Doing what she loves
Life in the long paddock with 23-year-old drover Emily
WHEN 23-year-old boss drover Emily Landsberg looks across the herd she is in charge of, she says she “couldn’t have asked for a better mob”.
At the moment she is droving 2000 head of Consolidated Pastoral Company brahman heifers. She is contracted to look after them on Central Queensland roads until the end of the year, at the time of printing she was a few days outside of McKinlay.
“They are beautiful little cattle,” she said.
It’s not her first time being on the road. Last year she walked Paraway cattle down the Diamantina – a remote and rugged old stock route, which is a long way from anything.
She believes she is the first female boss drover to make that trip.
Emily said it was hard for young people to get ahead in the agriculture industry, so her motto was to make the most of any opportunity she could find.
She lives by that concept, and is the owner of a string of horses, working dogs, and a truck that tows an industrial-type caravan which is her home, as well as the kitchen for her crew.
Most of the time she only has two or three people in her camp, but this time of year she has a few newbies joining the ranks.
“When it’s school holidays, and uni holidays, we generally get a few more people who are keen,” she said.
She enjoys that, and loves teaching the skills to willing people. Daily life for a drover is made up of long days in the saddle.
“We are up by around 5am,” she said.
“We all have a cuppa, get the horses caught and, when there is enough daylight, we walk them to wherever we will pull up for lunch.”
Care of the cattle is paramount – it dictates the work cycle for the whole team.
“We have our lunch when the cattle camp up to chew their cud,” she said.
“My priority is making sure they get enough feed and water, I need to make sure they all have full bellies.”
After lunch the cattle have a bit more of a walk and graze, then when it’s afternoon the drovers run electric fencing for them to sleep at night. When the cattle are settled, it’s dinner, bed and then that on repeat for the next day.
“There are always challenges when you are looking after 2000 head,” Emily said.
“There can be a few obstacles to get around… and there is always one (heifer) who will get their head stuck in the fork of a tree, or get caught up on some wire.”
Emily mostly sticks to the back roads, so she said other road users were rarely an issue. “They can get spooked and rush at night,” she said.
“It’s pretty rare, but it means you can end up having to go mustering in the dark.” Emily worked in a droving team when she was growing up, then worked with well-experienced stockman Billy Prow.
“I don’t see myself doing this for the rest of my life,” she said. “But I am still pretty young I haven’t worked out what I might end up doing.
“What I enjoy about the job is that it allows me to do the things I love: work my dogs and my horses. It’s brilliant work for young horses. I always try and have a few young ones to get going.”
❝What I enjoy about the job is that it allows me to do the things I love: work my dogs and my horses.
— Emily Landsberg