This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have a guest from our recent event, the neXtgen Agri Muster. Tom Fraser is a scientist at AgResearch. Tom spoke at the muster about pasture allocation and making the most of your genetics. It was such a great talk we decided to get Tom on the podcast to share the knowledge with our podcast listeners. Tom talks about Body Condition Scoring and how "your hand is the cheapest tool you have". Mark says "it's the most profitable thing you can do on a sheep fa...
Aug 21, 2022•23 min•Season 8Ep. 3
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Rob Bell, Co founder and CTO at ProAgni and CEO and Principle Consultant at Formula Ag. Which Ferg translates to "knowing a lot about nutrition." On this episode we're focusing on weaning, a process not too far away in parts of Australia. Rob initially started off as an agronomist in the cotton industry but the droughts soon led to a change of career. One thing that really struck him was that regardless of what happened, even in the worst draughts, ...
Aug 14, 2022•33 min•Season 8Ep. 2
Welcome back to season 8 of the Head Shepherd podcast. As ever, we're starting off with a bang and have the fantastic Julie McDonald as our first guest. Julie is the CFO of McDonalds Holdings- 3.36 million hectares based in Queensland Australia. Julie credits many things to the success of such a large scale enterprise but one of the defining reasons is the intergenerational knowledge. Having support and information from older generations combed with the younger generations enthusiasm, combined w...
Aug 07, 2022•29 min•Season 8Ep. 1
We are currently busily recording season 8 of the podcast. While we do that we thought we would share with you one of the podcasts from the private podcast we run within The Hub - Head Shepherd Radio. Ferg has been recording a breeding series and this week we are sharing one of those with you. We are sharing the reproduction episode from the breeding series this week and Ferg goes through the various traits to look at when buying rams this year. The Hub is a great virtual home for livestock prod...
Jul 31, 2022•14 min
This week is our season finale of Season 7 of the Head Shepherd podcast. As ever, we asked our listeners if they had any questions for Mark Ferguson to answer. Mark covers questions such as: "Are the commercial farmers still planning to invest similar this up coming ram selling season in Australia, at the same level they have in previous years? Is there any uncertainty in higher interest rates and FMD on the horizon?" to "Can high temperatures during joining affect the quality of the foetus? Is ...
Jul 24, 2022•33 min•Season 7Ep. 13
This week on the podcast we have Sophie Barnes- sheep fan and producer of the Head Shepherd Podcast. Sophie isn't from a farming background but is now one of the biggest fans of sheep you could find. Sophie came across farming when she was 18 and has been hooked ever since. Sophie moved to New Zealand seven years ago for a "two year trip". Sophie runs through her time here in New Zealand and the jobs she's held- a from gorse spraying shepherd to production manager of the youngstock at a sheep da...
Jul 17, 2022•19 min•Season 7Ep. 12
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Sally Murfet of Inspire Ag. Sally is a farmer's daughter born and raised in North West Tasmania on a farm producing beef cattle and seed potatoes. Sally established Inspire Ag after seeing a gap in the support system for the agriculture industry. There was no one helping farmers increase business performance through human capital. "If you have a disengaged employee, it will cost you 30-200% of their wage to reemploy that staff member. Focusing on em...
Jul 10, 2022•31 min•Season 7Ep. 11
In this episode we are providing a recording of Associate Professor Andrew Thompson from Murdoch University. Thommo, as he is better known, presented this talk at workshops in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. There are loads of tips in here and I'm sure you are going to enjoy the depth of knowledge that this man has. The workshops were for an MLA funded project that involves developing a decision support tool for those considering or currently mating ewe lambs and are keen to under...
Jul 04, 2022•51 min•Season 7Ep. 10
We started this podcast with three episodes of Ferg sharing his perspective about genetics. We thought it was time to hear more of his thoughts, a couple of years on. Whether you breed sheep, cattle or goats, this episode provides you with guidance and tips on setting a breeding objective (or genetic plan) and then implementing strategies to put the plan into action. It refers to a genetic planning document that Ferg has written, 'Your Genetic Plan'. If you would like a copy of this helpful temp...
Jun 26, 2022•39 min•Season 7Ep. 9
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Ross Richards of Romani Farms, Taumarunui, New Zealand. Ross farms in a fairly challenging environment. With warm muggy summers and paddocks surrounded by native bush it is hard to produce good wool even on the best of years. Facial eczema has always been around but with the warmer winters we've had recently the spore counts are getting worse. Ross has spent the last 16 years breeding what he terms a "biologically efficient" sheep to counteract thes...
