Prime lamb producer calls on women to join leadership ranks

Respected Western District prime lamb producer Georgina Gubbins reveals her farming success was hard-fought, in bid to inspire women to fill leadership roles.

Solo effort: Georgina Gubbins on her 970ha Heywood property, where she runs a data-driven prime lamb and cattle operation. Picture: Andy Rogers

PRIME lamb and beef producer Georgina Gubbins is at the top of her game.

As managing director of Maneroo Farms, Georgina runs a finetuned operation with 3000 composite ewes and 800 Angus cattle on 970ha at Heywood, in the Western District.

Georgina’s data-driven approach charts every animal’s productivity — from genetics and pregnancy to intramuscular fat and nutritional intake — to inform decisions.

“A lot of measurement happens on farm because my thing is that if you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it,” Georgina said.

With her farm running like clockwork, Georgina volunteers on industry committees and government boards, including the Great South Coast Food and Fibre council. This year she also put her hand up to chair LambEx 2020, the biennial sheep industry conference scheduled for Melbourne next July.

“My mind is always firstly on the farm. But then, because people have given to me, it is about me giving back to the industry,” she said.

Surprisingly, Georgina said self-doubt were one of her biggest hurdles when she started as a producer, which is why she helps other women find their confidence and take leadership roles.

She grew up at Mortlake. In 1994, she was living with her then-husband on his family farm in Queensland, working as a nurse.

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The couple took up an offer from Georgina’s father to return to the Western District and farm the Heywood property, then a blank canvas.

They settled on cattle and sheep. Five years in, her husband went on a Nuffield Scholarship and “basically never came back”. “He literally walked out of our lives,” said Georgina, who was left to raise two young daughters and manage the farm alone.

“I didn’t intend for them to grow up without a father. For their stability I stayed on farm and started getting support from people like Phil Holmes … Phil was fantastic to me,” she said.

“I started benchmarking straight away to understand what the main profit drivers were. I then undertook a masters of agribusiness from Melbourne Uni, and that was fantastic because it opened my eyes up to the red meat industry around the world.”

With advice from other producers, particularly her ­father, John, who remains a business partner today, and her brother, Simon, who ran Murroa Angus, south of Hamilton, she tracked every management decision and honed operations to suit climate and consumer demand.

In 2003, just when she was hitting her stride, with plans for a joint-venture with her brother, her world crumbled again when Simon took his own life that March.

“I miss him terribly,” she said, emotion spilling over. “I still miss him every day.”

It was a reality check for Georgina, who moved off the property and employed a farm manager to strike more balance between personal and professional lives.

It also motivated her to help other women become more involved in the industry.

“One of my big things — and LambEx will be part of this — is trying to build capacity in the industry so there are a lot of people who can fill our roles,” she said.

“I keep getting asked, ‘Where are the regional females who can take on board roles?’. “It stems from the fact that in regional areas we are not good at identifying women and helping them come through.

“I will physically ring them up. Because that is what, in the early days, happened with me.”