MEET MELISSA: a family woman working the land

City born and bred, Melissa first came to the South Burnett in 1982 when she moved to Kingaroy as a nurse.

MELISSA Barnett has undergone many career transformations in her lifetime – from nurse, to librarian, to journalist – however she said the most rewarding was becoming a woman working on the land.

City born and bred, Melissa first came to the South Burnett in 1982 when she moved to Kingaroy to nurse.

This is where she met her husband, Michael, whose family owned Taabinga Station, one of the oldest properties in the region.

Melissa and Michael eventually moved to Brisbane, where they remained for 25 years.

During this time, they managed Taabinga Station remotely with the support of a farm manager.

In 2011, Melissa and Michael made a permanent move back to Taabinga Station. Both maintained off-farm income, and as a self-employed writer, Melissa was the one with the flexibility to take on the lion’s share of the farm work.

“My nursing and journalism careers hadn’t exactly prepared me for running a herd of cattle, so I had a huge job in front of me to learn everything I could about the cattle business,” she said.

“We started with a small herd of Murray Greys – about 50 head of cattle in total – which we ultimately wanted to build to about 250. Michael’s parents started the herd and had a love of Murray Greys. They are a lovely breed – quiet, intelligent and easy to work with. I call them the Labradors of the cattle world!”

“I started working with our farm manager who had been looking after the property for a number of years and absorbed everything I could. I enrolled in courses and workshops, and tapped into the fantastic grazing network that exists in the South Burnett.”

Melissa took inspiration from her mother-in-law, who was one of five daughters and had a very hands-on role in the running of Taabinga Station.

“She was a fantastic cattlewoman and was lead horse during mustering,” she said.

“She was also in charge of selecting the genetic lines for the cattle and purchasing the bulls. “She was definitely a trailblazer of her time. While there have always been women in cattle, it certainly wasn’t as common in her day as it is becoming today.”

Melissa said that in the nine years she has been actively involved in the property, she has seen a huge increase in the presence of women in agriculture – from driving tractors on the farm to heading up AgForce and the National Farmers Federation of Australia.

“When I signed up for my first grazing workshop back in 2011, I was one of only two women in the room. Today, attendance at these events is often over 50 per cent women,” Melissa said.

“The cattle industry has a real camaraderie about it, and the men who have been in the industry for many decades are very willing to share their knowledge with newcomers wanting to learn.

“We are all in it together, and this really became evident during the latest drought as we tried to navigate the challenges we were faced with. Without this collaboration, many of our businesses would not have survived.”

Melissa also credits the growing number of professional rural networks as a vital part of her journey into agriculture.

One such network is the Queensland Rural, Regional and Remote Women’s Network (QRRRWN), of which Melissa is the immediate past president.

“QRRRWN was established in the mid-1990s to connect rural and regional women across all industries and sectors,” Melissa said.

“Living and working in rural and regional communities has its own set of challenges, and networks like QRRRWN are vital to overcome isolation, expand ideas, and connect with others.

“Digital technology has played a big role in advancing the plight of regional and rural women, and business in general. A great example is the recent Buy from the Bush social media campaign. The vast majority of those businesses are run by women.”

While a large focus for Taabinga Station is building the herd, Melissa also operates a farmstay and vineyard from the property. Both were born from the need to diversify the farm’s income during times of drought.

The farmstay opened in the mid 1990s, transforming some of the unused historic buildings into accommodation and common areas.

The farmstay business grew rapidly in its first few years, but really took off in 2017 when Melissa began using technology to promote the property.

“We certainly weren’t early adopters of technology when it came to the farmstay, however when we started using Airbnb, bookings really took off,” Melissa said.

“We used the platform to tell the story of the property to the city market. Bookings tripled in the first year.

“The vineyard is one of the oldest in the region and also one of the smallest! It isn’t a core ag interest for us, and we don’t make a vintage every year, but it has allowed us to bring in some additional income in tougher times. The boutique nature of the vineyard means we can be experimental and produce some top quality wines.”

Melissa’s primary focus for the future is building the herd, which is currently at 180 head. Understocking has been a conscious choice through the drought, however her aim is to eventually reach their maximum capacity of 250 breeders.

As for the farmstay, she will also soon open a small functions and events space at the property, which she hopes to use for immersive creative and artisan weekend workshops. Winemaking is currently on hold after a storm cell in late 2018 destroyed the vines and saw them lose two years of production, however she has just released a range of Chardonnay and Sparkling rose from the 2017 vintage.

Melissa said that while it has been a challenging nine years, it has also been one of huge personal growth, and a very exciting time in terms of women in agriculture.

“There has been a huge increase in women stepping up and taking lead roles on properties all over Australia,” she said.

“In my opinion, there really are no barriers to women in agriculture. I have also met very few men in the industry that do not welcome the growth of women in ag.

“Yes, we have our own special set of challenges, but when the passion is there, there is nothing that we can’t overcome.”

Melissa’s motto on the farm is to do what you do well and make the best of what you have.

“Perfect in unachievable, but striving to always be better than yesterday, focusing on quality, and having pride in our product is what we always aim for,” she said.

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