I'm Maria Roche and we're at Adelong in new south wales at our family property Arden.
This property was owned by my grandfather and then taken over by my mum. When mum made the decision to
move across from sheep into cattle production she bought a line of about 10 females and a bull and
that was the beginning of Arden Angus. She always believed that when you purchase a bull
you purchase the best possible bull you can do and over a number of years has built a reputation
of someone who does go out and access the best genetics and sometimes at a high cost.
Well very few women that managed properties in those days. built my reputation by
being successful running the property. I always bought the best I could afford
because I figured that a bad cow will eat just as much as a good one why not have a good one.
My story is I always wanted to come home. Mum said I had to get a career off property,
so I went nursing and I worked throughout Australia and then came back and worked in the
local area managing a number of hospitals. In 2009 in July mum became very unwell
and I moved home or I was living at home but I took leave from my job to one look after mum
and also look after the property as well. So really my dream has always been to be here and I suppose
ultimately with my son AJ we'd like to buy another place, we'd like to expand the property further.
Maria physically works harder than I did, I used my brains not not my brawn, it's because I always
insisted females weren't made to work physically, especially if they were five feet and tall. Maria didn't
go along with that, she just went off and did it and we've had lots of fights over it haven't we?
I think I've worked hard all my life, I think it's probably inbred in the family, my mum
was like it, my grandfather was like it, my son's like it. So we work and we work for pleasure, I enjoy it.
There isn't a day that you don't go out, even when it's tough days, that you don't enjoy what you do.
But you care for the land. I can remember as a small child riding along with my father,
which was about 80 years ago, and he'd say 'look after the land they're not making any more'
and that was 80 years ago. So he was kind of different to the rest because he valued his land.
She'll improve it. We improve. You leave your place better than you took it, originally.
You must do that.
One of the biggest challenges that we faced here at Arden in last 12 months has been the bushfires. The Dunns Road fire bunt the whole entire property
except for the houses and a small section around the front of the property.
We lost 208 head of cattle and 146km of fencing. So for me overnight I learnt to be a fencing contractor.
I learned to drive tractors which mum had always said was a male's job
so no thanks to her I had to teach myself how to do that suddenly and we've had to put this place
back together or I've put this place back together. It's that realisation how close to death you came
how at any moment you know we could have become really unstuck. Whilst it's been tough
it's been a huge learning curve but it's actually pushed us ahead in what we hope to achieve here.
You go forward you don't go back. The place is better now
with years of improvement and fencing and work. Cattle are better. I wouldn't change it.
No she wouldn't. Definitely not. No definitely not no.
And haven't got time to change it.