The Farmers Club Podcast

In part 1 of the full podcast, we spoke about the following: Weather and trading conditions at Kerin Ag.The cost of doing nothing. Refer to this article here.How Nigel tried low-input Farming back in the 90s.And how they were literally forced into low-input Farming in the 90s.How you have to replenish what you take out when it comes to production.How is it that when we want something to work, we will pull out all stops to justify it to ourselves and others?Nigel gave us some of his learning f...

This podcast is a little different; it’s from a panel we were involved in during the Farmers Day Out at Ballarat in late March. The lineup included: Lachie McKenzie - Founder of McKenzie Ag - Panel Facilitator. Brooke Dawson - CEO of Oakdale Meat Co. Phil McFarlane - CEO of Australian Plant Proteins. Alistair Ham - Founder of Windemere Oilseeds. Dwain Duxson - Founder of The Farmers Club The quality of a panel podcast depends on the quality of the questions asked, and Lachie McKenzie didn’t l...

Alice Mabin has done a lot in the Ag space, a hell of a lot. It would almost be safe to say more than anyone her age, and she's still only young. She has a creative mind, and she gets the Ag and Farming thing. Alice has a saying she keeps telling herself: "What would I be doing if I only had 6 months to live?" She builds her life around this statement. It stems from having a horse accident at 15, where she was resuscitated 3 times, spent 3 weeks in a coma and 4 months in hospital. In ty...

Ben McEvoy was an outstanding AFL footballer who played 252 games over a 15-year career, including two premierships with the Hawthorn Football Club. He was drafted by St Kilda and has a funny story about the draft, and when he was traded from St Kilda to Hawthorn, he didn’t know it was going to happen until it did. Ben was passionate about Football but has what I’d consider a greater passion for Farming. He says he’ll be a lifelong Farmer and just loves it. The money-earning side of Foo...

St John (pronounced Sinjin) is an interesting cat, and we got him on because we wanted to hear his story and what he does, but we also wanted to get into the minds of you guys (the Farmers) and better understand the decisions you make and why. So, by listening, you might get a better understanding of yourself and why you do what you do. You see St John has a business called Rural Sales Success that specifically trains salespeople how to serve their Farmer customers properly, not sell to...

Kate Burke has spent a lifetime in the Ag space and has worked alongside Farmers throughout her career. I've said it before: Kate gets Farmers and knows what makes them tick. You can only do this by closely observing the human side of Farming. Kate is a deep thinker, and when working in a consultancy role with Farmers, she has the ability to adapt to each situation, which can differ from one Farmer to another. Kate has just finished her 2nd book called "Succession", which will be a must-read ...

The 2nd part of the Bill Long interview is about his critique of the GRDC and Grains industry RD&E in general. Critique might sound like a bit of a negative word, but it's not; it's great to hear from people like Bill who tell it like it is and with an informed opinion. He outlines what he thinks needs to change, but also praises the many things that are going right. Bill sent us an email with his reply to the "Boots Off Log On" podcast we alerted him to, which featured Paul McKenzi...

Jonathan Lillie and his brother Jamie are in charge of the Lillie family generation business called Fox and Lillie. Fox and Lillie started in 1948 in the Wool industry, a good year to start a wool-based business in the lead-up period to what was known as the 1950s Wool boom. Fox and Lillie is a great Australian Agricultural success story as they have stood the test of time and have constantly pivoted their business with good management decisions that have allowed it to diversify. Fox ...

Nikki Lyons just set a record for shearing 502 Merino Lambs (unmulesed ones, mind you) in a 9-hour working block with breaks in between. Nikki outlines in detail what she went through on the day and the preparation she put in before the event. It's a real team game, and Nikki relies on those around her, so she can fully focus on her job at hand and what's in front of her handpiece. With all due respect to the general Shearers out there, this stuff that Nikki is doing is 5 levels above and ...

Our guest today is Kelly Marson from Let's Talk Australia. Kelly has blown me away with her passion for wanting to help with the negative experiences that come with mental health issues. You will get an understanding of her passion and commitment when you hear her speak. Because of this, and also because it's such an important subject, we have decided to make this podcast available to the public through Apple Podcasts and Spotify, as well as behind the paywall to our paid subscribers. There a...

Our latest podcast guest is none other than Ken Solly. For those of you keen on advancing yourself in Agriculture, this is a must listen. Ken has helped numerous Farmers in his time, firstly as a TAFE teacher, and after that as a self-employed consultant. His great mate Wayne Hawkins said he could have easily doubled or even tripled the turnover of the Farmers he worked with, such was his influence. Ken is a deep thinker, a thorough observer and has been a great listener. He has a...

This was a fantastic Woolshed chat with Ben Duxson, who Farms at Marnoo in Victoria. And yes, Ben is my brother. We discuss a wide range of topics from his Sheep classing run that he started when he was 21, right through to him being the unofficial spokesperson for Farmers fighting against the transmission lines. Some have called for Ben to enter politics, which he did not rule out. Ben has his Glendemar Ram Sale on October 8th, and if you want to sign up for one of his newsletters, jus...