journalist with the ABC Country Hour who refuses to stop telling stories about the bush. Agricultural scientists, former Director of the National Press Club and member of the Rural Press Club Hall of Fame. Keen photographer, a crazy golfer who loves bushwalking, diving and travelling.
Jenny Underwood and No Name the amazing cow
You’ve heard the song Horse with No Name, well today we meet Queensland cattle producer Jenny Underwood who tells the story of the cow with no Name and a calf called Horse. Jenny brightened the lives of farmers during drought with #lifeinasong and #onedaycloser. The season is better in 2020 and No name has just dropped her 15th calf.
No Name is a wonderful cow who refuses to stop producing calves. Every time I visit the wonderful Jenny Underwood at Pine Hills near Roma we head out into the paddock to see if we can catch up with the old girl.
She must be approaching 20 years of age and her progeny continue to add quality to the Droughmaster breed. Many of the top stud bulls at Eversleigh have sired her calves. The male calves are always called ‘horse’, from the song ‘Horse with No Name’.
The picture in the podcast was taken when Jenny and her husband Roger lived further north and the region was in one of the worst droughts on record. But good old No Name, otherwise known as the Dolly Parton of the ‘bovine world’ still produced plenty of milk and her calf did well.
Award winner: Annabel Tully beating breast cancer
Wow, I am excited; my article in the Graziher magazine featuring Annabel Tully, a Western Queensland farmer, artist and breast cancer survivor, was highly commended in the 2021 Rural Press Club Awards.
Imagine this: you are 38 weeks pregnant, doctors tell you the lump you just found in your breast is cancerous. Your husband is at home, 1000 km away, looking after your 18-month-old toddler. This scenario is the situation that faced Annabel and Stephen Tully. Two days after diagnosis, your baby is born, and a couple of days later, you start the long journey for breast cancer treatment.
Annabel and her husband Stephen live on Bunginderry, an 80,000ha sheep, cattle and goat property near Quilpie. Annabel has always painted, and her art reflects the harshness and the beauty of the channel country in western Queensland.
The Tully family has grown to five children, and Annabel has survived a second bout of breath cancer.
For Annabel Tully, resilience is about adapting to the situation, whether it’s drought, a drop in livestock prices or breast cancer.
Annabel’s story is as inspirational as her art and her new enterprise Tully Textiles.
Empowering rural women
A Queensland high school student has found her connection to farm animals has helped her through the anxiety she’s felt during the coronavirus lockdown. Bella Schilf is a finalist in the Queensland Rural Regional and Remote Women’s Network Strong Women’s Leaders Award. Despite the lockdown and time away from school Bella is determined to become a vet and a spokesperson for agriculture. She is one of 48 award nominees and finalists announced on October 15, the UN’s International Day of Rural Women.
Photos
Robin McConchie 
The beef industry is the backbone of Queensland agriculture 
Taking time out to appreciate the landscape and the people 
Podcast: Hope critical in surviving Disaster- Sue Dowling
In the 2019 Floods in NW Queensland, the devastation was immense, 500,000 cattle perished in what was described as a humanitarian disaster. There was a global response to a GoFundMe Campaign run by Sisters of the North and donations topped a million dollars in 16 weeks. SOTN Sue Dowling says they were able to provide a Ping of Hope for the community.
In 2019 NW Queensland was hit by terrible floods. An estimated 500,000 cattle died. It was a disaster of monumental proportions and the damage to roads, fences and homesteads was devastating.
Susan Dowling was part of a tiny group that wanted to help. The Sister’s of the North started a crowdfunding campaign and the response was incredible. They raised over a million dollars in six weeks and were able to provide financial and emotional support to communities in the region.
Cattlemen in Pearls hits bestseller list
Cattlemen in Pearls is the story of 28 women across three generations involved in the Australian cattle industry. Project manager and writer Tracey Hartmann says it was the vision of Roma graziers Ian and Anne Galloway to record the stories and celebrate the role women play in agriculture