Jun 19, 2022•42 min•Season 7Ep. 8
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Monica Ebert. Monica has been involved with sheep her entire life. She grew up on a stud farm in North East Kansas, USA breeding and showing British Downs Breeds. The passion for wool came a little later after Monica studied Fashion Design and Marketing at University. This is where she started to see the link between fashion and fibre. She decided she wanted to focus on wool as it goes into apparel. Monica interned in Texas at the Texas A&M Agri...
Jun 12, 2022•24 min•Season 7Ep. 7
This week on the podcast we have Robin Smith, a Product Design Engineer and creator of Numnuts . Numnuts is a device that simultaneously castrates or tails a lamb whilst also administering pain relief. Robin is originally from a family of sheep vets: "You end up back in the flock as you get older," and the Numnuts story began when Robin's father developed a vaccine for barber's pole . Robin's company, 4c Design, developed the machine that produced the vaccine. That brought Robin over to Australi...
Jun 05, 2022•39 min•Season 7Ep. 6
This week on the Head Shepherd Podcast we have Dayanne Almeida aka The Sheep Nutter. Dayanne isn't from a farming background, but through her Animal Science degree in her home country Brazil, she fell in love with sheep. Once she'd finished her degree she began to work for sheep breeders associations in her home country then one day, Dayannes friend suggested she travel to New Zealand to learn more about sheep farming. To which she laughed! Dayanne didn't know English at the time. But, she didn'...
May 29, 2022•44 min•Season 7Ep. 5
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have St John Craner, rural sales and marketing trainer, owner of Agrarian and Kellogg scholar. The podcast this week takes a step sideways from our usual content. St John specialises in rural sales and the psychology behind it. His company, Agrarian, offers in person and online training programmes where they help agribusiness grow using digital strategies and marketing campaigns, to sales training and farmer panel research. St John says "In order to sell...
May 22, 2022•39 min•Season 7Ep. 4
In this week's episode, Mark catches up with the three co-founders of Hemprino™; Siobhan O'Malley, Paul Ensor and Harriet Bell. As the name suggests, Hemprino™ is a luxurious blend of the two heritage fibres; hemp and merino wool. The trio met as Kellogg Rural Leadership Scholars and share a huge passion for innovation and challenging the way we operate. The Hemprino™ journey began in 2018 with a curious question, which was, thanks to funding from AGMARDT, soon followed by a trip to Shanghai to ...
May 15, 2022•25 min•Season 7Ep. 3
This week on the Head Shepherd Podcast, Mark catches up with a long-term colleague and friend, Darren Gordon. Darren is a sheep nutrition and breeding consultant for neXtgen Agri, based near Dunkeld in Victoria. The pair spent several years working together, researching and collating data for the Department of Primary Industries, which later went on to form the foundation of the Lifetime Ewe Management program. Darren speaks of his various roles within the industry and the research projects that...
May 08, 2022•34 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Welcome back to the Head Shepherd Podcast! To kick off season 7, we have the wonderful Sarah Perriam on to chat about her extensive media career and passion for the future of New Zealand agriculture. These days Sarah runs a production company based just outside of Christchurch and produces her own agricultural podcast called Sarah's country. Sarah grew up on a sheep and beef station in Central Otago. Her rural upbringing, alongside influential figures such as John Perriam, shaped her love for th...
May 01, 2022•20 min•Season 7Ep. 1
As with our previous seasons of Head Shepherd, we're finishing off season 6 with a Q&A episode with Mark Ferguson. We'd like to thank everyone who sent through their questions. They were vastly different and very thought-provoking, as you'll hear on the podcast! There were nine questions, ranging from the affects of fertility genes on eating quality to the limiting factors within the agricultural industry. Thank you for taking the time to listen to season 6 of Head Shepherd; we will be back ...
Apr 11, 2022•46 min•Season 6Ep. 13
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Jock Lawrence, creator and founder of Mobble. After returning home to the family farm in Victoria Australia, and realising that all of the important information was up in "Dads head", Jock and his family trialed some farm management software in an attempt to get the operation running more smoothly. However, none of them worked for both generations of farmers, and none had all of the things they both wanted. And so, Mobble was born. "Everything you n...
Apr 03, 2022•21 min•Season 6Ep. 12
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Renée Hogg of Inside NZ. Renee grew up wanting to go farming, and always had a vision to "Create an industry I wanted to go farming in, and then go farming in it". Her first role towards this dream, was actually with Apples with the Apple and Pear Marketing Board before it deregulated. And then, during that time she had her own business helping Apple growers get their head around the changes. She then went back into red meat, working as Supply Chain...
