No matter what country you visit, each will always say that they produce the best sheep. But, up until recently, we didn't have a fair comparison of sheep genetics between countries. That's where Teagasc, the Agriculture and Food Development Authority of Ireland, and our guest this week, Dr Noirin McHugh, come in. Both Ireland and New Zealand have grass-based systems with an emphasis on export markets. In Ireland, their breeding objectives are similar to those in New Zealand, centring on lambing...
Oct 22, 2023•34 min
Our guest this week is esteemed agribusiness leader, John McKillop, and this episode is an inspiring listen. John has had an incredible career leading many agribusinesses around the globe and, as Mark puts it, “If there's a big name in ag that you haven't worked for, I'm not sure who they are.” From his beginnings on a family farm in western NSW to leading global corporations, John's journey in the agriculture sector offers valuable, and often humorous, insights. His career is a testament to res...
Oct 15, 2023•55 min
Our guest this week is Dr Sonja Dominik, a research scientist specialising in sustainability indicators at CSIRO in Armidale. Sonja's career began with an undergraduate degree in Germany, majoring in animal breeding and genetics. Her passion for genetics led her to undertake research work in Australia, where she developed a deep appreciation for the country, its people and its livestock. Sonja moved to Australia to complete her doctoral studies, looking at genotype x environment interaction in m...
Oct 08, 2023•31 min
This week on the podcast we have Cara Brosnahan from Beef and Lamb NZ (B+LNZ) discussing the latest research being done to gauge the prevalence and impact of facial eczema (FE) in New Zealand. As the global climate shifts, the disease is migrating further southward, causing new challenges for regions and livestock previously unaffected. B+LNZ are trying to understand the spread and severity of the disease, with the aim of devising effective strategies to manage it. North Island farmers will be v...
Oct 01, 2023•25 min
Breeding a balanced sheep is no easy feat. But with a head for numbers and a great mindset, our guest this week, Alan Rissmann, is doing just that. With the business tagline 'We breed sheep to work for you, not make work for you', it's no surprise that Rissmerino breeds sheep for higher welfare traits and reduced workload. In his conversation with Mark, Alan dives into the 'why' behind this. "In the industry, there's been this perception that sheep are hard work and they just have to be hard wor...
Sep 24, 2023•42 min
Tune in to hear Dr Nicola Lambe and Dr Mark Ferguson discuss sheep genetics, methane emissions and their intersection with climate change. With an impressive 25-year career at Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Nicola brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our listeners. From her beginnings as a poultry research assistant, Nicola is now a teacher and project manager at SRUC. Throughout her career, she has played a crucial role in CT scanning work in Scotland, helping farmers breed for bett...
Sep 17, 2023•35 min
This week Nicola Peddie shares her insights into the wool industry, the power of sustainable innovation, and the potential for personal growth when you put your mind to it. Born and raised on a sheep and beef farm in New Zealand, Nicola's passion for wool came from a black and coloured stud flock her mother ran. "From a young age, I used to prepare the wool with Mum and become naturally very fond of it," she says. Nicola gained her wool-classing ticket, but found it difficult to find a run in Ne...
Sep 10, 2023•28 min
Lamb survival is always a hot topic, especially as producers increase their scanning percentages and improve their feeding practices, leading to more multiples. This week on the podcast we have Dr Amy Lockwood, whose research has focused on lamb survival - from paddock size to feed availability. In this conversation with Dr Mark Ferguson, Amy shares the findings from her PhD research on mob size and lamb survival, illustrating how producers can reduce the size of their lambing paddocks, and mana...
Sep 03, 2023•28 min
Maximising the potential of the grass you grow is a critical component of pasture-based agriculture; doing it well is what separates the good farmers from the great. In this episode of the Head Shepherd podcast, we discuss this and more with Michael Gooden, an Angus seed stock business expert and a champion of sustainable cattle farming practices. Michael hails from NSW, Australia, where he and his family have taken a unique, future-focused approach to their Angus seed stock business. They have ...
Aug 27, 2023•47 min
Are we aware of where our food comes from? What about the subtle complexities in our food production systems? Join us as we get a fresh perspective on this and more from Jill Griffiths, a science writer, journalist, and author. Her recently launched book, "What's for Dinner?", dives into how our food is grown and our role as food-eaters. With a mix of science, history, and personal stories, she takes us on a fascinating journey to meet the plants, animals, and people who make our meals possible....
