Claim OwnershipHead Shepherd
Subscribed: 151Played: 11,260
Subscribe
© 2025 Head Shepherd
Description
Mark Ferguson from neXtgen Agri brings you the latest in livestock, genetics, innovation and technology. We focus on sheep and beef farming in Australia and New Zealand, and the people doing great things in those industries. To learn more about neXtgen Agri, visit www.nextgenagri.com.
263 Episodes
Reverse
What do the genetics of tail length and the genetics of semen quality have in common? Not much, except that our guest, Marnie Hodge, Sheep Genetics Senior Development Officer, has researched them both. Tail length is moderately to highly heritable, but in her research, Marnie found that measuring tail length in centimetres versus a scored system gives you far more accuracy and picks up significantly more genetic variation, which means faster rates of genetic gain if you're selecting for it. B...
How simple rotations and tight feed management lift whole farm performance. Mark chats with Bevan Ravenhill, WA General Manager for Lawson Angus WA, to talk about what really drives a productive grazing business. Bevan grew up on a dairy farm, and that early training in grass, rotation, and pressure has shaped the way he now runs sheep and beef across a mixed enterprise. Bevan explains how a simple rotation, tight feed management and a focus on leaf stage have transformed grass utilisat...
Ever wondered what it takes to build a succesfull seedstock buisness from the ground up? Well, this is the podcast for you. This week, Mark chats with Jasmine and Hayden Green, owners of Summit Livestock, about how they built their Angus and Limousin seedstock business from the ground up (and the challenges they faced), the importance of crossbreeding for production, how they balance phenotype with data, and the challenges of getting started without your own land. Jasmine and Hayden hav...
Accounting may not be every farmer’s favourite topic, but it is one of the most powerful tools on the farm. This week’s Head Shepherd guest, David Egerton-Warburton, explains why. Raised on a sixth-generation farm in Kojonup, Western Australia, David learned early that every on-farm decision ties back to sound business practice. His father, Kent, founded Agrimaster in 1981, bringing farm records into the computer age long before most households had a computer, and David and his wife have been...
What makes farmers change? And what holds them back? Our guest this week, Dr Ruth Nettle, has spent 25 years studying just that. Ruth has spent her career looking into how people in agriculture learn, adapt, and lead. Now leading the Rural Innovation Research Group at the University of Melbourne, Ruth has seen how agricultural extension, advisory networks, and rural communities have evolved through time. In this episode, she and Ferg chat about trust, workforce challenges, and what the future...
Want to know more about meat-eating quality traits like IMF, shear force and marbling? Our guest this week, Dr Peter McGilchrist, is a leading meat scientist and professor at the University of New England, Australia, likely has the answers you're looking for. Peter and Mark talk all things meat-eating quality and how the red meat industry can move beyond commodity pricing by identifying premium quality products through genetics, processing, and proper animal handling. Peter and Ma...
Ever wished you could get breeding values on your commercial Merinos without having to record weights, dates or pedigrees? This week, we’re launching neXtPredict, our brand new genomic tool that lets you go straight from DNA to breeding values with just a simple TSU sample. Developed in partnership with Weatherbys Scientific, neXtPredict provides base genomic breeding values, parentage, poll/horn testing and a flock profile for Merino breeders. It’s powered by the MerinoSelect database and ba...
What do you get when three sheep consultants, all podcast hosts, from Australia, England and Wales sit down in front of a microphone? You get a very entertaining, slightly chaotic, sheepy podcast! This week, we're joined by Liz Genever and Nerys Wright to discuss the launch of OptiEwe UK as well as the challenges and opportunities faced by farmers over there. Liz, Nerys and Ferg chat about this summer's extremely dry weather, current lamb prices, shifts in farming practices (and the rol...
Is drench resistance an issue on your property? Thanks to modern technology, we have tools at our disposal to help. This week's guest is Ryan Luckman, vet and founder of DAGI, (Drench and Grazing Integration), an app that displays the risk of larval challenge/resistance risk for the paddocks on your farm, helping you make better grazing decisions. With the help of industry experts and the support of B+LNZ, Ryan has been building the DAGI (Drench And Grazing Integration) app over the pas...
