Profitable Farmer

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Andrew Roberts ‘Robbo’ back to the Profitable Farmer podcast. Not only is Robbo one of the founders of Farm Owners Academy and the previous host of this Podcast, but he has also been my Business Coach and great friend for over 15 years. It is always compelling to catch up with Robbo and ‘shoot the breeze’. In this conversation, we explore the definition of a successful business, the construct of being FREE from your business – having it resourced and set up so that it can work without you! This is ultimately what investors are looking for, and this is, in my opinion, the ultimate legacy we can pass on to future generations. Importantly, we explore what needs to happen both in business and on farms in order to move in this direction. We touch on the strategy, systems, structures and resources required to get there, and we explain the set path to follow to make this a reality. We also discuss the MINDSET and IDENTITY SHIFT needed to move from being a busy technical farm

Every six months, I like to check in with Terry Tran, our resident investment specialist and founder of the Freedom Trader, to get his insights into the global marketplace, our local economy and investing in the equity market and off-farm.   In this interview, we explore: the global economy given the ongoing pandemic; the impact that significant government intervention might have; what we might expect in terms of inflation, interest rates and economic recovery; Terry’s investment philosophy; and, his recent client and personal investment results.   We also explore Terry's passion for teaching farming families how to become competent, disciplined and successful investors in an ever-volatile and often unpredictable economic environment.   An essential component of running a successful farming business involves diversifying your asset-base, cashflows and wealth off-farm. Successful intergenerational change and creating meaningful legacies for future generations often depend on this. Terry reminds us

Our work ethic is legendary. No question.   Our ability to handle volatility, variability, risk, genuine adversity, constant change, and daily corrections is to be truly admired.   Equally, business ownership AND farming can be a lonely place.   Many of us have been here – playing full tilt, often without regular breaks for years.   It is no wonder so many of us, over time, become tired, stressed, overwhelmed, and fatigued.   Ladies & gentleman, BURNOUT in business is a very real thing!   Many of us are so entrenched in the busyness of our farms and lives that we don’t stop to check-in, or even acknowledge it.   Let me be clear: burnout is the single biggest reason for small business failure GLOBALLY. It is why only 6% of businesses that start do not get to celebrate their tenth birthday.   Where are you in relation to burning out?   I have been there – and it’s not much fun.   In this important podcast, Farm Owners Academy’s Head Coach and Personal Development Guru, Tracy Secombe, and

I have heard it said in my travels that success leaves clues.   I have also heard it said that history often repeats itself.   In this podcast, we hear the story of a 95-year-old gentleman - also a great Australian businessman and entrepreneur.   This story is told through the eyes of his now 62-year-old son – also a great Australian businessman and entrepreneur. This is a story of initiative, passion, grit, determination and persistence.   We hear how important traits of success in leadership and life can be passed down through generations, and how these traits are perhaps the most important things we can wish to inherit from the generation before us or provide to the generations that follow.   We hear about dedication to making a significant difference to an industry that he and his incredible wife genuinely love.   We hear of how it feels for that same husband and wife team to see their 38-year-old vision and dream become a reality.   In this Podcast, we also get to learn about:   what it t

So the saying goes…   The first generation starts a business. The second generation builds it up. The third generation ruins it.   I am sure we have all heard this bandied around over the years…   In my estimation, the Hutcheon & Pearce story, led by Arron Hutcheon, is a great rural and regional example of how to buck this trend, and thrive.   In this episode, I am fortunate to speak with Arron Hutcheon, third generation Managing Director to the highly successfully Hutcheon & Pearce John Deere Dealership to the Riverina and beyond.   Arron is a young, genuine, authentic and confident business leader. Under his watch and over 20 years, the H&P business has grown from 60 to 300 employees. The business how operates across 14 locations, and is recognised for excellence within the global John Deere franchise, now delivering the latest and most sophisticated machinery and in-paddock production service & technologies to thousands of farm businesses across southern New South Wales.   In