Aug 20, 2023•41 min
Do you vaccinate your livestock correctly? Do you read the label every time? Is your fridge at the correct temperature to store the vaccine? Today we're discussing gold star vaccination protocol with Kim Kelly, a Veterinary Technical Advisor from MSD Animal Health. Mark and Kim discuss the common pitfalls people often stumble into when administering vaccines. These range from improper storage to incorrect administration and dosage. Kim lends us her expertise in avoiding these errors and how to m...
Aug 13, 2023•36 min
Our guest this week, Robynne Anderson, is an authority on global agricultural and food policy. Robynne grew up on a farm and started her career in agricultural publishing. After selling her first business and taking a short break to contemplate her next move, she founded Emerging Ag Inc. Robynne realised there was a lot of talk about 'food security', but very little understanding of what it takes to grow, share, and distribute food. "Clearly, there was a gap between what we in the farming commun...
Aug 06, 2023•37 min
This week, we have our first lawyer on the show, Pat Barrett. He is both a lawyer and farmer in Wagga Wagga, Australia. Pat grew up with a passion for agriculture with friends and family involved in the industry and studied Agribusiness and Law at the University of New England with the intention of using the degree in a management position. “I never thought I was going to be a lawyer,” says Pat. But, after an interview planned by his mother with a local lawyer, Pat found himself shaking hands an...
Jul 30, 2023•47 min
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we’re heading back over to the US to speak to Brad A. Freking, a research geneticist in the Livestock Bio-Systems Research Unit, Clay Center in Nebraska. Originally, Brad grew up on a small mixed farm. Brad's first connection to genetics came when he went to study at university, working on beef cattle efficiency. Brad then went on to work with pigs; since 2016, he has been devoted entirely to sheep research. Brad currently works in the Livestock Bio-Systems...
Jul 23, 2023•46 min
This week on the podcast we're switching up species and discussing cashmere goats with David Shaw. In 2017, David undertook a self-directed R&D project to see if he could ‘resurrect’ the cashmere industry. David found that New Zealand had some of the best cashmere fibre in the world. “We know our fibre is whiter and longer. Research indicates that the fibre from this part of the world is relatively softer. We have people wanting the fibre, we have a market, but we don’t have a supply.” So, D...
Jul 16, 2023•40 min•Season 2023Ep. 151
In this podcast, two genetics enthusiasts delve into IMF, methane, mature cow weight, immune competence and more, exploring the latest developments in livestock genetics and breeding strategies for Angus cattle. Yes that's right, we are heading back into the Angus world with Christian Duff, general manager of genetic improvement at Angus Australia . As Mark puts it, Christian is "involved in genetics in a fairly big way." He is very passionate about the power of quantitative genetics to change a...
Jul 09, 2023•41 min•Season 2023Ep. 140
Have you ever wondered why some cattle thrive better through an unusually hot summer? Our guest this week, Dr. Raluca Mateescu, Professor of Quantitative Genetics and Genomics at the University of Florida, has been focusing on the impact of heat and climate on beef production in the southern regions of North America. Raluca and her team have been looking into how to breed cattle to handle increasing temperatures, with a focus on improving productivity and achieving food security through genetic ...
Jul 02, 2023•36 min•Season 2023Ep. 139
This week we're back chatting about Angus cattle with another great livestock producer with a passion for genetics. Born and raised on the family farm, Lucinda always knew she was going to be involved in the agricultural industry. After growing up on a merino sheep property, she gained a first class honours degree in Agricultural Science, followed by a formative time in the goat industry. Since the mid-1980s, she has been farming with husband Bryan, at one point with multiple livestock breeding ...
Jun 25, 2023•50 min•Season 2023Ep. 138
Welcome to the latest episode of the Head Shepherd podcast, where Ferg is chatting with Dr. Susan Robertson, a senior lecturer in ruminant production at Charles Sturt University. Susan has a wide range of research interests - from a PhD looking at staple strength in ewes, then delving more into pasture production, before transitioning into a full-time research role in 2016 with the EverGraze project (which aims to improve sheep reproduction). More recently, Susan has conducted a trial on the imp...
Jun 18, 2023•21 min•Season 2023Ep. 137
Today we discuss the bigger part of how you make money on the farm - how well you feed the animals. Nutrition of your livestock is one thing that you can get right, or wrong, on a daily basis; genetics is a longer burn. With nutrition, you can see the results almost immediately. To discuss this, our guest this week is Charlotte Westwood. Charlotte got her vet degree from Massey University and spent the first years of her career in the Waikato working mainly with dairy cattle. After a back injury...
