The Angus Table

In this episode of The Angus Table, Scott Wright sits down with Ced Wise, pioneering veterinary reproductive specialist, for a conversation about building reproductive technology infrastructure, mentoring the next generation, and cutting-edge research. Ced shares his journey from mixed practice in Warwick to postgraduate study at Colorado State University under leading reproductive physiologists, returning to Australia to pioneer embryo transfer when few had heard of the technology.Ced and Scott discuss the expansion of Ced Wise AB Services from a one-man operation to having his adult children involved, and now managing 50+ staff. They talk about the state-of-the-art processing facility at Ced’s Glen Aplin operation, and why he also built an education centre and accommodation options for up to 8 students or visiting researchers.Ced explains some of the innovations and progress in IVF technology, when to use MOET rather than IVF, and why epigenetics is emerging as a century-defining study area.He shares his dedication to mentoring the next generation and university research collaborations, and why client relationships are central not only to his business success but also job satisfaction. Scott and Ced explore his advice to breeders about balancing data with the cattleman’s eye, and a message for young people getting into the industry. So pull up a chair at the Angus Table for this conversation about reproductive innovation, mentorship, and bridging science with farm reality.Key topics covered:Ced’s 50-year veterinary career, from mixed practice (cattle, cats, dogs, poultry) to bovine reproduction specialist through the mentorship of Ced MillerThe importance of building relationships with industry leaders (Don Henderson Inverary Polled Herefords, Geoff McCamley Lancefield Brahmans) in his career growthExpansion from a one-man operation to family involvement with his 3 adult children involved, and now managing 50+ staffBuilding the state-of-the-art processing facility at Glen Aplin and education centre, plus accommodation options for up to 8 students or visiting researchers Ced’s dedication to mentoring the next generation and addressing the university hands-on experience gapSexed semen as a game-changer for commercial Angus (steers at 75/25 ratio, premium pricing potential).Innovations and scientific progress in IVF technology, when to use MOET vs IVF, and why epigenetics is emerging as a century-defining study areaResearch collaborations with university researchers studying DNA fragmentation, metabolites, and epigenetics effectsWhy client relationships are paramount not only to the success of Ced’s business but also to his satisfaction in the jobCed’s advice to breeders about combining data accuracy with phenotype assessment in order to not lose the cattleman’s eyeThe importance of mentorship from successful operators for young breeders and why patience and genuine passion are essentialCed’s approach to continuous learning and development including research collaborations and international conferencesContact details:Connect with Ced via https://cedwiseabservices.com.au/This podcast is proudly brought to you by Angus Australia https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/+Follow Angus Australia on + Facebook + Instagram + X + LinkedIn ++Follow Angus Youth Australia on + Facebook + Instagram + X +CREDITS:Host: Scott Wright, CEO. Get in touch via email [email protected]: Mel Strasburg [email protected] editing and post-production: Ellen Ronalds Keene at https://perkdigital.com.au

Episode Summary: In this episode of The Angus Table, Scott Wright sits down with Frank Archer of Landfall Angus, and Ram Savana from Enable Ag, for a conversion about business resilience, building systems, and transforming overwhelm into opportunities.Frank shares his 150-year old six-generation family operation, Landfall Angus, and how they became Australia’s largest registered Angus seed stock breeder. Ram shares his career pivot from biotech medical devices into farming, from farmhand work to consulting and building Enable Ag. Frank, Ram and Scott discuss how the CREW framework has helped Frank invest in the development of his team and also his own leadership, and led to a strategic reallocation of Frank’s time from 75% farmhand work to now a 25/75 hands on/leadership split. This enabled Frank to take a three-month caravan trip with is family to test the systems they’ve built and see the farm and his staff thrive. Frank and Ram share the key business outcomes this achieved, like reduced winter feeding and improved pasture management, as well as the importance of measuring growth internally (people, career progression) versus only looking at external indicators (bull sales).Ram shares how other farmers can get started with this process, as well as ideas for small farms to look at community resources rather than full-time staff.So pull up a chair at the Angus Table for this conversation about systems, culture, delegation and building a farming business that can thrive without you.Key topics covered:Frank’s 150-year old six-generation family operation, Landfall Angus, and how they became Australia’s largest registered Angus seed stock breederRam’s background in biotechnology and medical device innovation, and how he pivoted into farming and eventually built Enable Ag The time analysis that revealed Frank spent spent 75% of his time as farm hand, prompting a shift to 25% hands-on/75% leadership splitImplementing Ram’s CREW framework so that Frank could take a three month holiday to test the systems and enable his staff to act without himCreating sustainable business resilience and both tangible outcomes (reduced winter feeding, improved pasture management) and intangible outcomes (stronger team, personal development, time freedom)Measuring growth internally (people, career progression) versus only looking at external indicators (bull sales).Breaking the Archer surname dependency, with non-family staff offering equal client valueIntentional investment in people and systems creating lower profit but long-term sustainability Ram's personal story taking 4 months off for parental leave and then a 6 week holiday within the same year, while his business independence grewHow small farms can use community resources instead of full-time staff to build team cultureThe need for continued hard conversations about future direction and family involvement when succession planning for the sixth generation Contact details:Connect with Ram via https://enableag.com.au/Connect with Frank via https://www.landfall.com.au/This podcast is proudly brought to you by Angus Australia https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/+Follow Angus Australia on + Facebook + Instagram + X + LinkedIn + +Follow Angus Youth Australia on + Facebook + Instagram + X + CREDITS:Host: Scott Wright, CEO. Get in touch via email [email protected]: Mel Strasburg [email protected] editing and post-production: Ellen Ronalds Keene at https://perkdigital.com.au

In this episode of The Angus Table, Scott Wright sits down with Darryl Savage, GM Programs and Innovation at North Australian Pastoral Company for a conversation about long-term strategy, data-driven modernisation, and leading complex breeding programs at scale.Darryl shares his 30-year meandering career journey from jackaroo to GM across Australia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. He explains NAPCo’s 150-year history as a privately-owned company with 6.1M hectares, 215,000 cattle and two stabilised composite breeds. Scott and Darryl discuss the three main markets of NAPCo’s core business, the modernisation process they have undertaken to capture data and apply AI to analyse herd performance, and the two-week carcass data feedback loop that has enabled meat quality improvements. They explore how NAPCo maintains its remarkable company culture that has underpinned their success, the importance of scale and deliberate family-line diversity in maintaining their closed breeding program, and what Darryl views as the greatest existential threats and unprecedented opportunities for Australia’s livestock industry.So pull up a chair at the Angus Table for this conversation about long term strategy, data-driven innovation, and defending livestock’s future.Key topics covered:Darryls’ 30-year career journey from jackaroo through roles with MLA, UNE and now NAPCo and his work in the Middle East, Africa and AsiaNAPCo's 150-year history as a privately-owned company with 6.1M hectares, 215,000 cattle, two stabilised composite breeds (Alexandria and Kynuna).The three markets NAPCo’s core business focuses on: 100-day JBS bullocks, Woolworths grain-fed, and the 5 Founders branded product reaching 12 countriesThe modernisation process NAPCo has undertaken capturing data and applying AI to analyse herd performance with three main objectives (extract more value, provide ownership insights and enable sustainability transparency)Why NAPCo’s breeding objectives have remained the same (fertility, growth, meat quality) for 30+ yearsThe ‘days to cash’ key metric that measures efficiency from birth to payment, MSA carcass feedback within two weeks to inform breeding selections, and the Polled Accelerator program targets eliminating dehorning by 2032How NAPCo maintains its remarkable company culture that has underpinned their successThe importance of scale and deliberate family-line diversity in maintaining NAPCo’s closed