Bill Long has had a most interesting career in Agriculture. His wife, Jeanette, sent me Bill's list of achievements, and I could not believe how long it was. Bill started as an Agronomist after growing up on a Farm in the Mid North of SA. His inquisitive mind meant that he chose agronomy over being a Farmer, which he stepped back into later in life. When he started in Agronomy, it marked the beginning of the evolution of precision Farming, and Farmers needed help converting from the old, conv...
Jonathan Lillie and his brother Jamie are in charge of the Lillie family generation business called Fox and Lillie. Fox and Lillie started in 1948 in the Wool industry, a good year to start a wool-based business in the lead-up period to what was known as the 1950s Wool boom. Fox and Lillie is a great Australian Agricultural success story as they have stood the test of time and have constantly pivoted their business with good management decisions that have allowed it to diversify. Fox ...
We interviewed Tim Burvill from the South Australian Cattle Company (SACC). The SACC is a very interesting business that has a few moving parts to it. It has a couple of properties in the South East of South Australia where they run Cattle and a Feedlot, they have a wholesale dry-aged Beef company and a brand called Kings and Queens, which sells to select supermarkets. They had a couple of restaurants in Adelaide and Melbourne, but exited those when they dissolved a partnership....
Nikki Lyons just set a record for shearing 502 Merino Lambs (unmulesed ones, mind you) in a 9-hour working block with breaks in between. Nikki outlines in detail what she went through on the day and the preparation she put in before the event. It's a real team game, and Nikki relies on those around her, so she can fully focus on her job at hand and what's in front of her handpiece. With all due respect to the general Shearers out there, this stuff that Nikki is doing is 5 levels above and ...
Pat Mangan created the Farming tour industry in Australia through his business, Swagman Tours, which he started in 1987 and sold in 2020. It was a business that served the Farming industry very well because it got people off their Farms and onto other Farms where they picked up ideas that they could take home and experiment with. Pat is known as the guru of the Farm Tour industry. After he sold the business, he operated as a consultant to another travel company and still does that part-time r...
Our guest today is Kelly Marson from Let's Talk Australia. Kelly has blown me away with her passion for wanting to help with the negative experiences that come with mental health issues. You will get an understanding of her passion and commitment when you hear her speak. Because of this, and also because it's such an important subject, we have decided to make this podcast available to the public through Apple Podcasts and Spotify, as well as behind the paywall to our paid subscribers. There a...
This is part 2 of the Ken Solly podcast preview. We start out with a group of Ken's favourite sayings, some of which he is famous for amongst his clients and those who have attended events he has run and spoken at. We cover off on many aspects of the business of Farming as well as some Sheep industry happenings, which Ken is very passionate about. Ken also opens up about his person battles and how he has turned these negatives into positive outcomes. It's very brave of Ken to talk about...
Our latest podcast guest is none other than Ken Solly. For those of you keen on advancing yourself in Agriculture, this is a must listen. Ken has helped numerous Farmers in his time, firstly as a TAFE teacher, and after that as a self-employed consultant. His great mate Wayne Hawkins said he could have easily doubled or even tripled the turnover of the Farmers he worked with, such was his influence. Ken is a deep thinker, a thorough observer and has been a great listener. He has a...
Libby Price is a 40-year media veteran, and she has spent half of that time in the Ag and Rural media space. Libby is best remembered for her presenting gig at the ABC Country Hour, which she did for around 12 years. Libby had a 3-year stint as a newspaper editor at the Benella Ensign but was wooed back to Radio by the Ace Radio network to present the Country Today program. This was 8 years ago, and she has remained there to this day and has no plans for retirement. We had a good ...
This was a fantastic Woolshed chat with Ben Duxson, who Farms at Marnoo in Victoria. And yes, Ben is my brother. We discuss a wide range of topics from his Sheep classing run that he started when he was 21, right through to him being the unofficial spokesperson for Farmers fighting against the transmission lines. Some have called for Ben to enter politics, which he did not rule out. Ben has his Glendemar Ram Sale on October 8th, and if you want to sign up for one of his newsletters, jus...
