At 34-years-old, Amanda Moohen is living her dream as the manager of the Wonga Plains Feedlot near Bowenville.
And it is a dream come true, as all her life Amanda has harboured an ambition to carve out a successful career working in the livestock industry.
“A dream doesn’t become a reality through magic,” she said.
“It takes sweat, determination and hard work.”
Amanda manages the 10,000 SCU registered feedlot. One third of the cattle on feed are drawn from the Camm Agricultural Group’s own herd with another one third custom fed on a Wagyu program. The remaining space is for general custom fed cattle.
Amanda has worked for the Camm Group for the past eight years, initially starting as the administration officer in 2010.
“I worked in administration, then became office manager, learned new skills and technology before taking over the reins as manager 12 months ago,” Amanda said.
“I wouldn’t be here without these tools and earlier experience that taught me everything I know about the industry and gave me the ability to work with all types of personalities in a team environment. It has helped me be where I am today.”
A typical day for Amanda is rising a 5am, however three mornings a week she is up at 4am to do a gym workout in nearby Dalby.
By 6am you will find her at her desk where she puts in a solid two hours attending to paperwork before other staff members arrive at 8am.
“My first priority every morning is to ring both my feedmill supervisor and livestock supervisor to make sure the day is on track,” she said.
She said managing human resources is her biggest challenge.
Amanda supervises 20 staff divided into three work crews; the maintenance, feedmill and livestock teams.
“We do a lot of staff training and manage to hold our staff and have a stable crew on board,” she said.
Like many women working in agriculture, Amanda has faced her skeptics.
Amanda Moohen described managing Wonga Plains Feedlot as not a job, but it is her life and she lives it and breathes it.
After 8am Amanda can be found with sleeves rolled up, drafting cattle that are either arriving or departing.
“When I am drafting cattle they are all weighed, mouthed, and I do an eye appraisal for fat cover,” she said.
“I have done the hard yards to get to where I am and I’m still doing it,” she grins, as she helps unload a Fraser’s B-double of cattle.
“I’m still out there shoveling bunks, drafting cattle and working ridiculous hours as cattle arrive any time of the day or night, but I wouldn’t change a thing.”
She talks to 15 different custom feeding clients daily to keep them informed.
Her role model is her boss, Bryce Camm.
“Bryce is inspiring in the way he manages the whole of the Camm Agricultural Group, which includes the feedlot, farming and other properties that form the group,” she said.