Since moving to their remote outback farm, Danyelle and Anthony Haigh have been juggling trucking and farming – and their upcoming return to our screens will show how they go about managing both.
The couple became familiar faces on popular television show Outback Truckers, alongside their two young boys (Heath, 10, and Theo, 5) and then had their own spin-off show called Outback Farm.
While you won’t spot them on season 10 of Outback Truckers, currently airing on 7Mate and 7Plus, they’re making a return next year and have already begun filming for season 11.
The Haigh family are no strangers to the show, but Danyelle says her beloved 2015 Mack Superliner, affectionately named Pink Bits, will be making its debut.
Danyelle and Anthony run Murranji Water Drilling, which they took over in 2014. It sees them travelling to some of the most remote locations, drilling bores in search of water.
They also operate a remote 5000-acre outback farm, located some 200km north of Alice Springs. Despite their farm being located in the middle of the desert, their primary business is producing and delivering hay for the cattle industry.
And if that’s not enough to keep them extremely busy, Danyelle is also building up her tourism business at the property too.
When Danyelle Haigh chatted to Big Rigs this week, the family had just returned home after being on the road for almost four weeks, drilling on the Barkly.
The Outback Truckers production crew also came along to film the couple hard at work.
When asked what’s it like to manage both businesses, Danyelle revealed, “It is a challenge trying to balance both because we’re really busy at the farm. It’s been stinking hot at the moment too, so it’s nice to be back home.
“We’re lucky to have a really good team to manage the farm when we’re not here. They’ve been with us from the beginning and they’ll be here again next year.”
The drilling season usually takes place between May to September/October, depending on rainfall.
“Because we’ve been so busy here, we’ve only done about six weeks of drilling all up this year. We have to work it around the hay, because Anthony is the only one who bales the hay. Anthony and I also do a lot of the hay deliveries ourselves,” added Danyelle.
“We have a lot of repeat customers for the drilling business, who’ve been with us since we started. We’ve become friends with a lot of them, so we know what their schedules are like and can plan ahead.
“For Murranji, we haven’t taken on an offsider this year, so it’s just me, Anthony, the kids and the governess. We’ve sacrificed that so we can have someone else here at the farm to manage the tourism side, as it’s hard to manage that when I’m not there.”
As for the family’s upcoming appearance in Outback Truckers, season 11, Danyelle said, “I think what we’ve just filmed will be a good episode because it shows aspects of how we’re doing both the farm and the drilling. We’re looking to put some more pivots in and develop the farm a bit more, so we’re utilising the revenue from Murranji to support that.”
Outback Truckers is currently casting for season 11 and Danyelle encourages truckies to give it a go – and is also encouraging others to try their hand at trucking too.
“I think there are people who are scared to go on TV in case they look like a dickhead. But what you see is how we are. I’m not going to put on a façade and not wear my lipstick to go on the show. Even though I might go out in my pearl earrings and my jewellery, I still give everything a red-hot crack.
“I want to try and encourage people to get out there and get into the industry, even if they don’t think it’s for them – I never thought it was for me either and I’ve loved it.
“I was a city girl and never thought I’d be doing what I’m doing,” she said. “I couldn’t even drive a ute, now I’m driving and reversing a triple!”
Love the show…. Anthony is a work horse an dannielle is a legend.. their boys are classics
Great see team back. All the best Ed Eddys Towing Glenburn Vic