Loretta Carroll comes from a long line of the Carroll family who settled in the Mudgegonga area in the 1800s. Coming from a large family of eight children, she spent much of her youth on the family beef farm.

After leaving school she moved to Melbourne to seek work, returning to the farm regularly at weekends.

After three years she returned to the area and commenced full time studies at Charles Sturt University, Albury.

On completion of a Bachelor of Business Management (Tourism), she continued to work in the area so she could work with her father and uncle on their properties.

Despite the fact that her father was not keen on the idea at the time, she bought 198 acres adjacent to her family's property, of which there are 30 acres of bush. She managed to stock the property with red Shorthorn cattle which were an unpopular breed and therefore cheaper to buy. She used an Angus bull to get black calves and hybrid vigour.

Three years ago, on the death of her uncle, she was left half of his farm, 280 acres, the remaining half going to her sister and cousin. She purchased her sister and cousin's share of the farmhouse and sheds.

Working closely with her father, Loretta is trying to gear up with more equipment and more fencing to create laneways, so as to eventually run her farm single-handed. Better pasture management through introducing more phalaris, which is a very deep rooted and hardier grass, she feels will make the farm more productive. This combined with rotational grazing and smaller paddocks, more tree plantings and regular calcium, fertiliser and trace element applications will hopefully lead to healthier soils, pastures and animals.

The biggest challenge she sees is being able to expand her property with the high and increasing land prices in the area. However she will eventually get more land from her father's holdings.

Loretta is very happy to not leave the farm or take long holidays, seeing her responsibility as looking after her livestock. The family has a long history of horsemanship and patience with animals.

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