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My first memory is coming off a horse on our 5th generation family farm at Tinamba in Gippsland, Victoria. I must've been about three years old and I was carted back to the Homestead where my beloved grandmother (also named Margareta) tended to my wounds. Thankfully I wasn't put off and horses were the saviour of my teenage-hood, also one of the many reasons I became an author. Enamoured by father's Mary Grant Bruce's Billabong Books, I was always the main character, Norah, riding across the paddocks towards adventure, dreaming up all manner of stories in my head. Rides throughout the surrounding hills and scrub also cemented my love of the Australian bush. My other favourite pastime was working with and helping my Dad and uncle, who were partners in the family dairy farm. It was here, at their side, my love of the land and working with cattle was born. It truly was a wonderful way to grown up.
Fast forward to today and I'm incredibly fortunate to still be working alongside my Dad and uncle, albeit now with my wonderful husband Hugh and our children. Hugh and I run two cattle studs, Speckle Park and Hereford, to support a commercial breeding and trade operation. The cattle are run across a number of properties, both owned and leased. Despite having a family farming background, Hugh and I have had to start from nothing and build our herd and land-base to what it is today. We've worked really hard, side by side, to ensure our children also have the opportunity to farm, should they want to, whilst also holding off-farm jobs. Life is interesting and very busy.
The Speckle Park breed came to our attention when the genetics were first imported into Australia from Canada many years ago. It took time but finally we were in the position to import our own Pure bred Canadian embryo's and our stud took off from there. Whilst we remain small, we concentrate on using the very best genetics from Canada, New Zealand and Australia, to breed the best pure-bred stud cattle and commercial cross-bred animals we can. We sometimes have bulls and heifers for sale, so if you're interested, get in contact. *(Karen, link to contact form here?)
Our Hereford stud is run in conjunction with our daughter, Katie, an avid Hereford breeder. She is going great guns with her own embryo breeding program and we are excited to see some beautiful future breeders now reaching joining age.
It is our passion to produce the finest homegrown, 100% grass fed cattle to ensure the beef that lands on your plate provides a delicious and satisfying eating experience. We work hard to produce a nourishing premium grass-fed protein to fuel and nourish your body. It's also very important to our family for you and your family to be able to follow the story of how the food you eat, was created and lovingly nurtured in the clean, magnificent, rolling hills of Glenmaggie, and grown out on the lush, green pastures of the Macalister Valley. You can follow the story of your food here (Link to blog, Karen?)
Life on the farm is often exhausting, challenging and is always throwing something new at you every single day. But I can't say I'm ever bored, nor do I wish I was doing something else (unless, of course, it's a freezing winter's night in mid-August, a cow is calving and I'm up to my knees in mud, then Darwin, Fiji or any tropical place looks mighty inviting! ) On the land we have our challenges, and I've seen at lot of them. Floods, fires, drought, and even the odd earthquake and pandemic, but I truly love it. I love the life and the work, the people and the opportunities that come along each and every day. I get endless satisfaction from a job well done, being close to my family, lots of fun and laughter PLUS of course, waking up every day to the stunning mountain views around our homestead.
I really don't want to be anywhere else.