Leaving the Schoolbooks to Join the Stockcamp

What were you doing at the age of 16? 

For many, the answer is sitting in a classroom staring out a window. Myles Newcombe by 16, however, found himself chasing cattle in Queensland’s Gulf Country. 

Myles, who had grown up hopping from home to home across Southern Queensland as his father took on managerial roles on different cattle properties across the state, wasn’t gripped by any particular desire to stay in school. 

“I think I changed schools eight times in ten years,” he said, “you get used to it, and it meant I got to experience a lot of different country as a kid.”

The move to contract mustering, then, was not such a daunting experience for the teenage Myles. 

Supplied by: Myles Newcombe

“I was the youngest on the team so I copped a fair bit of flack from the older fellas, I obviously got to do a fair few of the worse jobs,” he laughed, “but it was good. It taught me a lot, I saw a lot and got to have an experience that not many 16 year olds could say they’ve had.”

Seven years later and Myles had worked with cattle across Central and North Queensland, gaining experience that many his age could only dream of. Did he feel he missed out by omitting a university degree? Not at all.

“Contract mustering was probably one of the best things I could have done. We saw a vast majority of Queensland and I got to learn how to handle different mobs of cattle and work with different types of people.”

“I used to work under a guy who would always say ‘these young fellas coming through, they’ve had too much book and not enough blister,’ and that’s probably the message that I’ve really pushed throughout this whole Royal Ambassador journey,” he explained. 

“You can dress me up and take me out and I can talk to people, but it’s my practical skills that are definitely my strong point.”

While Myles has always competed at his local show – now Gympie – for years and years, entering in both cattle and stock horse competitions, running for rural ambassador was not the most natural step for him to take. 

“I got to the second round and went through the interviews and it was pretty nerve-wracking at the start but as I went through I freed up and away I went.”

“I really enjoyed the whole process and the further I went along the more I realised how it was suited to me,” he explained, “probably the biggest thing that I found was that they aren’t looking for a role, they’re looking for a person – a person that is passionate about their future in the industry, and about the industry’s future.”

When looking at his place in the industry’s future, Myles wants to help make agriculture accessible to everyone. 

“I haven’t grown up with a property to inherit, but I’ve worked to be at a place where my career is a life on the land, so I am passionate about seeing other young people doing the same thing. And our local shows play a big role in that,” he said. 

“The show draws a community together, it is where city meets country. You go for a walk through the cattle pavilion and there’s always city cousins walking through and they’re interested, they’ll ask about a cow or a bull and be like, ‘wow, it’s huge. How big is he?’”

“They always want to know everyday things like that and that’s a conversation starter,” he continued.

“It’s really important that those little interactions between city and country keep happening.”