Isabella Tatchell is a recent graduate with a bachelor of agriculture now under her belt and some practical experience thanks to Melbourne University’s Dookie campus.
Isabella was working at the Tarcombe farm, when Country News discovered her and asked her why she chose agriculture.
“The lifestyle is the main draw. In my degree, the further I went and the more connections I made, you realised there are so many opportunities, Isabella said.
“I love waking up in the morning and being able to walk out and see the beautiful paddocks, the hills and the cows.
“And the mustering, and working with cows.”
She says she is not worried by the messier sides of farm work.
“A little bit of grit doesn’t worry me.”
She’s looking forward to feeding and handling cattle, and working with the sheep as well.
Isabella, 23, was born in Orbost and grew up in Glengarry, Gippsland.
Her mother grew up on a dairy farm.
She enjoyed her studies at Dookie because of the practical work she engaged in.
“It’s given me a good science background, but with Dookie, they have other courses you can do, for example in shearing or wool handling or using agricultural machinery.”
Isabella spent a few months as a rouse-about and did some casual milking to earn some money.
One day, in the long term, she hopes to be able to have her own farm.
Her boss, Cindy Hayes, said they were glad to meet Isabella as they had been looking for a promising new starter for at least 18 months.
They had given up conventional ways of recruiting and found Isabella by word of mouth.
38°C