Thousands of you listen to the podcast every week, but we've come to realise many of you don't know exactly what we do here at neXtgen Agri. In this episode, Mark, our host and CEO, takes to the mic and chats about all things neXtgen Agri and the services we provide to farmers across the globe. He shares how “farming in our hearts, science in our heads” drives everything we do. From helping farmers lift genetic gain to building tools that make breeding decisions clearer and faster, Ferg...
Our guest this week is Vicky Alexandrou, co-founder of Woven Optics. Over the past eight years, Vicky has helped design and build a handheld microscope that lets you measure wool fibre diameter right there in the yards or shed. Instead of waiting for lab results, you clip a small sample, take a few quick images along the staple, and within seconds, the device tells you the mean micron, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and comfort factor. You can scan the sheep’s ear tag so ...
What does leadership look like in agriculture today? For Felicity Taylor, Area Manager for Rabobank in Moree and a 2025 Zanda McDonald Award finalist, it’s about connection, community and supporting others to succeed. In this episode, Felicity shares her journey from growing up on a cropping property to becoming the youngest area manager in Rabobank’s history. She talks about the rising costs facing farming, the challenge for young people to get started, and why she believes regional Australi...
What does it take to keep a sheep business moving forward? For our guest this week, Hamish Thomson of Moojepin Merinos, it’s a mix of genetics, management and never being afraid to try something new. In the podcast, Hamish talks about the progress they’ve made since we spoke to him last, which was four years ago! They have been continuing to select for traits like growth, muscle and fat, as well as intensifying the focus to welfare traits such as dag, worms and, more recently, foot str...
Ever considered using a drone on your farm? Well, this is the podcast for you. This week, our guest is Luke Chaplain, founder of SkyKelpie. Luke is one of the leading experts in drone mustering in Australia and has spent the last three years researching drone technology to find the best fits for Agricultural use. More recently, Luke has gotten involved in the training of drone usage, to give farmers and other industries the necessary tools for effective drone usage. One of these tools i...
If you want to know about sheep genetics in New Zealand, our guest this week, John McEwan, is the person to ask. John has been involved with genomics “since before genomics was a thing.” From discovering key reproductive genes and rolling out DNA parentage, to the sequencing of the sheep genome and the industry adoption of genomic selection, John takes us through the milestones that have shaped New Zealand sheep breeding. Tune in today to hear where we're heading next. Head Sh...
When you think of a 'modern merino', what comes to mind? For our guest this week, Willera Merino stud principal, Simon Coutts, it means a sheep that works for your business, regardless of the weather or market conditions. Simon explains Willara's breeding philosophy, which focuses on developing a 'modern merino' that is multi-dimensional and provides multiple income streams from high-value wool, prime lamb, capital stock and mutton. Simon and Ferg chat about the three Willera prop...
Simon Saunders is one of the original farmers behind Headwaters and runs the elite ewe flock at his farm, Stag Valley. In this episode, he discusses how the breeding program has evolved, what it takes to deliver consistency at scale, and the future of the Lumina lamb programme. If you're wondering how to extract more value from your sheep operation or thinking about speciality lamb production, then this episode is not one to miss! Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri Intern...
This week, we’re chatting about the differences between US and NZ sheep production systems with Dr. Whit Stewart, an Associate Professor and Extension Sheep Specialist in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Wyoming. Whit has spent the last year on a sabbatical in New Zealand, learning and absorbing as much as he can about sheep farming here. Because of this, he has some great insights into the comparisons between systems as well as what we do well, and what we could do bette...
This week we’re (belatedly) joined by Jack O’Connor, winner of the 2025 Zanda McDonald Award. Jack lives and works on the family’s fourth-generation mixed farming operation, Oxton Park, in southern NSW. He and Ferg discuss his career so far and why, for Jack, business success comes down to the people and community he works alongside. And with 20 staff, 15 properties, and both livestock and cropping enterprises, that focus on people is essential! They also chat about the importance of professi...
We're back on the genetic evaluation theme with Peta Bradley, Operations Manager at Sheep Genetics, to talk all things sheep genetics and the exciting changes that are happening at MLA in terms of bringing the two LAMBPLAN databases together. Peta also discusses the evolution of the Sheep Genetics genetic evaluation over the years, the crucial role of genomics as well as phenotypes and a current reference population, as well as her ice-swimming journey! Head Shepherd is brought to...
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States