Keeping the legacy alive
Grazier takes the reins after tragedy strikes
MAREE Duncombe has loved cattle ever since she was a young girl trailing alongside her father at the local sales.
She would rush home from school to join her family’s brahman cattle in the paddocks, and always thought that one day she would marry a bloke who lived on the land.
But she never imagined that by the age of 28 she would be running her own station.
“I have always loved cattle and wanted to be like my dad,” Maree said.
“But, no, I never thought that I would be in the position that I am in now.”
Life took an unexpected turn when her adored father died a decade ago.
“I thought Mum and I could sell the property initially, and then I decided to stay and give it a go,” said Maree, now 37.
“Mum was not as hands-on on the farm as I was, but she would help out if I needed it.”
The first few years were undeniably tough as Maree struggled with confidence at the sales and agonised about which direction to take Conondale.
“When Dad died I felt very lost and I thought people would judge me,” she said.
“I thought some people would look at me and think I didn’t know what I was doing, and I would hear certain comments at the cattle sales and I would be really upset.
“But it has made me the woman I am today.
“It’s very challenging being a woman in this industry and I never used to have confidence and now I am firm and don’t let anyone walk over me.”
BRED TO FIGHT
A FEW years after her dad passed away, Maree decided to have a go at breeding her own cattle.
“I would go to the sales with Dad as a kid and say, ‘Can we buy this pen?’, but they cost too much,” she said.
“And I remember thinking, ‘what if I was that person selling those beautiful weaners?’”
Maree’s mum tried to dissuade her from breeding her own cattle as she was worried about her daughter’s lack of experience.
“I was very determined and stubborn, however, so I looked around for a good line of brahman heifers, which I found in Tully in northern Queensland,” she said.
“I bought 280 in one hit, even though I knew nothing about female cattle.”
Maree joined them with bulls, and they calved at the height of a terrible season.
“I had calves dropping out all over the place and we had very little feed,” she said. “I was so stressed.
“I had never delivered a calf before, but the vet couldn’t come so I just did it.”
Maree survived the season, albeit with some poddy calves and an average calf price of only $300.
“I thought I would hit $800 straight away so it was a bit of a lesson,” she said.
The following year, conditions were slightly better, and Maree started to pair her females with top-quality charolais and brahman bulls, becoming more selective at the breeding phase.
SOLO EFFORT
AND just as she seemed to be making headway, tragedy struck again with the death of her mother from a stomach aneurysm.
It meant Maree was running the station on her own.
“My mother died in February, 2016, and in May I actually topped the weaner sales at Woolooga that year,” she said.
“It was such a tough year with Mum’s death and then, ironically, that was the year the weaners took off.”
These days Maree sells the prime charbray weaners in April and May at weaner sales at Gympie and Woolooga.
Her remaining cattle are weaned on farm to be sold 12 months to two years afterwards.
She is averaging $900 for weaners, with some attracting up to $1150 for the females.
“I always get a lot of repeat business,” Maree said.
“I’m really proud of that fact, and it is a good feeling when they make above-market prices.”
The fact that her cattle are in such good nick is a strong selling point as well.
“One of the most important things I’ve learned is that you
❝ What really gives me a kick is breeding those beautiful cattle. — Maree Duncombe
need something that stands out and to breed cattle that will attract people’s eye,” Maree said.
They are certainly catching the attention of judges, with Maree taking out the champion pen of heifers at last year’s Gympie Weaner Sale as well as the best pair of replacement breeder heifers at the Gympie Prime Cattle Show in 2016 and 2017.
She has also renovated the family home that her mum lived in and decided to rent out her old accommodation on the property as a luxury cottage stay on Airbnb.
“I actually thought I was too far from the coast and too far out from Maleny and no one would come,” she said.
“But since I have listed it, I have been flat out.
“It also gives me another income and I’m prepared that if the prices do crash with cattle I have this other income stream.”
Maree is regularly asked if she is open to selling her property, but she has no intention of doing so.
“I’ve had people ask me when I am going to sell. I get a lot of interest,” she said. “But it never crosses my mind.
“I am determined to make the property a beautiful property and I am 110 per cent committed here.
“That is why I renovated my homestead: I want to make it so nice that I don’t want to leave.”
While she has a knack for styling – her accommodation property has been featured in a number of interiors magazines – the cattle are her true love.
“I’m here 24/7 and my cattle come before anything else,” she said.
“I feel that is why I have been able to develop a really successful herd.
“What really gives me a kick is breeding those beautiful cattle.
“I would put as much into the business if I was still getting $300 for them.
“I look after the cows, but the cows also look after me.”