Aussie battler saves the family farm
Brave farmer Maria took on an almost impossible challenge and never gave up
As the rumble of engines bellowed in the distance and dust whirled in the air, Maria Jackson’s stomach lurched when seven semitrailers burst through the gates of her farm.
“When I saw the trucks coming, the enormity of what we’d done hit me,” the 50-year
old tells Woman’s Day. It was 2016, and Maria and her husband Mick had taken the biggest gamble of their lives in buying Valley Fields, a 526hectare farm at Currabubula, near Tamworth, NSW, in the grip of Australia’s most crippling drought in a century. Although Maria grew up on a small farm at Pottsville, near Byron Bay on the NSW far north coast, that was run by her father Geoff and had been in her family for generations – she was a complete novice when it came to running a farm herself.
Fast-forward several years, and with Mick, 62, working in his construction job 400km away to keep them financially afloat, determined Maria has singlehandedly managed the unforgiving land and property.
It all started with a dream. After years of travelling ing around Australia for r work, the couple wanted to o buy a big farming property rty and move Geoff – who ho was battling prostate e cancer – from his Pottsville home of
61 years onto their new ranch. “It was Dad’s dream to see the new property and live to celebrate his 80th birthday,” says Maria.
Geoff saw in his 80th, but sadly passed away just before the move to Valley Fields. Maria pledged to fulfil her late father father’s s wishes wi and packed up all his belongings and transport transported it on the back of seven s semitrailers. “The “There was 61 years of hist history on those vehic vehicles,” Maria says. Bu But as the fully lade laden trucks ground to a halt, Maria was at a loss to know
what to do. She discovered quickly that learning on the job was to become the new norm.
And so it began. For the next two years Maria was managing the farm solo as Mick toiled hundreds of kilometres away.
“I had to teach myself everything,” she says. “I learned how to drive a tractor mainly from memories of watching Dad driving them when I was a kid. And if I couldn’t master something, I’d ring Mick or I’d Google it.”
Maria’s daily grind begins with checking the bore pumps to make sure their herd of 57 cattle have drinking water. She then drives along the fence line to ensure it’s all intact before inspecting the breeding cattle, which are close to calving.
When some much-needed rain came in late March, Maria sowed four hectares of oats in one afternoon.
“I had to do it while there was some rare moisture in the ground,” she explains.
Farm life is not the only thing Maria has turned her talents to
‘This is my home, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else’
– she also works several shifts a week behind the bar at the local Currabubula Pub & Cafe to make ends meet.
But it’s a lonely existence, and keeping the local community close is a lifeline for Maria and all those living in our country’s struggling rural areas.
“We have a good support network and if I’m broken, there are people who can help me out,’’ Maria says. “You just have to be brave enough to ask.’’
A neighbour keeps an eye out for her, and Mick rings at least twice a day. Plus there are Maria’s horses and five working dogs to keep her company, including her blue cattle dog Missy.
“She stays home with me and is my protector. She looks after her mummy,” says Maria.
“You do have meltdowns and when you think you’ve hit your lowest point, one of the dogs will do something silly and make you laugh.
“But at the end of the day this is my home, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Although they are apart, Maria and Mick have an unbreakable bond and Maria has no bigger admirer than her husband.
“She is one of the most resilient people I’ve ever met,” he says, bursting with pride.
Farming life is in Maria’s blood – her beloved father brought her up well, and although she learned the hard way, she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“When Maria has a bad day, she ploughs through knowing tomorrow might be a better one,” says Mick.
“She never gives up, and if it wasn’t for women like my wife, many of us would have nothing.”