Maroondah Cattle Co allows James and Trinity McNicol to live out their farming dreams

Those are just some of the names of James and Trinity McNicol's Brahman herd, which they established earlier this year.

The carpenter by trade and qualified veterinarian launched the Maroondah Cattle Company after securing their dream property on the outskirts of Ipswich last year.

Having grown up on a dairy property in Kyabram, Victoria, where her family operated a Jersey stud, owning her own cattle herd was always a dream of Dr McNicol.

However, coming from the city, Mr McNicol, who has climbed through the ranks of the Queensland government to become a principal superintendent in the construction sector, took more convincing.

"For me, it was always the dream to get onto the land and out of the hustle and bustle, but I did have to convince James about why the lifestyle was worth the change," Dr McNicol said.

"When I first suggested moving out to a rural area we were sort of more thinking of a 30-acre lifestyle block but that quickly changed because I wanted to be really into it on a bit of a larger scale."

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Mr McNicol said while it was initially a bit daunting, the move was the best decision they had ever made.

"If anything, I just wish we had more land now," he said.

"We looked at quite a few different places and it was a bit challenging to find the right fit because some places had everything, but were too small, while some had plenty of room but no infrastructure. It has been a bit of an adjustment, but I've really been enjoying it."

Despite still being a qualified and accredited veterinarian, Dr McNicol currently works full time in data governance, however she sees it as the perfect way to help support the farm's growth.

"Our backgrounds come in very handy because he can fix anything and if there's something wrong with an animal I can fix it," she said.

"It also gives you a bit of break from both sides and really allows you to not only enjoy working on the farm more, but your everyday job as well."

As more young people hit roadblocks while trying to get a start on a farm of their own, Dr McNicol said supplementing their income was what worked for them.

"If we didn't have our current jobs I don't think there's any way we could be doing what we're doing," she said.

"There's no doubt it's difficult for anyone, especially young people, to go out and start their own farm without inheriting one.

"I think if my family had kept our property in Victoria that may have been what I did, but that wasn't to be so we looked at other ways to make it happen."

After some initial work to improve the 100-acre property's infrastructure, such as cattle yards, which were rebuilt using locally sourced materials, the couple set about finding the best breed of cattle to suit their operation.

Being based in the "ticky country", the McNicols were eager to introduce some Bos indicus cattle into the herd and after extensive research settled on a herd of Brahman females from North Queensland.

More research followed and they secured a draft of pregnancy-tested-in-calf Speckle Park females from Colin Shields at Everest Speckle Park stud with the ultimate goal to create a Brahckle article.

"We did quite a lot of research and I must say, the Speckle Park breeders were so supportive and really generous with their time," Dr McNicol said.

"As for the Brahman heifers, they were a little bit rouge when they first arrived, but they are so sweet that some of them will even eat out of your hand.

"In the next couple of months, we are hoping to use one of the Everest Speckle Park bulls over the Brahman females and we have also thought about maybe putting a Nguni bull over the Speckle Park heifers, after they've had their next calf.

"It is still a little bit of trial and error at the moment to see what works, but it is really exciting."

It means there will be plenty more cows named Shelley, Kylie, Karen and Brenda to come.