The winner of the 2019 Zanda McDonald Award on why she loves life on the land

But Rozzie O’Reilly is a sheep girl ­— well, most of the time she is, but I suspect she can do anything she turns her hand to — and she is in Rocky as part of her prize for winning the Zanda McDonald Award. We are here to talk about that and to discover a little bit more about this very modest 28-year-old. (Her Twitter bio may say she enjoys a bit of a chat, but I suspect Rozzie definitely prefers to talk more about other things than herself.)

But Rozzie’s passion for her work is clear when she talks about her life on a property near Holbrook, a town about 500 kilometres south-west of Sydney. “I do love my job,” she says of her role as operations manager for Tom Bull’s Lambpro and Kinross Station, where one of the world’s largest flocks of Hampshire Down sheep runs on the banks of the Billabong Creek. “I think why I love it so much is because I really believe in what we’re doing,” she explains.

The youngest of four, Rozzie grew up in Narrandera in the Riverina of southern New South Wales. She doesn’t get home as often as she would like these days, but the ties are strong. “Well done, Rozzie!” was the proud post on the local high school’s Facebook page when it was announced their former vice captain had won the prestigious Zanda McDonald Award that recognises and supports outstanding young people across the Australasian agribusiness sector. Founded in 2015, the award is in memory of Zanda, who was only 41 when he died after an accident on his Queensland cattle property in April 2013.

Tragedy has also struck the O’Reilly family, with Rozzie’s dad dying when she was only 10 months old. Her mother Kathy, who Rozzie is quick to describe as her role model, was left to look after four young children and a farming business. “When I was tiny, Mum used to drive around in an old Subaru Brumby and had to squeeze me and my baby seat in with my sisters and brother. She was definitely a working woman so us kids were part of all the jobs. Whether it was in the shearing shed or in the cattle yards marking calves, we all loved it,” says Rozzie. “And I think that because I got that sort of exposure from a young age, I worked out pretty quickly that I also wanted to be involved in agriculture.”

The first step on Rozzie’s career path was moving to Armidale where she did a Bachelor of Animal Science majoring in Livestock Production with First Class Honours at the University of New England.

Her thesis was on sheep genetics, but her first job was on a 20,000-head cattle feedlot on the Darling Downs in South East Queensland. After only a year in the role, Rozzie was promoted and had to quickly rise to the challenge of managing a team of eight.

“I was the youngest crew member and I think I was 23 at the time. The age range was right up to 65 and I was the only female on the team, but I don’t think it matters what your gender is,” she says. “I think what is important is getting our jobs done and all of us having some sort of job satisfaction about what we are doing. I think that is what’s important, because when you enjoy what you are doing, you take ownership and pride in it.”

This early experience prepared her well for her current role at Lambpro, Australia’s largest prime lamb seedstock business. Here, surrounded by some of the state’s best grazing land, Rozzie is responsible for managing a team of four and a database for more than 6000 stud ewes. “I have a strong belief in the program, and I also get incredible diversity in the role that I have as well. The Bull family have given me a lot of responsibility, which is great.”