breeding program for 30 years with 0.5% inbreeding rateWhat Darryl views as the greatest existential threats facing livestock industries todayPositioning Australia’s grazing-based production as a competitive advantage for biodiversity preservation and the WHO One Health approachDarryl’s advice to young people entering the agriculture industry: be patient, be practical and never forget the energy that comes from learningContact details:This podcast is proudly brought to you by Angus Australia https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/+Follow Angus Australia on + Facebook + Instagram + X + LinkedIn + +Follow Angus Youth Australia on + Facebook + Instagram + X + CREDITS:Host: Scott Wright, CEO. Get in touch via email [email protected]: Mel Strasburg [email protected] editing and post-production: Ellen Ronalds Keene at https://perkdigital.com.au

In this episode of The Angus Table, Scott Wright sits down with Angus Street, CEO of Zentera Wool Company, for a conversation about career journey, crisis leadership, people-focused management, and brand value-building in agriculture.Angus shares his journey from NSW bush kid to CEO of AuctionsPlus during COVID, via a GFC-era journalism redundancy and a stint at MLA during the live-export crisis.Angus describes the explosive AuctionsPlus growth story during COVID—jumping from 4,000 cattle listings to 30,000 within weeks as season turned, restocking market activated, and uncertainty around auctions being essential services drove online adoption 10-15 years ahead of natural trajectory.He emphasises that team execution and foundational work on systems, processes, culture, and people prior to COVID positioned them to manage the explosive growth and completely rebuild the platform after a critical ‘D-Day’ moment of near-failure.Angus outlines his leadership principles and core values including curiosity, accepting failure, and honesty. He shares his personal journey during COVID involving mental health support, addressing imposter syndrome and developing a people-focused rather than command-and-control leadership style.Now at Zentera Wool Company (formerly New Zealand Merino Company), Angus discusses the rebrand and expansion reflecting company evolution from pure Merino differentiation to value-add certification, digital traceability, and sustainability standards (ZQ and ZQ+ certification).Angus attributes leadership effectiveness to good people and team culture, advocates for one-page strategic plans and warns Angus Australia against complacency to maintain their leadership position.So pull up a chair at the Angus Table for this conversation about creating luck through mentorship, leading through crisis with purpose, and building consumer-driven branded businesses in commodity agriculture.Key topics covered:How Angus progressed from journalism aspirations through GFC redundancy at Fairfax to finding meaningful work at MLA during the Indonesian live export crisisThe importance of mentorship and people reaching out with opportunities during tough times, and how it led Angus to some instrumental career turning pointsThe explosive growth of AuctionsPlus during COVID, from 4,000 listings to 30,000 within weeks driven by season turn, restocking market, and online adoption accelerationThe Critical D-Day crisis that nearly caused platform failure, how the team handled it and how they approached the rebuild decisionWhy the foundation work on systems, processes, culture, and people prior to COVID positioned AuctionsPlus to manage the explosive growth and "not drop the ball."Angus’ leadership principles of linking decisions to meaningful purpose, continuous alignment and feedback loops (weekly/monthly not yearly), and keeping people at heart of decision-makingThe personal mental health journey Angus went on during COVID, and moving away from command-and-control leadership toward a people-focused approachCore values of curiosity, accepting failure, honesty, and operating with diversity of thought rather than command-and-answer approachRebranding New Zealand Merino Company to Zentera Wool Company, a value-add wool business built on certification (ZQ, ZQ+), digital traceability, long-term contracts and the consumer shift from synthetics to natural fibresZentera’s geographic expansion from New Zealand to Australia and South Africa driven by demand for animal welfare certification and sustainability standardsLong-term offtake agreements (5-10 years) providing price certainty and 15-20% premium versus commodity wool market volatilityThe power of a one-page strategic plan to force clarity and consistency, and building in regular review cycles (6-12 months for fast-moving sectors, 3 years for stable industry bodies)The warning against complacency for the Angus industry, using Jim Collins' How the Mighty Have Fallen framing leadership as maintaining position not defending turf.Contact details:Contact Angus or Zentera Wool via the website https://www.zenterawool.com/This podcast is proudly brought to you by Angus Australia https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/+Follow Angus Australia on + Facebook + Instagram + X + LinkedIn ++Follow Angus Youth Australia on + Facebook + Instagram + X +CREDITS:Host: Scott Wright, CEO. Get in touch via email [email protected]: Mel Strasburg [email protected] editing and post-production: Ellen Ronalds Keene at https://perkdigital.com.au

