I have said before that there is so much we can learn from business leaders and entrepreneurs outside of our industry. In this episode, I interview Jim Gall, now CEO of RB Sellars. There is no doubt that RB Sellars has been established as an iconic brand across our landscape. Jim reminds us that success in business doesn’t happen overnight and that the strong position they have developed in the market has come from a leadership team with a clear focus. Focusing on a sustainable commitment to a c...
Apr 23, 2024•59 min•Ep. 140
In my last episode introduction I asked - who here has felt real financial duress and overwhelming stress or hardship in this game called farming? In this episode, I explore this theme further with an in-depth interview with Sarah Crossthwaite. Sarah lives and works with her husband and family on a dairy farm in Northeast Victoria. She has an impressive career as an accredited mental health social worker, actively supporting men and women of our industry through times of hardship. Recently Sarah...
Apr 11, 2024•52 min•Ep. 139
Who here has felt real financial duress and overwhelming stress and hardship in this game called farming? I feel this is relevant and real for so many - it isn’t always an easy game to play. In this podcast it gives me great pleasure to interview FOA Alumni Members Cassandra & Andrew (Rusty) Kath. From start-up to established, from 50 cows to 500 cows, and from financially and personally broken to a professional and lasting success, the Kathleigh Farms story is now just as much one to watch ...
Mar 27, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 138
So many farming families we meet have businesses that are completely dependent on them. In addition, so many farm owners across Australia’s have business models that are not risk-aware, sufficiently profitable, sustainable, or optimal over time. Is your business model delivering you the outcomes you want from your farm? So often we see farmers ‘rinsing and repeating’ business models that have worked in the past, only to find they are not optimal or even relevant in our current economic climate. ...
Mar 15, 2024•14 min•Ep. 137
I love the concept that perhaps our subconscious programming is the thing that is holding us back. I also like the concept that money is just a tool to give us what we want in life. However, I believe that many of us have a SCARCITY or ABUNDANCE mindset toward money. I like the idea of visualising money as ‘fun tickets’ to be used and enjoyed for me and others, now and in the future. Throughout my journey, I have gotten comfortable with the fact that money: Is not hard to come by Is not beyond m...
Feb 27, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 136
When people succeed at the highest level, often all we see of them is their endeavour and their achievement. We never really get to hear of the challenge, the hardship or the immense struggle that is behind the enduring success. There can be so many lessons relevant to how, as farmers, we can better face the challenges that come our way and overcome adversity and change. In this episode, I feel deeply privileged to interview Anna Meares – 11-time world champion and the greatest female track cycl...
Feb 13, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 135
Throughout our lives, and often at this time of year, we can find ourselves reflecting and asking important questions like; Why am I here? What am I doing this for? What is it that is my purpose in life? What do I want for my life? How do I want to be remembered? Over my business journey, I have been lucky enough to study with and learn from one of the great business minds of our time, Marshall Thurber. In his teachings, Marshall emphasises that there are universal laws (laws of nature) that, wh...
Feb 06, 2024•38 min•Ep. 134
As farm business owners, we can often be operating at intense and unsustainable levels for extended periods of time. Many times, the farm comes first, and so many other important things take the back seat. Our farms can be under-resourced, our teams insufficient, our realities out of control and operations completely dependent upon us. Our plans are in our heads, marriages out of alignment - husbands, wives and families missing out on what life and family are truly meant to be about. That is whe...
Dec 22, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 133
As the finish line to another calendar year arrives, I cherish the opportunity to share the stories of some of our incredible community members - to celebrate their success in all they do as business owners and farmers. Martin & Hayley Grosser own and operate MHG Farming Enterprises, a mixed sheep and dryland cropping operation at Kaniva in Victoria’s Western Wimmera. Their success in farming over the past 10 years, to say the least, is deeply impressive. From a standing start to over 5,000 ...
Dec 20, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 132
We can survive 3 weeks without food... 3 days without water… But only 3 minutes without breathing. As for parenting, our body, mind and many other critical life functions, we have never been taught HOW TO BREATHE. As a result, and over time, most of us are immensely inefficient with our breathing, leading us to a long list of health conditions that keep us from living our best lives. In this episode, I speak with my wonderful wife, mother of four, high-performance physiotherapist, and now breath...
