‘I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else’
Bronwyn Roberts treasures a grainy black and white image of herself as a toddler, sitting on the knee of her grandfather, Joseph Comiskey.
Grandad Joe lived to 103 and was a renowned Queensland grazier and Bronwyn, 37, is following in his footsteps, challenging some of the traditions that have seen women in agriculture overlooked.
“Mum, Grandad Joe’s daughter, was one of nine. There were three daughters and six sons and the way of the era was that the sons s were established on family y properties and the daughters rs got married,” she says.
Like her sisters, Bronwyn n wasn’t encouraged to go into farming but when her parents bought their own property that changed.
“My sisters weren’t interested and it was my chance to get my hands dirty. I mustered, put in water points, mended fences s and while Mum drove the truck, I’d push the hay off the back to feed the cattle.
“But I wasn’t allowed to study agriculture at uni, so I studied geology and hated every minute of it. I lasted 18 months before returning home to help Mum and Dad on their property.”
But Bronwyn has used the knowledge she has gained through generations to work in local resource management and she runs her own business helping farmers improve their productivity with the latest data and research.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than outside, in the sunshine, with the animals,” she says. “My goal is to have my own farm.
I want to retire on the land even if it takes me a lifetime.”