Women of the LMRIA: Meet Murray Bridge’s Vicki Jones
She’s the passionate mother and farmer who was forced to give up her cows, but returned to help the next generation.

This post was contributed by Ellie Rankin.
The Lower Murray Reclaimed Irrigation Area (LMRIA) spans a stretch from Mannum to Wellington where you’ll find a mix of farming, including cropping, dairy, hay production and livestock.
In 2022, when the River Murray floods hit, farmers were confronted with difficult decisions: selling off their livestock, relocating them to higher ground, or arranging for agistment elsewhere, while watching their crops be destroyed by the rising water.
In the wake of these challenges, the women of the LMRIA came together and created a group to give each other support, all connected by their ties to farming along the Murray River.
Among them is Vicki Jones.
She now helps her son Corey and daughter-in-law Mollie, who run the family's former cattle dairy and transformed it into the SA Buffalo Co farm at Mypolonga.

I was born in Murray Bridge but moved frequently around Victoria due to my dad's job as a horse trainer.
I met my husband in Murray Bridge and later moved to his family’s cattle dairy farm.
We took over the dairy from my in-laws, and I managed both the dairy and raising our three children.
Before we had kids, my husband worked as a truck driver, leaving me to milk the cows on my own.
After years of struggling, we had to shut down our dairy and sell our cows because the price of milk dropped to an unsustainable 20 cents per litre.
I found work at the meat works, where, on my first day, I had to pack meat from our own cattle sent to the abattoir.
I worked there for 14 years, starting my days at 2am and finishing at 5pm.
Many years later, my son and daughter-in-law decided to return to the farm and restart the dairy, this time with buffalo instead of cattle.
The land had been idle for years and required extensive work to clear paddocks and rebuild fences.
We now milk the buffalo twice a day, starting at 4am and again at 3.30 pm.
It takes three hours to milk 140 buffalo.



The SA Buffalo Co farm in Mypolonga run by the Jones family. Photos: Ellie Jade Photography.
When the floods hit, the council constructed a levee to protect our homes and the town.
Although the river levee broke and flooded the land around the dairy, the dairy itself remained safe on higher ground.
However, we couldn’t access it due to the surrounding water.
Knowing from past experiences that the dairy sat on a rise, we anticipated it would remain safe.
We had to relocate our 400 buffalo, which was challenging as they were unfamiliar with the new dairy and reluctant to enter it.

Once the floods had cleared there was damage to our land and a lot of cleaning up to do.
The fences were destroyed and it took a long time before we could put the buffalo's back into the paddocks due to the mud and no feed.
The Joneses are still rebuilding after the floods but have a great family support system.