We all have that one thing that gets us up in the morning, a passion or hobby that we cannot get enough of.
For Margaret Graham, a farmer in northern New South Wales, that thing is goats.
As you walk through her farm at Emerald Hill near Gunnedah, her love for her furry four-legged mates is obvious.
Ms Graham runs a working farm and while her goats are bred for commercial purposes, she adores them like they are her own children.
She talks to them, cuddles them and the kids run to her as if she is their mum.
Ms Graham has been running the farm alone for 19 years, after losing her husband.
As she speaks about life and loss, she stands in a paddock with does close to giving birth.
By now Ms Graham has delivered hundreds of kids, but her love of goats began when she was just seven years old.
“I always wanted a sister,” Ms Graham said.
“My mother went away with her brothers to a place called Weary Beach and she came back and she had a little doe and she said, ‘Here’s your sister’.
“That little girl went everywhere with me through the bush with the cattle dogs. She followed me just like a little person.”
Flash forward to 2023, and that love has only grown stronger.
“They all like cuddles … I only have to call out and they all come to me,” Ms Graham says.
“Everyone thinks I’m probably a bit silly but at least when you get up you’ve got something to do.”
Through grief, drought and fire
Like any farmer Ms Graham has weathered many challenges.
There have been droughts and flooding rains.
She has experienced immense grief losing a daughter and husband.
Her home also burnt down and she had to rebuild again.
Through it all, her beloved Boer goats have remained by her side and helped her through the very worst.
“You’ve got something else to look after and worry about other than worrying about yourself,” Ms Graham said.
“We have to face hardships at times … my house burnt down and I had to start all over again and that was a bit of a job.
“Life without them would be so difficult I should imagine.”
Mrs Graham started with dairy goats before she decided to breed Boer goats for meat, which she has exported for decades.
“I thought to myself it’s hard work having a family and milking goats all the time and so I thought the Boer goats would be a good thing,” she said.
“I went into breeding those and really loved it.
“For many years I exported to China and then Malaysia and Fiji also. At the moment we’re looking at New Guinea as they’re starting to set up to breed Boer goats because it is the largest eaten meat in the world.”
‘You keep going’
As another drought starts to grip the region Ms Graham trusts her beloved goats will get her through another tough period.
Every day Ms Graham gets up and tends to her goats and cattle, feeding them as the dry weather tightens its hold.
There seems to be no end in sight for her life on the land.
“My father used to say to me, ‘Girl, if you stop work you die, so you just get up and you keep going,'” Ms Graham reminisced.
