Julie Mayne loves the rhythms of the land: the movement of birds, the sound of rain, and the way trees rise up from the plains.
"Women have more of a holistic view of the landscape than perhaps men do," Ms Mayne told AAP from her property in Queensland's Western Downs, where she breeds Santa Gertrudis cattle.
"I just love my cows, my girls.
"When you spend a lot of time with them you notice all their little idiosyncrasies; how they move in a mob, how they graze and their maternal instincts for their young."
As president of the Queensland Rural, Regional and Remote Women's Network, Ms Mayne knows the worth of women in country Australia.
She has worked as a horse trainer, truck driver, musterer and beef marketer and continues to push for women's unique skills to be better recognised in the industry.
"Women are the glue, we are the leaders," she said.
"If you want to know what's happening ring a woman, she'll tell you if the school bus is broken down, if there's no doctor's service, if a road is closed.
"We rally in our small communities.
"I just wish that leadership scope was recognised higher up, but we're getting there."
The network, which connects women and offers leadership programs, professional mentoring and support, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month.
Monto farmer Jan Darlington founded the movement in 1993 after her husband died and neighbours started asking whether she would sell up and leave the land.
Instead, she forged ahead by reaching out to other women.
What began as a word-of-mouth network reliant on newsletters and shed meetings became a cross-industry body, which carved out a path for rural women.
In the early 1990s, the organisation ran workshops on how to use the internet for bookkeeping and business - a skill that gave many women more sway in rural industries.
Rosemary Burnett, who ran dairy farms in the Sunshine Coast hinterland and Gympie with her husband from the early 1970s, was one of the network's early members.
Though she felt respected in the family business, she knew other women were not so fortunate.
"It was a man's world, really," Mrs Burnett told AAP.
"That's why the network grew, because there were still a lot of women feeling ostracised.
"(Men) would refer to the business and say, 'is your husband home?'. A lot of them wouldn't do business with the women."
Now retired, Mrs Burnett was delighted when her granddaughter decided to spend a gap year working on a Northern Territory cattle station.
It shows that organisations like the network have helped new generations of women find their place.
"It's almost a rite of passage for them to get out in the bush and get their hands dirty and that's incredible," she said.
"Women today have a lot more confidence, a lot more opportunities and education.
"The world has changed a lot in 30 years."