Nov 14, 2023•39 min•Ep. 131
Leadership is about giving those around you certainty. Making strong predictions based on quality information and taking proactive action in tough times is a hallmark of strong leadership. Many Aussie farmers have experienced a marked drop in meat prices in recent months, impacting their realities and outlook significantly. As in Episode 121 with Grain & Oilseeds Lead Analyst - Stefan Vogel, I once again call on the elite Rabobank Research team and Senior Analyst – Animal Proteins Angus Gidl...
Oct 31, 2023•52 min•Ep. 130
At Farm Owners Academy, we are big believers that our mental well-being is closely linked to our physical health AND positive social interactions. I am delighted to interview Active Farmer Founder and Director Ginny Stevens in this episode. Over eight years, Active Farmers has grown from an idea and one weekly fitness class in Mangoplah, NSW, to a significant and important national charity supporting thousands of farmers' physical health and mental well-being across 65 rural communities. It is a...
Oct 15, 2023•56 min•Ep. 129
One of the best bits about being part of Farm Owners Academy is the life-long friendships we see being fostered across our incredible and growing community. One of the greatest privileges of being a Coach is supporting great people to make meaningful and lasting changes in their personal and business development journeys. Our members achieve huge amounts in their 3-year Platinum Mastermind journey. Sure, their business profitability grows, their farms expand, their families become more aligned, ...
Sep 30, 2023•55 min•Ep. 128
Often, it is my observation that succession is made to be a bigger and more complex issue than it needs to be. Often, in my opinion, good business practice applied to family business can be the key to aligning a family to a common goal and plan; creating meaningful, regular and proactive communications; providing financial clarity and control for all parties; delivering structures and systems to support all team members in their roles; and helping ensure all expectations relating to succession a...
Sep 15, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 127
Farmers can be a humble bunch, perhaps in part a function of a certain ‘tall poppy syndrome’ that exists across our landscape. As a result, as well as the fact that most of us are production-focused and not necessarily marketing-trained, we are not always great at telling our unique stories or promoting our own business ‘brand.’ Taking this further, globally, there seems to be an ever-increasing gap and misunderstanding between the food consumer and the farmer producer. Simply, there are so many...
Aug 30, 2023•52 min•Ep. 126
We find ourselves in an economic environment very different to 12 months ago - now characterised by high inflation, rising interest rates and an uplift in unemployment in most of our trading nations across the globe. On the back of a compelling quarterly economic review to our Members, I have invited Terry Tran – Freedom Trader – to join me again to make sense of it all. To give us a no BS take on what is happening in our world, what it means, how to play (as an investor), and to understand wher...
Aug 14, 2023•49 min•Ep. 125
What does moving from a ‘start-up’ to ‘significance’ as an entrepreneur take? Let’s find out. In this episode, I am delighted to reconnect with my past business coaching client, now successful entrepreneur Steven Mirtschin. Leaving a successful banking career to back himself in business, Steven now leads over 13 businesses and a team of over 150. Over 15 years, Steven has successfully scaled a combination of franchise-based businesses in the fitness and hospitality sectors. He has sought out tea...
Jul 30, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 124
You don’t achieve greatness without first being a very special individual. In this episode, I am pleased to introduce to you Aussie sporting icon Trevor Hendy, renowned as the greatest ironman on earth. A former professional athlete having won six Australian Open Ironman titles and four consecutive World Ironman titles, Trevor has become a coach, role model, teacher and mentor to sporting and business elite across Australia and worldwide. Now a member of the Order of Australia and an inductee in...
Jul 15, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 123
We all now know that safety on-farm is an important issue. We also know that most farm businesses have more to do in this area, and it is pleasing to see so many farming families prioritising farm safety as a core part of the business improvement strategies. SafeAg System is presently leading the way in helping farming families create safer and more professional workplaces; their App & offering are now in place on over 15,000 farms in Australia and overseas. What I like most about SafeAg Sys...
Jun 29, 2023•55 min•Ep. 122
I have always been intrigued by Rabobank as a business. A 120-year-old Dutch cooperative founded by farmers for farmers, now a global sensation specialising in agribusiness lending from over 1,000 offices across 38 countries, serving over 9 million customers... I think their Australasian Team are to be commended on the passion, dedication and quality support they provide to farming families across our region. Just as interesting is the fact that their global research team spans over 140 leading ...
