Maree Deenen is a pretty capable woman.
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Afterall, she has been running a 100ha dairy farm outside Leongatha for quite a few years now.
Maree’s husband Jason has a full-time job off-farm, and helps out after hours, but the day-to-day jobs are all Maree.
The family milks between 160 to 180 Holstein cows.
Born in New Zealand, Maree comes from a dairy farming family.
When she was 21, she came across to Australia on a working holiday.
“I found a good job, married an Aussie and never went back,” Maree said.
In the early days there were different roles and different farms, including working on a 700-cow irrigation farm her parents bought in northern Victoria in 2002.
“We worked a couple of years there, but it didn’t work out, so we moved back to Gippsland and share-farmed for a while, milking 400 cows.
“By then we had a young family, and we were so busy, I felt like there was no time for the kids.”
The couple decided to buy a house on 2ha while their four daughters were young, and Jason got a job at the Murray Goulburn factory.
But the love of dairy farming never quite left Maree.
In 2014, an opportunity came to lease the farm they would eventually go on to buy in 2020.
“We leased the farm off Bill Haw and he loves the fact that a woman runs it, he laughs and tells me I grow better grass than he ever did.
“He still comes over and has a cup of tea, and I think so highly of him, he really is a lovely gentleman.”
Maree said it was the help of vendor terms offered by Bill that enabled them to buy the farm and she will be forever grateful.
Maree said she was very much an animal and pasture girl.
“Hubby does the tractor work at night and fixes anything I break — we are very much a good team,” she laughs.
“He thinks I am crazy about cows, but he likes his fishing and hunting, so we can meet in the middle.”
Maree comes from a registered cow background and has established Carisma Holsteins.
Carisma is no slouch in the show ring either — winning IDW in 2023 with Stanley Cup Evie, a cow she owns with good friend Alex Matthews.
The herd is calved in mid March-April and again in July-August and Maree runs a pasture base system supplemented with quality hay.
“I have big Holsteins and my priority is to feed them and look after them very well.”
Maree said her key to success had been to surround herself with positive people who were good to work with.
“The dairy industry is traditionally still male dominated, but I work with people who don’t care that I am a woman.
“There are of course many great men in the dairy industry who I have learnt off over the years, including my dad, who was wonderful with cows and calves.”
Maree said as the years are getting on and the next generation of their family is starting to hit the ground with grandbabies — she is trying to find a better work/life balance.
“It is really hard to find someone who will come and milk on the weekends or anytime to give us a bit of a break,” she said.
“We are working seven-days-a week, and more cows mean more work, and we are getting to the point now where Jason either needs to come home or I scale back — we haven’t quite worked out which direction to go.
“I have a grandson now and I haven’t quite got the balance right.”
Maree and Jason’s daughter Sage was recently awarded a $10,000 Gardiner Foundation Scholarship.
She is studying to be a large animal vet.
“The scholarship helps takes the pressure off Sage and us as she has a seven-year course ahead of her.”
A team from the Gardiner Foundation board recently visited Maree’s farm and spent a few hours learning about her business and meeting some of her cows.