In our estimation, less than 5% of farming families have documented, accurate and meaningful family and business plans. In this episode, I speak with Farm Owners Academy (FOA), Farm Business Coach, David ‘Westy’ Westbrook about the importance of strategic planning and the method FOA recommend in making our farm business plans compelling, actionable and highly effective.   As Westy and his family embark on their FOA National Farm Client Tour over 12 months, and as they visit and support over 100 of our farming clients on this specific process, I saw it as perfect timing to dig a little deeper on: why planning is important; what makes up a world-class strategic plan; how to keep it from collecting dust in a cupboard somewhere; how to bring it to life; how to use it as a core leadership tool in aligning and inspiring your team to greater levels of achievement; and how this can enrol powers greater than you to see you achieve more in life than you can imagine. Becky and Westy have been stand-out client

Are you open to explore a deeper meaning to life? In this episode, I let you in on a secret and introduce you to an important man in my life. Over the last 5 years, I have enrolled the support of Diego (Dig) Bortolin. Dig has been a great friend, confidant, mentor and spiritual guide to me. He has supported me to face my fears; explore my self-doubt; move through my anxieties, challenge my limiting beliefs; work on my primary relationships, develop as a human, and then find my flow, set-down compelling and meaningful intentions and live a rich and fulfilling life…in the moment. Over that time, my life has changed dramatically. I used to try and control and command, out-smart the universe, win at life intellectually, suppress, ignore or avoid my emotions, and not trust my intuition and instinct. I am proud to share that my spiritual journey has been deeply fulfilling and significant for me. I am so very grateful to have an amazing man like Dig in my corner, helping me be at my best as I turn up to my fam

I have heard it said that there is no such thing as a 'perfect family'. Who can relate to this? In business, and within our families, there are so many different personalities… so many complex people that we have to deal with, work with, and lead. For many, THIS can be our greatest challenge! In this podcast, and to complement my prior two episodes on Planning & Negotiation, I explore DiSC Personality Profiling. We will discover how a deeper understanding of our individual Personality Type and Behavioural Traits can see us better communicate and manage our team and families, and help us adapt and overcome the various relationship challenges we may be experiencing. In this episode, I: introduce you to DiSC Personality Profiling describe in detail the 4 distinct personality types we each fall into explore where conflict and lack of cohesion can come from explain how we can better understand each other how we can better adapt our communication to lead each and every member of your team more effec

Negotiation is not what we think it is. Negotiation is a skill that all successful business minds and influencers in society learn, master and successfully apply. Yet at the same time, it is a crucial skill very few of us are ever taught. As a result, most of us battle through life and business… ‘winging it’, getting it wrong, damaging relationships, ‘settling for less’, missing out and often making a massive mess along the way. How to get the very best outcome requires, in my experience, an approach that is counter-intuitive to how we have been taught to play. In this episode I explore both the art and science of negotiation.   We explore: what is a negotiation and why it is not what we think! how so many ‘get it wrong’ how careful preparation will avoid costly mistakes specifics on what that careful preparation looks like how to initiate and enter into the conversation strongly how to lead the process well how to navigate what can play out how to reduce the likelihood of unfavourable

During my business and entrepreneurship journey, I have been lucky enough to study with and learn from some incredible minds. Through Marshall Thurber, and his ‘Money & You’ course, I have been introduced to the truly profound business thinkings of both W Edward Deming and Buckminster Fuller. In this episode, and as we collectively set down our plans and priorities for the new year, I share some of the most compelling entrepreneurial philosophies and principles pioneered by the great ‘Bucky’ Fuller! In this conversation we explore: why goal-setting is so important why being in motion towards your goal is more important than the goal itself! why trying to ‘find your purpose’ isn’t it! why selfless goals & objectives are so much more impactful why adding value into the lives of others is so very important, for you and them! how the setting up of your plans to achieve your goals increases the likelihood of their attainment why regular reconnection with your goals is imperative, for you, your fam