Mar 27, 2022•35 min•Season 6Ep. 11
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast, we're joined by Steve Kelly, Commercial Identification Manager of Allflex, and Kim Kelly, Veterinary Technical Advisor of MSD Animal Health. Allflex has been the sponsor of our podcast since its inception and it is always great to catch up with the team to hear what they're up to. Recently, Allflex was acquired by MSD Animal Health. Steve and Kim describe the companies coming together as "A match made in Heaven”, with the number of synergies between the tw...
Mar 20, 2022•28 min•Season 6Ep. 10
This week on the podcast we have an hour long special for you! Mark caught up with Dr Johan Greef, an expert in production and disease traits in Merino Sheep. Johan's career is an exceptional one. From worm resistance and resilience, to breech and dag correlation, high fertility composites, identifying odours from wool; Johan has worked on just about anything important when it comes to breeding productive and healthy sheep. One particularly fascinating conversation involves using dogs to scent d...
Mar 13, 2022•56 min•Season 6Ep. 9
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Ryan Maclean, based in North West Scotland. Ryan and Mark met through a mutual friend and sheep scanner Daniel Wheeler. Ryan was raised on a beef and sheep farm in Scotland, where he is running around 1,000 ewes and 120 breeding cattle between himself and his father. He runs predominately Cheviot sheep, with some crossed to a Texel. They also have a pedigree Limousins and Belted Galloway herds. Ryan however, spends most of his time off farm followin...
Mar 06, 2022•36 min•Season 6Ep. 8
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Anne Ridler chatting to Mark about Ewe wastage and checking udders post-weaning. Anne Ridler is an associate professor at Massey University specialising in sheep and beef. Anne has been in her current role for 11 years and prior to that was a practicing vet. One of Annes recent research projects involved checking udders on ewes. The project came about from Annes interest in Ewe wastage. Most farmers will cull on poor udders but Anne found that most ...
Feb 27, 2022•32 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Sticking with our Zanda McDonald theme, this week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Australia's 2022 award winner, Charlie Perry Charlie grew up on a farm in northern NSW, Australia, but as with many family operations, was told he had to work elsewhere before he could work on the home farm. He went to study in Sydney and stayed there for seven more years working in management consulting. The family farm Charlie has returned to is in Guyra, a relatively summer safe part of Australia, with 30-3...
Feb 20, 2022•32 min•Season 6Ep. 6
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Henry Hickson, our Livestock Breeding Consultant in Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia. Henry grew on a mixed far near Boomi, New South Wales, Australia- aka an hour north of the middle of nowhere. With his dad breeding his own Merino rams, the start of a genetics addiction began at a young age. Henry then went on to study at UNE and after a stint working in farm benchmarking, applied for a consulting role with neXtgen Agri. Henry is servicing predominantl...
Feb 13, 2022•24 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Rhys Roberts is Chief Executive and Director of the Align Group, who operate 7 farms, a market garden, and are vertically integrated with a yoghurt brand and milk processing facility. An entrepreneurial approach to primary production has resulted in Rhys Roberts of mid-Canterbury receiving the 2022 New Zealand Zanda McDonald Award. The Zanda McDonald Award, now in its eighth year, supports talented and passionate young professionals in the ag sector from Australia and New Zealand. Rhys is passio...
Feb 06, 2022•40 min•Season 6Ep. 4
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Bronwyn Clarke chatting to Mark about her career in agriculture, the research she's currently involved in, and the wealth of knowledge that she has around sheep genetics. Bronwyn is an expert in genetics-focused R&D and project management, and has over 20 years of experience in the New Zealand and Australian Merino industries. Bronwyn did not grow up around sheep, spending her childhood in Papua New Guinea. But, fast forward a few years, Bronwyn...
Jan 31, 2022•27 min•Season 6Ep. 3
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Jack Devlin, 2IC of Bonavaree, Marlborough NZ. Jack spent several years working around New Zealand working on several notable stations after completing his degree- and putting it into practice was something he really enjoyed. In 2020 he headed over to Japan to work as a ski instructor, which Covid quickly put a halt to. Jack decided to give Fraser Avery a ring to see if he could help with tailing for a while. Roll forward two years and Jack is now w...
Jan 23, 2022•26 min•Season 6Ep. 2
Welcome back to Season 6 of the Head Shepherd podcast. We have a fantastic line up of guests for you this season and we can't wait to share their stories over the coming 13 weeks. Today, we have 27 year old Karol Devaney of Drumcliff, a village in County Sligo, Ireland. Shearing from a young age, Karol used his skill early on in life to travel around the worlds sheep farms. At the age of 27 Karol has travelled to New Zealand and Australia multiple times. The income from shearing paid for his col...
Jan 16, 2022•35 min•Season 6Ep. 1
