Seeds for Success

What does it take to build a sustainable seedstock business while balancing cattle genetics, pasture management, technology and the realities of running a family farm?  In this episode, Local Land Services Officer Lauren Roberts speaks with Harry White of Coffin Creek Angus, a seedstock cattle operation near Mudgee in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. Harry shares how he and his brot...

What if better results in the feedlot start with knowing your numbers, controlling your risk and making decisions based on data?  In this episode, Local Land Services Livestock Extension Officer Chelsea Koch speaks with Hamish Pennington, who runs his family farming enterprise alongside Conqueror Milling in Cootamundra, about the practical decisions behind his sheep a...

What if getting more value from silage starts with making better decisions before you even cut the paddock?  In this episode, Local Land Services Livestock Extension Officer Chelsea Koch speaks with Scott Angel, of Broula and Angels Livestock Services, in Tarcutta near Wagga Wagga in southern NSW, about the practical decisions that go into producing and storing high-quality silage....

What if the key to the future of farming isn't buying more land, but making better use of the land and data you already have?  In this episode, Senior Land Services Officer Lauren Roberts speaks with fifth-generation farmer and agtech entrepreneur Hamish Munro at his property, Springwood, near Molong in the Central Tablelands of NSW. Hamish shares his journey fro...

How can farmers build resilience and find new income opportunities without simply buying more land?  In this episode, Local Land Services Mixed Farming Advisor Rohan Leach speaks with Kristen Hegarty, who farms with her family on a 1,000-hectare livestock property in the Upper Hunter of NSW. Kristen shares her journey into the family business, regenerative grazing, and how the farm...

How can farmers balance profitability, sustainability and productivity in a changing agricultural landscape?  In this episode, Local Land Services Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator, Bonnie Mitchell, speaks with Iain MacLennan, Orchard and Farm Manager at his family farm in Orange, NSW, about apple production, sustainable farming and building a resilient agricultural business.&nbsp...

Could virtual fencing transform the way you manage grazing, cattle and pasture?  In this episode, Local Land Services Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator, Bonnie Mitchell speaks with Andrew Dowd about livestock trading, pasture management and the practical benefits of virtual fencing technology. Andrew runs a young cattle trading enterprise across family-owned and leased p...

As a fifth-generation farmer from Cowra, Jo Treasure works alongside her family managing prime lambs, Black Angus cattle, grazing crops and perennial pastures, while continually looking for ways to improve profitability and long-term sustainability. In this episode, she shares how she is running a mixed farming enterprise, making strategic business decisions...

How do you build a farming business that stays profitable through both the good seasons and the tough ones?  In this episode, Rob Watt shares how his mixed farming operation balances livestock, cropping and long-term decision-making to manage risk and improve resilience. Drawing on years of experience and farm benchmarking data, Rob explains his approach to stocking rates, enterpris...

Fifth-generation mixed farmer David Langfield has spent a lifetime balancing cropping, livestock and pasture management on his family's Cowra property. In this episode, he shares how lucerne underpins his farming system, why long-term soil management matters, and how on-farm grain storage has improved grain quality, marketing flexibility and business resilience.  David als...

How do large-scale farming businesses balance productivity, sustainability and profitability while staying ahead in a rapidly changing industry? In this episode, Sarah Jacobson from Lawson Grains shares how research, data and technology are shaping the future of farming across New South Wales and WA. Sarah explains how Lawson Grains approaches R&D, variable rate technology, soil health and sus...

How do you make the right decisions when the season turns against you and the pressure is on? In this episode, Chris Kilby shares how he’s managing a dry and challenging season near Trundle, offering practical insights into decision-making, risk management, and keeping a farming business moving forward when conditions are tough. Chris explains how they’ve adapted their cropping plans a...

Are you making the right decisions when it comes to expanding your farm business or managing risk in a new environment? In this episode, Chris Kilby speaks about building a mixed farming enterprise near Trundle, sharing his journey of starting again, consolidating land, and improving efficiency across his operation. Alongside his wife Sarah and their three daughters, Chris runs a self-replacing Me...

