Capitalising on her life-long love of livestock, genetics and nutrition, Rozzie McKenna has played a key role in the growth of Australia’s leading lamb seedstock producer, while building up her own farming business on the side. She says the “instantaneous network” offered through the Zanda McDonald Award has been invaluable.
In the three years since Rozzie McKenna (nee O’Reilly) was crowned the Australian Zanda McDonald Award winner in 2021, work and life have become busier than ever for the livestock genetics expert and aspiring farm owner.
“We’ve certainly had a bit of growth,” she says in her typically understated way.
Rozzie spreads her time between two businesses, both experiencing phenomenal growth – one being Australia’s largest prime lamb seedstock business, LAMBPRO; the other the farming business she runs with her husband, John – along with her third job as a mum to their toddler born last year.
“It’s been a balancing act, but the opportunities I’ve been exposed to and the networks I’ve built since working with LAMBPRO have played a significant role in the growth that John and I have experienced in our own business,” Rozzie says. “The Bull family, who own the business, have been absolutely incredible to work for and have encouraged and supported our business ventures immensely.”
Rozzie’s connections with LAMBPRO date back to her high school days at Narrandera in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia, where she grew up on a small sheep and cattle farm.
“I’d always loved working with livestock and, from a young age, was really passionate about how genetics and nutrition influenced performance, and that led me to do some work experience with LAMBPRO,” says Rozzie, who now lives near Holbrook, about 160km south east of Narrandera.
She deepened her experience in sheep genetics through her Bachelor of Animal Science degree, majoring in livestock production, at the University of New England in Armidale in NSW, achieving first class honours. While there she also became involved in the Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging Association, a program designed to inspire students to take up careers in the red meat industry. She became a key committee member for eight years, a role which also kept her in contact with LAMBPRO’s founder Tom Bull, a regular presenter at the association’s conferences, admired for his progressive approach to production.
After finishing university in 2014, Rozzie ventured further north, taking up a graduate
position with a cattle feedlot near Jondaryan just west of Toowoomba in Queensland, where she recalls being “intrigued by everything, especially the genetic data being collected”. At the end of her graduate program, she took on a role as feed mill supervisor, before being invited in 2016 to join LAMBPRO in the newly created role of breeding manager.
“It’s been a big part of my journey,” she says of her time since joining the well-respected seedstock business, where she has capitalised on and extended her genetics credentials.
“And it’s been exciting to be part of the sheer growth of the business over the last eight years.”
Since she joined, the number of lambs the team tags at birth has nearly tripled from 5000 to 14,000 annually, and its growing base of clients – which now exceeds 400 throughout Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania – are expected to breed around 1.3 million lambs using LAMBPRO’s genetics this year. “We’ve also established two branded lamb programs – Willow Bend and Kinross Station – for our clients to sell lambs into,” she says.
While Rozzie’s role has evolved to take on management of operations as the team has grown, her key focus has been to manage and build up LAMBPRO’s database, collecting as much genetic data as possible across all its animals.
“We have a full pedigree, which goes back at least five generations for every animal, and we submit that data into the national LAMBPLAN database, which enables breeders to evaluate a ram’s genetic potential and benchmark the genetic make-up of their flock,” she says.
In parallel with her work at LAMBPRO, Rozzie has been building up her own business with John, the couple marrying not long after Rozzie won the Zanda McDonald Award in 2021, aged 28. After starting with a cattle stud called Maronlea Genetics, they have added a livestock transport business, as well as a feedlot for lambs which are supplied into LAMBPRO’s branded lamb programs.
“This year, we’re aiming to finish about 5000 lambs in the feedlot, and we’ve joined just over 100 seedstock cows,” Rozzie says, reflecting on the swift expansion of the business.
“Our ultimate goal is to continue growing the livestock business, to a point that both of us are fully employed in that and we can raise our family and the business at the same time on a farm that we’ve purchased. It’s challenging to buy land, especially if you don’t have a family farm that you can use to borrow against, but we’re working very hard to get there.”
Rozzie says the advice and mentorship she’s received through the Zanda McDonald Award network has been invaluable in helping to grow their business – and in becoming a mum.
“There are many mothers within the Zanda Award community who are true leaders in our industry. They really inspire me and have often provided me with guidance, particularly in those early days. It’s just incredible how you become part of the award and instantaneously you have this amazing, supportive network.”
Another award benefit that she hadn’t anticipated was a surge in self-confidence and knowledge through exposure to a variety of opportunities including the mentoring trip.
“You are welcomed into the homes of these experienced business people, and they divulge their whole businesses to you – not only their successes, but they also talk about their failures, which ultimately are their learnings along the way. Everyone was just so open and raw. It made it so valuable.”
Staying with Zanda McDonald’s family at Devoncourt was also a highlight. “It was really special to stay with Julie and the whole family and get to learn a lot more about them, their business and Zanda. It’s something I certainly won’t ever forget.”
To learn more about our award alumni, click here. To register your interest in applying for the Zanda McDonald Award, click here.