TWENTY-four year old Maddie Nicolson (pictured with her father Andrew) is the fifth generation of Nicolsons to grow up on the rolling bluebush plains of the north west pastoral country.
Her forefathers staked out their livelihoods on the land between Port Augusta and Whyalla in 1919 and Nicolsons have run pastoral leases in the area since.
Maddie was 18 when the Federal Government first approached her family to voice their intent to compulsorily acquire their pastoral leases as part of a multi-million dollar expansion of the Cultana Training Base, near Port Augusta.
"We found out when I was young so I didn't put all my eggs in one basket, and pursued other options away from agriculture," she said.
The architecture graduate is working on the family station for now, but will soon head north to Darwin to take up a role in the construction industry.
In the early 1900s the Nicolson family was the largest landholder in the district, owning 145,000 hectares on Middleback, Roopena, Tregalana and Nonowie Stations.
Andrew and his cousin, Locky, run Middleback and Roopena respectively and the government's acquisition of their long-held pastoral leases will prevent their children from eventually taking over the reigns.
Andrew said while it was sad to leave the land, "perhaps the next generation will not have the pressure to follow their forefathers onto a life on the land".
"There is always the expectation that the sixth or seventh generation don't want to be the generation that loses the property or decides they don't want a life on the land," he said.
"But now the decision has been made for us by a third party.
"An expanded army base is in the national and state interest and if South Australia wants to push its self as a defence hub, it needs somewhere for the Defence Force to train," he said.
"We are just the sacrificial lambs to allow this to go ahead."
Meanwhile, Maddie admits that the loss of the stations will contribute to a loss of her identity.
"There will be great emotional costs with this process, but I guess we won't really know what they are until the time comes to pack up and vacate," she said.
"Our feelings are no different to what they were when we first found out we were going to have to leave.
"And they probably won't change until we are actually going through the process of packing up our lives here.
"Time will tell."
At the moment, all they can do is speculate on the negotiations which have occurred between the government and indigenous groups.
The acquired pastoral land will be carved up and used for the army base expansion and to give to local indigenous groups, and the Nicolsons are unsure whether the land will be used for tourism, conservation, or continue under pastoral tenure.
Whatever the use, Maddie hopes the land will continue to be looked after.
"We hope in the negotiation process we can find out what the land is to be used for and how it will be looked after," she said.
"This country is sensitive and vulnerable," she said. "It is not like cattle country that just springs back after rains."
"It is hard to leave after all this time and many generations of our family looking after the land.
"All you can hope for is that the next people who take over it look after it in the same manner."
The Nicolsons will have at least two private valuations of their properties to take into consideration against the government's valuation, which is yet to be conducted.
The family is hopeful that negotiations will start in coming weeks, and once negotiations are finalised, the Nicolsons will have six months to vacate their land.
"We have to be practical about when we can realistically de-stock," Maddie said.
"We have lambs on the ground now and still have one more shearing for sure.
"Who knows, it could still draw out much longer."
* More on the government's compulsory acquisitions in this week's Stock Journal.