2020, for a range of reasons, will be a year we’ll never forget.   Yet, at the same time, I feel it will also be a year many of us will cherish and be proud to remember. Adversity has been prominent. Families have come together. Communities have rallied. Hard work has been at the fore-front. The important things have been re-established. Simplicity has been remembered. Self-mastery a requirement.   As we round out this crazy year and complete on a unique season, it is important to take time to rest, reflect, reenergise, and reset.   In this final podcast episode of the year, I invite our Senior Farm Business Coaches to reflect on the year that was, share some of the big wins they observe across our community, and provide some key tips on how to set 2021 up to be our best year yet.   Tracy Secombe, Cheryl Freak and David Westbrook are incredibly passionate and dedicated business coaches to the Farm Owner Academy community. Their support to our members is outstanding.   The transition into the

A mate of mine described Brett Stevenson as ‘a legend in our industry’. In 1996, Brett founded Market Check, now Australia’s most highly respected and widely used independent grain marketing company for Australian farmers. Having navigated 3 years of very challenging seasons, like many farming families, Market Check is now a growing team of 15+ representatives supporting a client base of over 1,000 farming families – equally one of Australia’s real recent success stories. In this interview with Brett, we get his helicopter view of how harvest is unfolding across Australia; what prices have done and will do; the impact of China at this time; his view on global grain production this year; and what all that might mean for farming families this year and into the new season. With a successful career as Founder & Managing Director to Market Check, Brett is sharing his reflections and some valuable insights on his last 25 years in building that national & independent business and team, and how they have

Hi [First Name], 12 years ago, as I hung my shingle as the first business coach in regional Australia, Danny Russell, then a 28-year-old budding entrepreneur with a small cleaning company knocks on my door to tell me he is going to be my first client! …and the rest is history. A cracking entrepreneur and now emerging property developer, Danny & his wife Jill, have become life-long friends and truly inspirational peers and mentors to both Jane & I. In this episode, Danny and I discuss: the humblest of beginnings a global search finding family valuing the little things being grateful for what we have nailing entrepreneurship being resilient and stating the course fearlessness & being courageous playing the long game leadership making a difference - to your team and to the community you serve During our business coaching journey together, Danny has taught me so much more than I have him… of that I am sure. For me, he is the most inspirational ‘cleaner’ in Australia. Simply put, Da

Leadership according to one of the all-time greats… In this podcast, I share some of the most compelling business leadership training I have ever learned. Several years ago (and 7 times since!), I attended an incredible Entrepreneurial Training Program called ‘Money & You’. It was here that I was first introduced to W. Edward Deming.  Deming was once the revered global authority on driving efficiency and quality in business. Many of the greatest companies in the world today are underpinned by Deming Leadership Principles. If these Leadership Principles are good enough for big-players like Toyota, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Ford and Gillette, then perhaps they are equally relevant for our family farming businesses? They certainly underpin the key principles we now teach at Farm Owners Academy, and I will welcome your feedback on the key points I cover. So join me on this episode as I reveal a different spin on leadership, and perhaps a new place to focus, as you embark on truly scaling your farm business o

Hello and welcome to our 60th episode! WOW! We are so proud to reach this milestone in the Profitable Farmer journey.    Over the past 3 years, the previous 59 Profitable Farmer episodes have been downloaded over 151,000 times and we have steadily built up a loyal fanbase and thousands of subscribers.  The topics we discuss each fortnight are even appealing to listeners outside of agriculture, which is surprising and reaffirming all at once. Thank you for the support, feedback and reviews you have provided along the way.   As the traditional gift given to celebrate a 60th anniversary is diamond, we have lined up a true Aussie diamond to commemorate this milestone.   In this special edition podcast, we are joined by self-proclaimed “ordinary Aussie”, this man is grounded, humble, and a true gent… Michael Crossland. Michael has lived a life full of adversity, pain and suffering yet is one of the most positive people I have ever encountered.   In today’s episode, Michael shares his unbelievable story

