It’s Aticia Grey’s first press tour in Sydney for Meat and Livestock Australia and she’s nervous. The city that has lured so many of her peers from their homes in Western Australia just doesn’t appeal to her. It’s only when she talks about her cattle property in the Pilbara region of Western Australia that she starts to relax. At just 21, Grey has become partner in the family cattle business. Grey grew up on the property and refers to herself as a ‘bushy’ or ‘station kid’. Her first few years of schooling were held over the radio, but for Grey the obsession with cattle started young. “Most girls are horse mad, I’m cow mad … If we had school work while there was also cattle work to do, the whole time I would be focused on trying to get out there and help. Radio lessons meant that I could do a week’s work ahead and then spend a week mustering. And if all else failed, I would try and sneak out and catch up later.”
Mustering season at Glenflorrie starts in May and ends in September. During this time a typical day for Grey begins at four in the morning and ends with her crawling into bed at 10. Sorting and preparing up to 800 head of cattle during muster requires the use of motorbikes, horses, bull wagons and a helicopter.
Organisation is key and each family member has a role to play. “My brother, my mum and I work the station. He runs the shed, I look after accounts and mum keeps a history of every cow. But my pet project is looking after the poddy calves.” Poddy calves are calves that need to be hand reared. In a typical year, Grey hand rears eight calves. This year she looked after 50. “The drought has really affected us. I’m pulling too many calves [from their mothers] because the cows don’t have enough milk, or the mothers are too old or too young or there’s something wrong with her udder, or the calves get mismustered,” she explains.
Grey also has an interest in breeding cattle. “Because we focus on the quality and the temperament of the cattle, we spend the time picking the ones we want to breed. Selecting bulls for breeding helps impr ove the bloodlines and genetics. And I want to get more on the genetic side.” Development in genetics is the next important step and Grey plans to travel overseas in the next year to better understand the export market. “The majority of our cattle get exported to Indonesia by boat. I want to see that next step as well as visit Indonesia to know what they are looking for in cattle, and then use that information when breeding,” she says.
Grey is also planning a trip to the US to visit cattle farms. “I’ve always wanted to go to Montana and Wyoming. To see how a cattle properties over there work and perhaps take some of their techniques home.” The Indonesian market prefers Brahman cattle, which is the breed that Glenflorrie produces. As a breed, Brahmans are rougher and can sweat, so they are capable of withstanding the conditions of a boat ride. Other advantages include, as Grey explains, “Brahman cows have a high quality milk and will draw calcium from their own bones to feed their calves if necessary. Other breeds are characteristically more selfish and may store the milk for themselves at the expense of their calves.” It is such knowledge of cattle that has made cows Grey’s career.
Women At Work: Fresh Faces, Madalene Chu, published page 30, Vive Magazine Jun/Jul 08 'Fresh Faces' in Vive Magazine