Are you matching your livestock trading decisions to your feed base or the market? In this episode, Local Land Services Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator, Bonnie Mitchell speaks with Courtney Tourle about livestock trading, decision-making, and building a profitable enterprise while balancing work, family and farming. Courtney and her husband Tom run a livestock trading business on a leased prop...

Are mixed farming systems the key to more resilient and productive farms? In this episode, Local Land Services Mixed Farming Advisor Rohan Leach sits down with Lawrence Balcomb from Golden Glen near Toogong to talk about mixed farming, pasture management and how cropping and livestock can work together in a practical farming system. Lawrence shares how his operation combines prime lamb production...

Is your grazing strategy working for your land or are you working for your grazing? In this episode, Local Land Services senior Natural Resource Officer Jasmine Wells sits down with Emily Mosely, Grazing Solutions Advisor with Atlas Carbon and MaiaGrazing. Emily explains how a people- and data-first approach to grazing management transformed her family’s semi-arid rangeland operation. Drawin...

Is your family serving the farm… or is the farm serving your family? In this episode, Tim Bartimote sits down with James Hamilton, a central New South Wales farmer who also works nationally in agricultural succession planning. Drawing on lived experience and more than a decade advising families, James explains why succession isn’t about dividing assets; it’s about aligning needs...

What happens when a producer decides not just to grow the product but to own the entire supply chain? In this episode, Local Land Services Cropping Ag Advisor Tim Bartimote sits down with Andy and Ben Sippel to unpack how a vertically integrated lamb business was built from paddock to plate. Starting with farmers’ markets and evolving into a streamlined event-based model, they share why simp...

What if one native plant could fundamentally change how your grazing system performs, even through drought? In this episode, Local Land Services Cropping Ag Advisor, Tim Bartimote, sits down with Andy and Ben Sippel from Saltbush Plains to unpack decades of hands-on experience using old man saltbush as a backbone species in grazing systems. From transforming degraded cropping country into resilien...

Welcome to the final episode of our 4-part series, The Lime Light, where we shine a light on lime and dig into building pasture performance on acidic soils.  Liam Mowbray runs a cattle operation near Gloucester in partnership with his wife Alissa and his parents. Since moving to the area four years ago, the family has focused on lifting production by increasing the carrying capacity across th...

Welcome to episode 3 of our 4 part summer series, The Lime Light, where we shine a light on lime and dig into building pasture performance on acidic soils. Stuart Tait farms alongside his family at Mandurama in the NSW Central Tablelands with other properties at Lyndhurst and Canowindra. Tait Agriculture is focused on cattle and a cropping program including wheat, canola and Faba beans. Stuart has...

Welcome to part 2 of our Summer series of Seeds for Success - The Lime Light series. We’re shining a light on lime and digging into acidic soils to optimise pastures as we chat with farmers who have been part of the High Performance Pasture Mixes for Acidic Soils, a project co-funded by NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, and Meat and Livestock Australia Donor Comp...

Welcome to our Summer series of Seeds for Success - The Lime Light series. Join us as we shine a light on lime and dig into acidic soils to optimise pastures. Over the coming four episodes, we'll be chatting with farmers who have been part of the High Performance Pasture Mixes for Acidic Soils, a project co-funded by NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, and Meat and Lives...

Dean Hague is a Farmer on Tara Station, near Mount Hope. Alongside his wife, Jayde, and their kids, Dean has been continuing a century-old legacy of cattle raising and farming. In this episode, Dean explains the composition of his 98 thousand acre property: the merinos and dorpers, mixed farming, stud cattle, and cereal cropping. He discusses the exclusion fence project, the results so far in keep...

Paul Tognetti is a farmer in Myee, near Grenfell. His farm consists mostly of wheat, canola, and faba cropping operations alongside a few sheep across a 26 hundred acre area.  In this episode, Paul walks us through his farm and the numbers that go in and out of his operation. He expresses his passion for precision agriculture, the math behind it all, and the technology that lets it all happen...