It’s hard to believe it now, but I was once a city girl. I was born in Adelaide and grew up in Brisbane. I met my husband, Glenn, through friends and we ended up going to the same university in Toowoomba. In 2000, Glenn and I both did honours degrees and went on to get married five years later. I worked as a research assistant and consultant in Ipswich and Glenn was at home on the family farm.

After marrying and with the expected arrival of our first child, I finally bit the bullet and moved to our farm at Neumgna near Kingaroy. We have four children, Maye (11 years), George (9 years), Audrey (7 years) and Isla (3 years). I wouldn’t have things any other way now. It’s amazing how being on the land you feel such a connection and sense of being – about where you live and work. At the very beginning, Glenn and I used to talk about the face that you couldn’t buy much direct from farmers. We are conscious of our food and where it comes from. So it was a natural progression that we ended up developing our farmer-direct business, High Brit Beef.  

The stars didn’t align when we first started this marketing concept and it’s taken a few years to take off. However, we now have a strong presence on social media and a loyal customer base that is expanding all the time. We are very much a seasonal business and rely on grass production to fatten our cattle. We have found that there is a market segment that is very interested in grass-fed cattle and also knowing how the pastures are cared for and how animals are treated.  We are really proud of what we do and love selling to Queensland customers. My ongoing project for the e-Leaders Grow, Innovate and Sustain Program focuses on our goal of improving pasture management record keeping and adjusting our practices accordingly. 

It was a great help to have the personal one-on-one help from the presenters. We are currently setting up a photo-point monitoring system that was a direct result of what I learnt through the e-Leaders Program. I admit, I did feel overwhelmed at first, about where to start with the project planning – however now I have clear direction. Glenn and I are working on the planning together. We have got grand plans and know that there is plenty of room for growth; we stay motivated by all the great feedback from our customers who want to know all about where their food comes from.