DIGGING DEEPER - AG CHATS WITH AL

Send us Fan Mail Every Decision Counts: Tom Cosentino on Stacking Farm Enterprises and Knowing Your Numbers Host Alister Micallif welcomes Tom Cosentino, a South Australian farmer from Hindmarsh Valley near the Murray Mouth, who runs dryland beef cows and is adding 1,000 laying hens in October while managing bird flu risk through planning, water treatment, and adaptable infrastructure. Speaking at Gippsland’s Red Meat Conference themed “every decision counts,” Tom reframes a $100,000 investme...

Send us Fan Mail In this Digging Deeper Ag Chats with Al episode from the Gippsland Agriculture Group, host Alister Micallef speaks remotely with Chelsea about a busy late-winter period of calving assistance, bull testing, and preg testing, plus her recent Red Meat Conference talk on Focus on Weighty Weaners (nutrition, trace elements, and parasite management) and an upcoming MLA webinar in October. Chelsea explains what happens during a bull fertility test: observing movement and identifying...

Send us Fan Mail Host Al launches Digging Deeper Ag Chats with Al for 2026 after a first full year of podcasts, outlining plans for more practical guests and more local producers, plus monthly segments from Chelsea (Herd Solutions) with veterinary/animal health updates and Morgs (Elders) with livestock market updates. At the Red Meat Conference in Gippsland, Al interviews Frank Archer, co-principal of Landfall Angus in Tasmania, a fifth-generation business celebrating 150 years, selling Angus...

Send us Fan Mail Host Alister introduces Digging Deeper Ag Chats and speaks with Pete Norwood of Full Circle Nutrition after he contributed to the Gippsland Soil School, including a practical farm visit at Rohan Bigley’s. Pete recounts growing up on a mixed farm near Mendooran, NSW during the 1982 drought, studying ag science at Charles Sturt University, and later building farms in Stratford and now Seaspray with challenging sandy and saline soils improved with gypsum and lucerne establishmen...

Send us Fan Mail Host Al welcomes back stock agent Morgan Davies to discuss current livestock markets and seasonal conditions in Gippsland and beyond. Morgan reports strong cattle prices at local sales, including light cows around $3–$3.50/kg, bullocks up to $3,700–$3,800, and light black weaner steers reaching $7/kg, with feeders and feedlot/paddock prices also elevated. He notes cattle are moving back north after earlier flows into Victoria, and suggests producers consider selling in the ne...