Jun 11, 2023•44 min•Season 2023Ep. 136
Do you want to develop your understanding of estimated breeding values (EBVs) in cattle? This week's podcast guest, Tom Gubbins, and our host Mark Ferguson chat about breeding values and Te Mania Angus, giving us a great insight into the role of genetics in a farm business. Te Mania started in New Zealand in 1928 with the closing of the Angus herd book. They have been involved in genetics from the very start, to which Tom credits some of Te Mania's success to. "We've watched, over a long time no...
Jun 04, 2023•51 min•Season 2023Ep. 135
In this podcast, we sit down with Rick, a seasoned farmer whose parents moved to his family farm in the 70s as a child, as part of the family's succession plan. Rick now runs a self-replacing composite flock, focusing on early maturity, fat, muscle, and health traits such as worm resistance. Rick also sheds light on his involvement in the Farm Owners Academy as an accountability coach and how he's creating a legacy that his daughter can carry on in the future. Rick lives on his family farm which...
May 28, 2023•34 min•Season 2023Ep. 134
This week, our guest is Ben Todhunter from Cleardale Station in Canterbury NZ. Ben's grandfather purchased Cleardale in 1943 and is named after its geographical "snow shelter" attributes. Cleardale is only 4 km from Mount Hutt as the crow flies. Stud breeding is in Ben's genetics, with his great grandfather founding the Blackford stud in 1924. In Ben's time, they had a traditional first cross English Leicester/Merino flock. But, since Ferg has been around they've been doing things a "bit differe...
May 21, 2023•38 min•Season 2023Ep. 133
Join us today for a chat through Richard Rains's career of 40 years of selling meat around the world. "It became a great passion and I still pinch myself every day at the success a little kid from the bush was able to achieve." Richard grew up in central NSW and was the youngest of four kids. When it was his turn to return to the farm, his father said to him, "Things aren't great. If you come home, it just means we've just got to split the meagre returns another way." explains Richard. "He did s...
May 14, 2023•57 min•Season 2023Ep. 132
Are you optimising your farm's production? Today we have John Young, aka Youngy, on the podcast. There are so many ways to optimise your farming business and sometimes that can be overwhelming. John, however, makes it all sound very understandable and achievable. John's background is in farming but he now runs a systems analysis service. Farm Systems Analysis Service has been involved in the development of AFO (Australian Farm Optimisation model). John gives us a rundown of what AFO is. "AFO is ...
May 07, 2023•39 min•Season 2023Ep. 131
Integrated pest management for blowfly, worms and lice is the topic of todays podcast, with our guest Alison Colvin. Alison has published work on practices on farm and has also been involved in a lot of survey work. You can find more here Alison runs us through the surveys, which had some interesting results about incidences of flystrike, treatment trends and the effects of drought on lice, fly and worm problems and much more. You can read the results for yourself here: The Australian Sheep Para...
Apr 30, 2023•30 min•Season 2023Ep. 130
One of the main topics of today’s podcast is the financial modelling of transitioning to a shedding flock from a Romney our guest, Prof. Paul Kenyon of Massey University, has been involved with. Mark asks what instigated the work and what does the modelling show? "In reality, coarse wool is costing more to get it off. Many farmers spend their whole summer shearing, crutching, dagging, dipping... controlling fly. As we move forward in the modern society it's harder and harder to get labour in rem...
Apr 23, 2023•32 min•Season 2023Ep. 129
As producers, you're always wanting to get the most for your hard earned produce and it always helps when your processor wants that for you, too. Located mid-way between Sydney and Melbourne, Gundagai Meat Processors (GMP) is one of the most innovative lamb processors in Australia. GMP became a household name within the industry as they were the first to offer premiums for IMF. This week we have Will Barton, CEO of GMP on the podcast. We start off strong diving straight into why GMP decided to o...
Apr 16, 2023•33 min•Season 2023Ep. 128
Every day, we make hundreds of decisions. These decisions affect you, your business and those around you. This week we have Kate Burke on the podcast talking about how to make the right decisions. With 26 years of experience behind her, Kate has a huge range of expertise in the Agriculture industry. Kates principles come from her experience in the industry as an agronomist, an educator, researcher, writer and also growing up as part of a multigenerational farming business. "My mantra at Think Ag...
Apr 09, 2023•44 min•Season 2023Ep. 127
This week we have an old supervisor of Marks, Graham Gardener as our guest. Graham has been involved in a huge multi species project (ALMTECH) focusing on measuring lean meat yield and eating quality for the past 7 years. You can find out more about it here: https://www.almtechau.com/ Mark and Graham start off with the work ALMTECH have been doing on live animal measurements in terms of lean meat yield. "In beef, the most advanced one we started with was a 3D imaging system. The cameras would ac...
Apr 02, 2023•43 min•Season 2023Ep. 126