Jun 14, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 121
For many, the last few years have been unique and positive – resulting from low inflation, low-interest rates, above-average commodity prices and above-average production. Now, our current reality is very different. We will likely see an extended period of increased inflation, increasing interest rates and softening commodity prices. In addition, from a production standpoint, there is talk of El Nino weather patterns ahead… The question we should ALL be asking is: Can my farm business model hand...
May 30, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 120
At Farm Owners Academy, we help farming families create FREEDOM FARMS – that is a highly profitable business with the systems, structures, team AND performance to be able to work without dependence on you! As a team, we feel proud of the results that hundreds of farming families are achieving in their pursuit of this reality. Over the coming months, I will share some of these outstanding stories with you. In this episode, I speak with Marina Gregor, who, along with her husband Brett, run a high-...
May 14, 2023•43 min•Ep. 119
In life, we have the opportunity to meet some remarkable people. Those individuals are often quietly determined to serve others and make a meaningful impact. I met Mike Stephens, Founder, Director and Lead Consultant of Meridian Agriculture, as an overly enthusiastic and bullish 25-year-old. I have regarded him as a role model and mentor ever since. One of Australian agriculture’s truly great personalities, Mike has dedicated his career to farmers, to families getting on and to effective farm su...
Apr 29, 2023•57 min•Ep. 118
So many farming families I meet feel completely REACTIVE in managing their farms. On so many levels, we often are left feeling like the business is running you, not you it. With all that is going on in a typical week, the long list of improvements to make, the complexities of programs and rotations, the changes of the season… for me, it is easy to see why so many arrive here. One of my favourite quotes is from global personal performance expert Brian Tracy: “We feel good about ourselves to the e...
Apr 14, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 117
Technology can be pretty incredible. With its exponential advancement, there is no doubt we are on the cusp of unprecedented change on-farm and across our industry. Our game is rapidly changing, allowing us to achieve much more with much less. For me, our future is very exciting. In this episode, I invite you to join me and an audience of 350 progressive, growth-oriented and passionate farmers at one of our Deep Dive conferences (usually exclusively for our Platinum Mastermind members). In this,...
Mar 31, 2023•43 min•Ep. 116
Throughout each year, I value the opportunity to invite our Investment Specialist Terry Tran to join us on Profitable Farmer. With rising inflation, increasing interest rates, ongoing supply issues and softening commodity prices we are potentially entering a new agri-economic landscape, different from all we have experienced in recent years. In this podcast we explore how Terry sees the investment landscape at this time. We discuss the important of being proactive and creating diversification wi...
Mar 14, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 115
It is so easy in this game to constantly put in massive hours, ensure everyone around you has what they need, and focus intently on getting the job done. An extended finish, a challenging season and ALREADY the urgent requirement to get set to ‘go again’… I hear of many farming families feeling they must sacrifice their holiday plans to stay on top of production imperatives. Right now, it is critical we stop, take stock, and be reminded of the importance of putting ourselves first. Following a c...
Feb 27, 2023•58 min•Ep. 114
So often in this game, we attend only the training put on by the R&D extension agencies or free events by our advisers. So often, we wait for a grant to become available before we commit to a course, or we focus on improving our skills ONLY when there is a subsidy or sponsorship toward the funding of it. My point is: So many farmers don’t invest enough in themselves! In this episode, Andrew ‘Robbo’ Roberts (Farm Owners Academy Co-Founder) & I re-connect and focus on the impact of making ...
Feb 14, 2023•44 min•Ep. 113
There are some genuinely impressive Australian stories of entrepreneurial success in our industry — true, unsung, modern examples of courage, initiative, determination and pioneering. For me, Dwain Duxson and the Farm Tender story is one of those. Founded in March 2012, Farm Tender is Australia’s pre-eminent online buying and selling marketplace for farmers and associated agricultural companies, facilitating sales of grain, hay, farm machinery and agricultural equipment. With over 62,000 farming...
Jan 30, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 112
We are excited to be kicking off our first podcast of 2023, we hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year break. May 2023 be your best year yet! One of the great things about this time of year is friends dropping in on their holiday travels. There truly is nothing like old friendships. Whilst visiting us, I am delighted to once again welcome great mate James Kelly to our podcast. As Managing Director to Alchimie Management Consulting, James and his team dedicate much of their focus to ...
Jan 16, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 111
