Story
The next re-generation
words mel jaunaY
PHOTOGRAPHY pete thornton
It’s early morning as Georgie Keynes makes her way along a familiar track towards the hills’ country of Keyneton Station.
Spiderwebs, wet with dew, flank the path in beaded luminescence as golden sun breaks over this special, gum-studded land that has been in Georgie’s family for six generations.
Keyneton, after all, would have not been named so if it hadn’t been for Joseph Keynes and his wife, Ellen, the original English settlers who were drawn to this place by the promise of opportunity.
They could never have known that over 200 years on, their great-great-great-granddaughter would be traversing the same hills and gullies, eagerly scouting the countryside for precious gum and shea-oak saplings as she goes about the daily business of running a busy merino lamb and wool enterprise.
On an ancient landscape that would have once been abundant in trees, shrubs and wildlife, it’s clear to see that farming has left its mark, and while it’s a proud legacy inherent in Georgie, she’s also acutely aware of the need to balance viable farming with essential conservation.
“Generations ago, they didn’t know they were destroying it, there were many practices that they did back then that we would never do now,” says the 40-year-old mother of three matter-of-factly.
“And that’s part of my mission here, to look after the land as best we can, restore it and improve it for the next generation, whilst balancing that with a productive sheep system.”
Finding a young tree that has “popped up” on its own is one of Georgie’s small pleasures; with mobs of sheep content to pick off any new growth, it’s only by considered land management, through the use of containment areas and rotational grazing, that this type of regeneration gets a chance.
“That’s my favourite bit,” says Georgie with a genuine smile that emanates right up to her eyes.
“I’ll be riding the motorbike through the paddock and I’ll see a tree and be like, oh my goodness, go and get a tree guard and put it on! I’m a bit obsessed with that!”
While her partner in life and business, Toby Rosenzweig might jokingly roll his eyes at his wife’s enthusiasm, it’s a passion worthy of Georgie’s energy as she follows in the footsteps of her father, Joe, and predecessors before him, as the custodian of Keyneton Station.
She is the first female in that line of succession, but, as Georgie points out, she’s certainly not the first woman to have a hand in running the farm.
“All the women that were the wives of the men, all would have been very involved. Even though they don’t have their names or photos everywhere, women are always involved,” she says, explaining that her 13-year-old twin daughters, Matilda and Eleanor both gained their names from female ancestors.
Growing up as the eldest of three girls, Georgie admits that from a young age, she felt a self-perceived responsibility to be the one to eventually manage the farm once it was handed on from Joe and her mother, Sally.
“I think if I had a brother, I wouldn’t have felt that way, but I was always like, ‘oh well, the farm has always been passed on to the oldest, I need to step up’, which is a funny generational thing to have in your head as a kid,” she reflects.
“I definitely wouldn’t now and am encouraging our girls to do whatever they want in life.”
It helped that working on the land came naturally to her, and while her sisters, Pene and Hannah have also gone on to pursue successful careers in agriculture, growing up, Georgie says she was usually the first to put her hand up to help around the farm.
“I was quite often the one that went off and did stuff with dad because I just loved it. I loved being involved, exploring the land, working with the sheep and planting trees,” she says.
“I would never say that we own the land. We’re just looking after it.”
- Georgie Keynes
Now, with the Station passed down and under her and Toby’s keen oversight, keeping the farm intact and in the family remains a priority, as well as preparing it for a sustainable future.
“I would never say that we own the land. We’re just looking after it,” explains Georgie.
“It’s a home and important ecosystem for so many others – the birds, the lizards, turtles and insects, so we need to consider everything in how we manage it.
“Toby and I will probably manage it for maybe 30 years. It’s not a very long time in the scope of the land being here. It’s such a tiny amount of time that we get to make a difference to it.
“But we just feel so lucky to be able to look after it for a bit.”
As a mother to the twins and 11-year-old son, Banjo, instilling in them a love and respect for the land is just as important as equipping them with the skills they may need to someday manage it for themselves.
Part of the family’s nightly ritual is to sit around the dinner table and share with each other the favourite part of their day.
Life on the farm, surrounded by animals and the beauty of nature, presents many share-worthy moments.
“All through the day, you’re just thinking, ooh, is that my favourite thing? Ooh, is that my favourite thing?” says Georgie.
“Like, Toby saw a lamb chasing a mob of little ducklings the other day and last week I got a fright from a bearded dragon basking on the gate post – it’s just all that sort of stuff.
“Being able to find the beautiful things that just happen around you, makes it all the more worthwhile.”
It’s special family moments like these that provide an anchor in what has become a fairly unpredictable business – over the last 10 years, says Georgie, changes in climate have caused farmers to face an evolving set of challenges.
“Every year is different at the moment,” she says.
“Dad just used to have four seasons. The break might come a little bit later than normal, but it was reliable enough to say, ‘we’ve got this many sheep, we should be right’…
“Now the seasons are so variable, that it’s just so hard to even work out what your ideal stocking rate is, because it changes so much every year.”
This year in particular, is one that is pushing many primary producers to the brink, with record low rainfall on the back of poor lamb prices 12 months ago, and little faith in any predictions of what could happen next.
Lying awake at night during this past winter, wondering how she was going to feed her sheep with nothing on the ground and hay scarcely available, Georgie knew she had to lean into all her generational wisdom, as well as her own hard-earned experience, and act decisively.
“We just got on to it. Let’s just do this. Let’s find some hay and get it sorted,” she says.
“For us, it’s making early plans, and having a network of skilled people around us, so we don’t have to worry so much about what ifs.”
But there is worry behind her words, and of all the words spoken between her farming friends, as they wait and they gamble on that one simple thing: rain.
“We’re going to look back on this year in a couple of years and be like, oh my god, you got through that. But we’re in it now, we’re in the deep end now,” says Georgie.
Still, there is a resilience in her land as much as there is in herself and Toby, and the tightknit family and business unit they have created together.
Like a precious sapling found and protected, her family legacy is safe in this generation’s hands.
“My favourite time, when I get that real heart swell moment, is when we’re just moving a mob of sheep all together, so Toby and I on our motorbikes, the girls have a little buggy and Banjo on his motorbike. And then that’s just when it’s like, ‘ah, I made it’,” says Georgie.
“This is what I want to do.”