In this episode of The Angus Table, Scott Wright sits down with Sarah Horrocks from Horrocks Media, for a conversation about social media strategy, brand building, and marketing for Angus cattle breeders. Sarah shares her journey from photographer and journalist at New Zealand Herald in Auckland to giving up her journalism career in 2014 to move a sheep and beef farm, meeting Guy Sargent through a dinner party introduction which led to a role with Angus New Zealand and AngusPure NZ. She discusses instrumental work developing AngusPRO brand identity, creating the AngusPRO publication sent to 24,000 New Zealand farmers alongside Beef Country magazine and the recent transition to e-book format improving measurability.Sarah and Scott discuss her values, her goal to make the industry better, and how Guy Sargent’s mentorship has shaped her career.Sarah explains platform strategy for farmers, consistency rewarded by algorithms, why year-round posting beats sale-season hammering, video content as algorithmic priority, common mistakes costing breeder reach, building trust through authenticity, Angus Australia's growth to 2-3 million monthly viewers, e-book advantages over print, and why AI should enhance not replace creativity. So pull up a chair at the Angus Table for this conversation about authentic storytelling, social media fundamentals, and building trust through consistent brand presence.Key topics covered:Sarah's background as a photographer at New Zealand Herald transitioning to rural sheep and beef farming, and marketing career development through AngusPure NZDeveloping the AngusPRO brand identity and differentiation strategy, educating farmers about Australian-registered vs New Zealand-registered Angus geneticsAngusPRO publication expansion reaching 24,000 New Zealand farmers via partnership with Beef Country magazineThe transition to e-book format improving measurement (27,000 opens), reducing advertising costs 68% while maintaining reach, enabling video integration in advertisementsWhy Sarah advises farmers to assess target market before selecting a social media platformFacebook and Instagram as general priority platforms for farmers versus TikTok for younger audiencesConsistency rewarded by algorithms regardless of posting frequency, with 2-3 times weekly off-season ramping to daily during sale season as ideal strategyCommon mistakes, including sale-season-only posting, missing contact information in bios, lack of image libraries, and not identifying a point of difference from competitorsWhy video content is the king of engagement, with watch time, saves, shares, and comments metrics outweighing follower countsTypes of trust building year-round content, such as showcasing calving, scanning, tagging, and management practices so audiences feel they know your operationSarah’s work on the Angus Australia social media explosion from 10,000 to 2-3 million monthly viewers through consistent video contentHow members can benefit through Angus Australia’s collaboration guidelines and member engagement frameworkWhy authenticity and storytelling are the most powerful marketing tools and the benefits of including the good, bad, and ugly of farming operations rather than polished highlights onlyThe difference between using AI as an administrative tool versus a creativity killer, with emphasis on maintaining human thinking and avoiding important career-building junior roles being automated awayAbout Sarah’s values of professional integrity and relationships, as well as career mentorship from Guy SargentContact details:Contact Sarah via her website https://www.horrocksmedia.com/ or @sarahhorrocksmedia on InstagramThis podcast is proudly brought to you by Angus Australia https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/+Follow Angus Australia on + Facebook + Instagram + X + LinkedIn ++Follow Angus Youth Australia on + Facebook + Instagram + X +CREDITS:Host: Scott Wright, CEO. Get in touch via email [email protected]: Mel Strasburg [email protected] editing and post-production: Ellen Ronalds Keene at https://perkdigital.com.au