In the second of this important two-part series, I interview another small group of Farm Owners Academy Platinum Mastermind Members. This time the wonderful Women of FOA.... Across our community there are some incredible transformations occurring, and some incredible results being achieved – be they financial, on-farm, in-family or individually. It truly is a unique, positive, supportive and completely dedicated community of over 120 like-minded, growth-oriented farming families, each intently committed to an intensive 3-year business & personal development journey, and on making more money, building better businesses, stronger teams and achieving more fulfilment in their families and lives. In this podcast interview, I speak with Carissa Schneider, Marion Drew and Shaana Williams and ask them to share: their wins, their challenges, the results they’re getting, what they like most, what they value most, and why they joined in the first-place. As we invite just 12 more farming families to join

In an important two-part series, I interview two small groups of Farm Owners Academy Platinum Mastermind Members.   Firstly, the Men of FOA, and then the Women of FOA.   Across our community there are some incredible transformations occurring, and some incredible results being achieved – be they financial, on-farm, in-family or individually.   It truly is a unique, positive, supportive and completely dedicated community of over 120 like-minded, growth-oriented farming families, each intently committed to an intensive 3-year business & personal development journey, and on making more money, building better businesses, stronger teams and achieving more fulfilment in their families and lives.   In this first podcast interview, I speak with Nick Cook, Ben Taylor and Mark Carter and ask them to share: their wins, their challenges, the results they’re getting, what they like most, what they value most, and why they joined in the first-place.   As we invite just 25 more farming families to join

How important is your language as a farmer?   And how important are your words in enrolling your family & team to achieve all you hope & dream of in your life?   Have you ever really stopped to think about it?   In this episode, I interview another great mate of mine, James Kelly.  ‘JK’ is Managing Director of Alchimie – a global management consulting and leadership training organisation.   Having worked in, coached and trained the pinnacle of leadership teams within some of the largest construction projects across Australia and oversees, he is more than qualified to speak about how each of us can better communicate as leaders.   What JK shares with us is equally applicable within our farming teams, just as much as it is at the highest levels of commerce.   In this interview, JK & I explore: how to align teams to a common goal, how to bring multiple families and businesses together, what tangible things we need to do in order to make our future a reality, and how to engage with our

Out of 10, how do you rate your company’s culture, and what do you do in order to enhance & optimise it? Team and family culture is at the essence of how well our farming teams perform and achieve. Team and family culture can be the thing that truly sets you apart as a business in both your area and market. It’s ultimately an extension of you, and a legacy you can leave. At the same time, culture is intangible, and as a result so often neglected in our own leadership. In this podcast, we give you a taste of the type of training we provide to our clients as we take a sneak peek into our Take Control Program monthly business coaching session.  This month, we explored:   – what is team and family culture;  – how good is your culture;  – how do we rate it;  – what are the 4 core strategies you can focus on to enhance it; and  – what can be done to see you create a truly high-performing team and environment.   There are 4 core areas of business that can set the foundations for a great company and

I used to think being a leader meant that I had to know it all, have all the answers, control every decision, and work the hardest. I used to think leadership was an ‘intellectual game’ and mindfulness had no place in business… or leadership… or success in most things for that matter. I certainly didn’t make any time for it…how wrong I was!   On my journey in business and leadership, I now understand that our mental health and strength is of the utmost importance. I appreciate that removing the busyness, being able to truly focus, quietening the mind and looking after my mental wellbeing and mindset is fundamental to being a composed, confident and successful leader. In this podcast, I interview FOA Business Coach and founder of the Soul Pleaser Program, Tracy Secombe who is an irrefutable authority on this topic. I am also joined by FOA Platinum Mastermind Member and founder of The Abundant Farmer, Hayley Grosser who is an equally capable mentor and educator in this space. Together, we discuss the importa