PHOTOGRAPHY RACHAEL LENEHAN
Rozzie at work. Up by 5.30am, every day is packed with variety.
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Rozzie O’Reilly’s earliest memories are of helping her mum on the farm.
WORDS VICTORIA CAREY PHOTOGRAPHY RACHAEL LENEHAN
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.”
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.”
“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…”
The move to Holbrook in 2017 also led to other things. Rozzie met her husband, John McKenna, after she joined a local sports club.
“Because I didn’t know anybody in Holbrook, I decided to start playing netball so I enrolled in the club. It’s great fun,” explains this keen sportswoman who also loves touch football and basketball.
The couple married in February in a woolshed at Roachdale Station, just two weeks after she won the award.
Netball has also had other unexpected benefits. Her team’s trainer, Vicky, also happens to run the local post office — a very handy person to know in a small town. “I had to pick up a shirt for the Zanda Award to wear in Rockhampton and I didn’t finish work in time to get in to town before the post office closed. Luckily, I know Vicky quite well and she opened up for me at 7pm on a Friday night,” she says. “Where else would you find someone doing that? This is why it is so lovely to live in a small community. Everyone really supports one another.”
Ask Rozzie where she would like to be in 10 years time, and her answer comes back without any hesitation. “I would like to think that John and I will have fulfilled our dream of buying a farm and are running our own successful livestock business.”
And finally, her advice for anyone contemplating an ag career? “Follow your passion, because if you do what you love, it won’t be hard work.”
Applications open for the Zanda McDonald Award each year from August 1–31. For more information on how to enter, please contact info@zandamcdonaldaward.com
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