Joe Messina is a student of the Farm Machinery market both here and in Canada. This Aussie turned Canadian turned Aussie again gives us a rundown on where the very expensive new Machinery market is at and where it's headed. I hope you enjoy. End of message. The Farmers Club podcast is now only available to our paid newsletter subscribers. We know that won't suit everyone, but it's a business decision we have made to give all our current and potential subscribers extra value. So what you will ...
Jeff McDonald is the best person I know who can explain how the relationship between a Farmer and a Bank should look like. The title of the podcast is called "Equity ain't Equity anymore". This is a must-listen for anyone involved in the business of Farming. Enjoy. End of message. The Farmers Club podcast is now only available to our paid newsletter subscribers. We know that won't suit everyone, but it's a business decision we have made to give all our current and potential subscribers extra ...
Lachie McKenzie is a Farmer in South West Victoria who runs a Commercial Angus Herd and a Composite Sheep Breeding Flock. Lachie also runs McKenzie Ag, a Nutrition and Stockfeed business that delivers around 1000 tonnes a day to clients all around Australia. If you want to know how some of the best operators in Ag go about it, then this is well worth a listen. I hope you enjoy. End of message The Farmers Club podcast is now only available to our paid newsletter subscribers. We kno...
Jack Owen is a Farmer in the Ballarat area of Victoria. Jack has a couple of other strings to his bow in that he's written a book and coaches 20 Farming businesses. Jack, at 30 years of age, is going places. The Farmers Club podcast is now only available to our paid newsletter subscribers. We know that won't suit everyone, but it's a business decision we have made to give all our current and potential subscribers extra value. So what you will hear here is a preview of each podcast. You ...
It's amazing how many clever people we have in Ag here in Australia. And when it comes to contributions to world Agriculture as far as Australians are concerned, Ken Williamson is probably at the top of the tree. You see Ken invented the Silage wrapping process from here in Australia, which has become a massive worldwide industry. There are two parts that Ken had to invent. It's the Silage wrap and the Silage wrapping Machine. Although he didn't invent the wrap itself, he got the idea ...
Claudia Bryant teaches financial literacy to Farmers. But it wasn't something she was trained for, it was a learnt trait. Claudia turned this need into a business and has delivered courses on the subject. Claudia is young and calculated, and she really gets this space. She also said this: "Farmers are willing to pay for her courses, knowing they need to improve their financial literacy, but it's actually getting them to stick at it that is where the problem lies. Farmers just return to ...
Donald Carter has spent 15 years of his life pursuing justice. What was originally a major deception or maybe even corruption by the Megafert/Interfert companies, resulted in $139 million going missing, never to be recovered. They soon realised that pursuing Megafart was futile, so they turned their attention to the National Australia Bank. The NAB potentially deceived the 22 Fertiliser retailers, who collectively lost 13 million in this scandal. Some businesses went bankrupt, and some people...
This podcast on Donald Carter is another untold story of an Ag entrepreneur who saw opportunities, took risks, did deals, had to find money when he didn't have any, and innovate his way through the ups and downs of his business life. Along the way, Donald was involved in a very innovative trucking co-op, which had a unique business model that worked well until it didn't. He was heavily involved in the Grain Storage side of things, but it was his connection with the Fertiliser industry t...
Our latest podcast is with Nigel Kerin. We did an interactive question-and-answer type webinar in early July 2025 with our Farmers Club subscribers, and Nigel mentioned one thing that sums up that webinar and this podcast. He said, "When the students are ready to learn, the teacher will appear". So in this podcast, we are the students and Nigel is the teacher. So listen hard and listen often, as there are many gold bars dropping right through this 1-hour 50-minute publication. I thought about...
Paul Ryan had a very interesting upbringing. You see, his dad, Austin, was one of the greatest Farm Machinery inventors and innovators we have seen in this country. So much so that Austin got an OAM for his services to the Broadacre Cropping industry. The business was Ryan Farm Machinery, or RFM for short, which many of you will know. Paul explains what it was like growing up with an old man who thought outside the box. Someone whose mind was often elsewhere in inventor mode. Paul sai...