Profitable Farmer

As we reach the business end of the season for many, this episode offers a quiet reflection on some of the deeper and important challenges showing up for farming families and their business teams right across the country. 

There’s no guest this time. Instead, I wanted to take a moment to share some of my learnings and observations over the year through coaching calls, leadership workshops, and time spent walking alongside farm ow...

Sam Whitelock knows pressure. He’s captained the All Blacks through some of rugby’s most intense moments. He’s made high-stakes decisions with the weight of a nation on his shoulders. And now, he’s turned that same grit and composure to life on the farm. 

But here’s what Sam’s learned. Real leadership isn’t about powering through at all costs. It’s knowing when to push and when to pause. When to speak and when to listen. And how to...

“You’re doing better than you think.” It’s the simple, powerful reminder that Tim and Cheryl Freak leave behind after every farm visit.

In this episode, I sit down with two of our long-time FOA members and coaches, Tim and Cheryl, who have spent the past three years deeply embedded in our community, supporting hundreds of farm businesses across Australia. This year alone, they’ve completed more than 50+ full day, in-person visits...

Australia’s wool sector is still feeling the pinch. There’s no doubt the last couple of years have been challenging, with recent decile two and three prices making it hard for many businesses to stay afloat. But despite these obstacles, the Swales of Woodlands set an example of resilience. They’re carrying 150 years of family heritage into the future, proving that even in the face of adversity, there are opportunities to adapt and ...

After more than 15 years of focused breeding, data collection, and persistence, Tom Bull and his team at LAMBPRO have achieved what many thought was impossible: the creation of KS7, a Marble Score 7 lamb, developed in partnership with Meat & Livestock Australia, Endeavour Meats, and chef Matt Moran.    This high-marbling lamb delivers the same eating quality, juiciness, and tenderness that consumers love in premium beef. But ...

Australian cattle and lamb markets are at a tipping point. Prices have surged to record highs, but according to leading analyst Simon Quilty, we’re about to hit what he calls “unsustainable pricing.” 

Bringing over 30 years of hard-won market insight to the table, Simon Quilty has worked with top firms including Louis Dreyfus, ConAgra, DR Johnston, and FC Stone. Today, he helps large financial institutions and farmers alike make ...

At just two years old, Terry Tran fled Vietnam by boat with his parents, was rescued after days lost at sea, and spent months on a Malaysian refugee island. It was there, on Christmas Eve, that a storm claimed his father’s life, leaving his 21-year-old mother widowed with a toddler to raise. 

From those humble beginnings, Terry has built a life of financial freedom, not through shortcuts but through patience, persistence and foll...

In recent years grain growers nationally have enjoyed an extended period of strong prices and favourable market conditions. 

According to grain industry authority, Brett Stevenson, Managing Director of Market Check, this may well be all about to change. 

Of the back of last month’s Australian Grains Industry Conference (AGIC), I invite Brett to once again join me to give us his expert insights to the new headwinds Aussie grain grow...

From growing up on a dairy farm in western Victoria with 12 siblings to the frontlines of one of the toughest fights in medical research, Sam McGuane’s story is one of resilience, service, and hope. As the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of The Brain Cancer Centre, and a key leader behind Carrie’s Beanies for Brain Cancer, Sam is on a mission to transform the future of brain cancer research. 

In this heartfelt episode, Sam opens ...

When you wear as many hats as our farming families do, time is one thing you never have enough of. 

From the kitchen table to the paddock, we’re constantly making decisions, solving problems, and figuring out how to do more with less. What if there was a way to take some of that pressure off, without handing over the reins? 

In this episode, I sit down with Dimity Smith, agri-business innovator, event leader, and one of the mos...

I really values the constructs that: ‘you cannot solve the problem you have created in the environment in which you created it’… and ‘many minds make for smarter work’. What could you see more clearly if you took time with key decision-makers away from your farm? How many more options and insights might you access if you more actively called on the collective wisdom of other high-performing farm owners? In this episode, Sam J...

What if the future isn’t something to fear but something we can prepare for, shape, and lead into with confidence? 

For Simon Kuestenmacher, understanding what’s ahead isn’t guesswork. It’s grounded in data, demography and deep thinking. As co-founder of The Demographics Group, Simon helps leaders across the country make sense of the big forces shaping our communities, our economies and our businesses. In this conversation, he brin...

What if we treated safety not as a box to tick, but as a culture to lead? 

For Rebecca Fing, this isn’t a theoretical question — it’s the heart of her life’s work. From her base in Goondiwindi, Rebecca and her team at House Paddock Training & Consulting have spent two decades helping farm families lift their game in HR, business strategy, and importantly — work health and safety. 

This episode is a full-bodied conversation ...

Every great innovation starts with a question — Could this be done better? 

For Wayne Perkins, that question came in a wool shed, with a busted back, and a view of shearing that hadn’t changed in a century. He wasn’t looking to build a business. He was looking to fix a problem. 

And in true agri-entrepreneur fashion, what followed was part invention, part persistence — and one heck of a story. 

In this episode, we shine a l...

Succession isn’t just a plan on paper — it’s a living, breathing conversation about legacy, leadership, and what we’re really passing on. And when it’s done well, it can strengthen not just the business, but the family behind it.  This episode is a testament to that. Rob and Ainsley McArthur aren’t just managing a successful beef operation in central Queensland — they’re guiding a generational transition with intention, structu...

Now and then, you get the chance to pause, look back, and really take stock. And when that moment rolls around, it can be quietly powerful. 

That’s exactly what this episode is. A milestone. A moment. A celebration. 

This year marks 10 years of Farm Owners Academy, and I wanted to sit down with two people who’ve been there from the start — FOA founder Greg Johnsson and our CEO Sam Johnsson — and reflect not just on where we’ve ...

The markets are rattled. The headlines are loud. And for farmers trying to plan ahead, it’s starting to feel a bit like trying to build a fence in shifting sand.

That’s exactly why, in this episode of Profitable Farmer, I’ve invited back our trusted investment specialist, Terry Tran from Freedom Trader - because when the world gets noisy, Terry brings sharp thinking and clear-eyed strategy.

  At present, we’re diving deep into o...

Let’s be honest - running a farm can feel like a never-ending list of things to do. The sun comes up, and we’re off… chasing the day, solving problems, making it all happen. But here’s the question we’re leaning into on this episode: What if the biggest breakthrough for your business isn’t out there in the paddock… but in here, inside you? 

At Farm Owners Academy, we’ve learned time and again that real transformation - the kind tha...

As we reset for 2025, many are feeling the weight of a brutal 2024. And to be completely honest — when you're staring down a decile one year, it’s hard to know where to start.     How do you budget with confidence? How do you front up to your bank when the season doesn’t go your way?    So here is the truth: waiting it out isn’t a strategy. Hope isn’t a business plan. And if you want to lead your business forward, now is the ti...