There are sheep farmers, and then, there's Lady Ba Ba. As the name suggests, she is an incredible advocate for agriculture and the industry is lucky to have her. Through her social media platforms, she educates people about the wonders of wool and takes on some tough topics, often successfully turning critics into fans.
With such a bubbly personality, it'd be a waste if we didn't see more of her. So, thankfully you can also catch her on television, as a former Big Brother contestant, and she currently appears in South Aussie with Cosi on Channel Seven.
Lady Ba Ba, is Mel McGorman, and she launched onto a more public stage after posting a video to TikTok showing the aftermath of a bushfire, and how everything burnt except the wool.
"It just went berserk. I guess no one's really put sheep online before, let alone sheep in distress. It was an emotional video, and it got a lot of people watching it," Mel recalls. It was so big at the time, it even made international news.
It also told a story about how powerful wool is as a fire-resistant fibre. I was able to turn it around to be educational.
Mel also doesn't shy away from discussions on hard topics like live export. She was criticised online for supporting the practice and fiercely defended it.
Pushing boundaries on social media
"Everyone plays it safe on social media, so you get a bit lost if you keep it safe." Mel admits the industry once wasn't up to par but believes farmers and stakeholders have cleaned up the sector by improving standards locally and educating other countries who receive the animals.
"The ban has encouraged poorer animal standards around the world because it won't be banned worldwide. You're just banning Australians from being involved."
Mel shares many personal snippets of her life as a mum and a farmer with her followers, with the hope that controversial opinions like that are more easily listened to, if she's built a rapport with her audience.
"If I put videos out there of my life, I can connect with people as a person. I've got kids and I want them to be as healthy as possible. I want to feed them the best food possible."
People will emotionally buy things, even if it's more expensive, if they feel that connection with you.
Even though Mel produces lamb, she's the first to admit it's not the cheapest type of meat, so with the cost-of-living crisis, she spends time promoting other types of red meat.
She's been involved in catching goats in the Flinders Ranges that are destroying habitat and selling them to South Australian families through local butchers. "We asked every customer who bought a goat, to buy something else like some sausages or steaks or chicken. The average amount of money people spent on top of the goat box was about $80!" Mel was able to assist with putting $430,000 through three small local Adelaide butchers.
Cows for Cambodia
Mel also finds time for philanthropic work overseas with charity Cows for Cambodia, where they loan families a pregnant cow, the family takes care of it, and when it has the baby, they get to keep the baby, and the mum is returned. "In Cambodia, there are children who don't have enough protein to grow. It's an unbelievable charity."
Marrying into a farming family, Mel felt the need to carve out her own section of the business and has found her place with their lamb feedlot which they've evolved to become fully automated, experimenting with different feed mixes like soybean mill.
I just tell everyone my trade secrets. I do not keep anything secret. That's probably my worst asset but we can't make enough food to feed the world, so I don't see anyone as competition.
Mel's greatest wish is for Australians to go back to appreciating and being proud of their farmers. With every small online video showing farm-life she's certainly doing her bit to give thousands of consumers a front-row seat to life on the land.
Hear more stories like this by subscribing to the Telling Our Story podcast on iTunes (or wherever you listen to podcasts) and follow podcast host Angie Asimus on Instagram for more updates.
