Young Farmer Scholarship: Benalla architect Bridget Doyle to study ag

Bridget Doyle, a full-time landscape architect, who runs her own cattle operation at Benalla, is using her maternity leave to go back to school and study agriculture.

Always learning: Beef farmer Bridget Doyle, from Upper Lurg, is the recipient of a Victorian Government Upskill and Invest Young Farmers Scholarship. Picture: Dannika Bonser

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BY DAY, Bridget Doyle works full-time as a landscape architect.

By night, the 31-year-old and her husband – who also works full-time – manage 250 cattle on their Benalla farm.

And just to add another full-time job to the mix, Ms Doyle is now mother to a 10-week-old son.

But the forward-thinking farmer is not skipping a beat, using her maternity leave to head back to school.

“I’m going to go to TAFE to do my certificate IV in agriculture at Wangaratta,” she said.

“There’s always been that passion there. It just took 10 years working in another industry … (but) it’s good to try other things and bring back new skills.”

Ms Doyle is a recipient of the Victorian Government’s Upskill and Invest Young Farmers Scholarships.

She will receive $5000 to study and then another $5000 to invest on-farm.

“We’re looking at scanning and weighing equipment to keep track of progress on the property,” Ms Doyle said.

Ms Doyle grew up on a family cattle and potato farm at Berrigan, NSW.

Her father was the first farmer to use a mobile abattoir in Australia for commercial slaughtering earlier this year.

“On-farm processing is really the way to go,” Ms Doyle said. “It’s better for the animals as it reduces stress during transport and reduces transport costs for ourselves.”

As part of the family’s succession plan, the young couple bought their 162-hectare Benalla property two years ago to expand the family’s breeding of Herefords in an area where “the rainfall is better”.

They currently have 160 Hereford breeders with 90 calves. “Next year hopefully we’ll have 160 autumn calves born,” Ms Doyle said.