Life on the Land

In her life to-date farmer, historian and author Maggie MacKellar has navigated some of the most horrendously unexpected undertows of life. But now, in her home with her partner, in a tiny town on the east coast of Tasmania, it's their Life on the Land that’s brought her to calmer waters again.

Some of you may already know Maggie’s story, she’s been on ABC TV’s Australian Story twice. The first was the story of her husband, Mike who became acutely unwell with a mental health illness, which quickly took hold of his once healthy mind and escalated to a situation where he took his own life. Maggie was 6 months pregnant with their second child at the time. Then, soon after, Maggie’s rock, the person who gave her breath - her mother - was taken when an acute cancer took her life leaving Maggie reeling again …..

When we asked Maggie if she’d like to be interviewed she was needed to think. Because stepping back in time is not something she, or her children do often …… and when she looks back now, she admits, things are no less hard or harrowing, but they do look a bit different.....

Thankyou to our series sponsor Blundstone.

Our Autumn issue is so close and will be arriving soon on Subscribers doorsteps. If you’d like the same surprise in your mailbox you can subscribe for yourself - or a friend - or both at graziher.com.au

Thanks for listening, we’ll be back next week with another story of Life on the Land.

When I’ve observed todays’ guest from afar, usually at an ag conference or the like, I feel like she’s akin to rural Australia’s version of the Queen. Always impeccably dressed. A woman of strength, who’s practical, like a farmer, in her solutions and it seems that the crowd almost parts when she enters the room.

Robbie Sefton lives with her husband Alastair on a farm close to Tamworth. From town she runs her national communications business, Seftons. It’s been strategising policy, product and service campaigns for government, research organisations and some big corporates like Westpac and Woolworths for more than 30 years. Robbie’s story spans from a childhood in Deni catching rabbits, to dazzling Freo in the Alan Bond days - surviving on champagne and a full freezer of connoisseur ice-creams - to an unexpectedly arduous medical procedure she was lucky to survive then and back home to NSW again, but not before she trucked thousands of sheep across the Nullabor. Robbie’s story is not one bit as you might expect it to be.

Thankyou to our Series Sponsor: Blundstone Australia.

The Autumn issue of Graziher has been sent to the printers and will be arriving in subscribers mail boxes soon. If you want a copy of your own please purchase or subscribe at graziher.com.au

Life on the Land is a Manson + Company production.

Georgie Robertson is a red dirt country girl from way back. Growing up on a sheep station past Ivanhoe, it was a 2.5 hour drive for the Robertson family to the nearest town. She studied via school of the air and understands the heart of country Australia because she’s lived it.

She’s also one of the go-to voices for Public Relations and media communications in the bush, with a client list that includes National Farmers Federation, AgriFutures and Buy From The Bush to name a few.

Running her business, The Regional PR Co, remotely from a property near Coolamon, 40 minutes outside Wagga, Georgie’s clients are regularly featured in national publications and broadcast slots.

But the road to a thriving business hasn’t been linear or without its bumps.

She founded her agency, The Regional PR Co in January 2018 – originally out of total necessity when she, her partner Scotty and her three daughters suddenly found themselves without a home, and Georgie without full-time work.

Thank you to our sponsor for Series 3 of Life on the Land: Blundstone Australia.

The Autumn edition of Graziher is close to going to print and it's another cracking issue. If you missed out on a subscription this Christmas then organise yourself a treat and sign up to receive all our issues here!

This podcast is a Manson + Company production.

There’s nothing quite like the deliciousness of merino on skin. This gorgeous natural fibre is enjoying a real renaissance, and South Australian farmer and designer, Emily Riggs is helping lead the charge with her label, Iris + Wool. She sat down to chat with Emily Herbert with her tiny daughter, Lucy – at the time only 10-weeks-old – strapped to her chest. Designed from her kitchen table on the merino property she shares with her husband Tom and two young children, Emily has created a stunning collection - despite not having a background in fashion, design or retail. While combining her love of high fashion and merino wool, Emily’s label also pays homage to her own mum, Jane, whose journey with cancer is intrinsically interwoven with Emily’s own story.

This episode speaks about cancer and mental ill health. If you want to speak with someone you can call Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Thank you to our sponsor for this series of Life on the Land: Blundstone Australia.

The Autumn edition of Graziher is making its way to the printers as we speak and it's another cracking issue. If you missed out on a subscription this Christmas then why not gift yourself a little something?! Do it - here!!

This podcast is a Manson + Company production.

A special episode shining a light on how some of Graziher magazine's contributors (and some others) will be spending Christmas. What's on the menu, who will be there, family rituals and how to prepare for such a big event when your nearest 'big shop' is miles and miles and miles away.

Many thanks to Jane Smith, Claire Mactaggart, Cara Peek, Robbie Sefton and Sophie Hansen for joining us today.

Thank you to the sponsor for this episode the Rural Financial Counselling Service NSW.

And thank you dear listeners for coming with us on our podcasting journey this year. We have so many more wonderful Life on the Land stories lined up for you in Season 3 of the podcast which will launch in the New Year.

If you would like to subscribe to the Graziher magazine, or purchase a 2021 calendar, you can do so at graziher.com.au.

