The 24-year-old dairy farmer from Orford, north of Port Fairy, grew up showjumping and eventing.
Her mother, Anne, became an instant national celebrity in 2007 when her horse, Tears I Cry, won the Emirates Stakes as a 100-1 chance.
It was a year of great joy but also of heartache.
An accident in 2007 resulting in the death of a farm employee and serious injury to another meant Anne and her husband Eddie had to sell their 1000-cow dairy farm the following year to pay bills.
In 2010, they started afresh in dairying with Eddie’s brother Andrew on 480ha of other land the family owned.
Rachael was still involved in horses out of school hours and had shown little interest in the family’s dairy farm.
That was until she spent the school holidays working in the dairy in 2011, when just 17.
She decided then that she wanted to finish Year 11 at high school to begin working on the family’s farm full-time.
Anne would only let her leave school on the proviso she completed a Certificate 3 course at South West TAFE in Warrnambool.
Rachael completed the course in two years and now runs the farm with her father and uncle.
The McGraths milk 410 cows, mostly Jerseys and Holstein-Jerseys, off 240ha.
The other 240ha is used for hay production and running dry cows and young stock.
“It’s a pretty good operation that we have going now,” Rachael said.
“We export Jersey cows to China and have just been told there is another shipment going in February.
“It is definitely handy to have the export heifers available.
“It’s extra income at the harder months of the year.”
This year will be a busy one for Rachael.
She will join six other dairy farmers on an eight-day study tour of New Zealand next month, organised by the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria and funded by the Gardiner Dairy Foundation.
“I envisage many new opportunities will come from the program experience, travelling with other young dairy farmers and meeting people from all parts of the New Zealand industry,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to learning more about improving our farm operations and understanding the industry through the networks we develop. I want to get more involved in the industry.
“I felt I have got a lot more to learn. I sort of just decided I had to study harder to increase my knowledge.”
As part of that quest for knowledge, Rachael plans to begin a three-year Bachelor of Agriculture course run by Central Queensland University through Rural Industry Skill Training at Hamilton this year.