Today's guest on Life on the Land is our cover girl, Yawuru Bunuba women Cara Peek is a force. She spent her childhood days in multicultural Melbourne and as a self confessed 'geek', Cara is incredibly intelligent, so much so that she studied Law but soon found that the law was too slow for her and took matters into her own hands.

Now she lives closer to her ancestors in Broome in the Kimberley where she runs her flagship event Saltwater Country Inc. and The Cultural Intelligence Project and this year she's the Agrifutures WA Rural Women of the Year.

I've learned that this girl has grit and she's not about making people feel comfortable quite the opposite. What she's achieving is pretty extraordinary and it seems advocacy comes naturally to Cara. This is her story.

Thank you to Seed Terminator for sponsoring this episode.

If you want to read more about Cara you can purchase the Summer edition of Graziher at graziher.com.au or if you already have your copy, why not grab a subscription for a friend?

Today’s guest became a household name in Australia almost overnight. Warren women, Grace Brennan is Buy From The Bush. Last Christmas, in desperation, searching to offer her community just the tiniest germ of hope to help get through the drought for a just a bit longer, she started a Instagram page encouraging people in the city, to buy their kris kringle presents from businesses in the bush.

She thought it would be a nice thing maybe for her friends and family to grab hold of – instead ten’s of thousands of people jumped on board with unbridled enthusiasm. What Grace created is movement – allowing those in the cities (and all over) an insight into the wonderfulness, ingenuity and raw talent that lies beyond.

What she ( and her team ) has achieved is what Governments, Corporations and Industry groups have been trying to formulate for years – a bridging of the urban rural divide. What you may not know about Grace is that - there’s been many paths in her life that have been leading her to this point. While it may seem that this is an overnight success story Grace has (perhaps unconsciously) been working towards this for a long time. This is her story and it starts in the streets of Sydney, where her childhood was not dissimilar that of any country kid.

Thank you to today's sponsor Birdsnest. They're offering you $15 off orders over $70 with the code GRAZIHER15 before December 31st.

The Summer edition of Graziher is on sale now. You can buy it online now and if your into your Christmas shopping you can hop online and buy a subscription for your family or a friend or even yourself.

Today’s chat is with Grace Quast. If you’re a reader of Graziher you may have seen Grace’s

gorgeous face splashed across the pages modelling for various fashion shoots,

or spied her name in the byline of a story. This multi-skilled journalist and farmer is

living proof a satisfying career isn’t hampered by geography.

Living with husband David on their property ‘Domang’ half way between Moree and Goondiwindi,

she says she’s in the business of ‘storytelling’ – whether as a photographer, a stylist or a branding

consultant. Emily Herbert chatted to her the day she and David wrapped up harvest –

the first they’ve had since the couple bought the family property three years ago.

Taking on a family legacy and huge debt - and then enduring years of crippling drought -

has been the greatest challenge of Grace’s life.

Thank you to the sponsor this episode Misty View Cottages.

Grace Quast Instagram

Emily Herbert website

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It's fair to say that 2020 has been a tough year for most, certainly an extraordinary year like we’ve never seen before. But for today’s guest, young dairy farmer Tahlia McSwain from Busselton in south west Western Australia it’s been a shocker. Earlier this year she took a job as a stockwoman, escorting sheep and cattle on a live export vessel. She’d done it before and she should have been home the family dairy farm within a matter of weeks. But things went wrong. Complications with COVID 19 which are still unclear to Tahlia saw herself and the crew onboard stranded on the vessel unexpected for 170 days. This took Tahlia to the depths of her mental strength to get through the days.

But it doesn't end there, shortly after she finally arrived back home in Western Australia, one of the crew members tested positive to COVID 19 whipping up a West Australian media frenzy. Also while on board she lost some of her colleagues in a nightmarish tragedy when the live export vessel they were working on capsized in the south china sea.

The good news is that she’s at home now - and in a weird way - almost back to normal life. This is her story.

Life on the Land is an independently produced podcast for the Graziher magazine. If you want to read more about the wonderful women of the land in Australia, you can subscribe to Graziher yourself or buy a subscription for a friend at graziher.com.au

Thank you to the Sponsor for this episode PharmOnline a new start up business based in Walcha new South Wales.

We’ll back next week with another episode of Life on The Land.

The name Jane Cay is synonymous with trailblazing success. The mum of three is the founder of Birdsnest, the little Cooma shop which has turned into a digital commerce giant, turning over $25 million a year. With nearly 150 staff, the accolades have rolled in. Jane has been named number one in the Top 50 people in E-Commerce, and Birdsnest has been named the fourth best place to work in Australia. The business also now boasts nine in-house brands. All this, while raising her kids alongside husband Oli, on their Merino property 65-kilometres outside

Cooma. Yet on March 16, 2020, everything was tumbling down. It’s a day seared into Jane’s memory as one where the store was receiving more packages returned than what they were sending out. Listen to hear her story.

Thank you to the Sponsor for this episode SG Off Road.

Life on the Land is an independant podcast of the Graziher magazine, if you like what you are hearing then please encourage others to subscribe and tune into these amazing women's stories.

You can purchase a subscription to the quarterly magazine for yourself or a friend at graziher.com.au