Propagate

Fresh out of high school, Tim and Hannah were on the brink of securing a huge agri-tourism deal on a Central Coast property. It was meant to be their big farming break. When the rug was pulled out from under them, it took all their strength to get back on the horse. They worked hard, planned, and strengthened their relationships in the community. From the ashes of their first loss, 'The Food Farm'...

Mitch Highett has farmed around the world, worked on the land in NSW, and experienced the business side of ag in Sydney. Today, he runs his own farm management business, and he’s got a plan to use it as a stepping stone to farm ownership.

In this new season of Propagate, we're speaking to farmers from all over NSW who haven't inherited a farm. Instead, they're forging their own path to farm ownership and showing you how you can too.

For farming families, conversations about succession planning can be tough. The stakes are high, and it can be hard to get everyone on the same page. Succession planning experts Isobel Knight, Lyn Sykes and accountant Tom Larkin understand why it’s important for farming families to tackle these tricky conversations head on. If you’re asking - what the hell is a succession plan and why do I need on...

When Scott and Renae got married and started a family, they dreamed of having their own dairy. It made perfect sense to team up with Scott’s parents in the family dairy business and begin what they thought was a clear succession plan road map. But balancing the family relationships alongside the business put the pressure on, and soon the cracks began to emerge. In this episode we hear from Scott’s...

Country lawyer Claire Booth has worked with farming families on succession and estate planning for over a decade. She’s seen the best and the worst of it. Claire is also a first generation farmer, and she and her husband are determined to not make the same mistakes. In this episode Claire lifts the lid on how a first generation farmer can develop an airtight business plan and build a farming asset...

Peter Leitch and his wife Margot started succession planning when their three daughters were teenagers. Their story shows it’s never too soon to start these conversations, and that building structures around the farming business can help the next generation navigate working together. Propagate is brought to you by the Young Farmer Business Program, an initiative of the NSW Department of Primary In...

Country lawyer Claire Booth has worked with farming families on succession and estate planning for over a decade. She’s seen the best and the worst of it. Inspired by the mistakes she’s seen farming families make, and the financial fall out of these decisions, she applied for and was awarded a Nuffield Research Scholarship. Claire’s research went deep on the relationship between succession plannin...

The Longworth’s run South Bunarba - a large property near Mungindi in northern NSW, just south of the QLD border. It’s been in the family for 4 generations, and succession planning has been something the family have talked about for years. The kids always thought they’d come home one day, but when they were thrown the curve ball of a divorce and a sudden illness, their best laid plans were put to...

The Longworth’s run South Bunarba - a large property near Mungindi in northern NSW, just south of the QLD border. It’s been in the family for 4 generations, and succession planning has been something the family have talked about for years. The kids always thought they’d come home one day, but when they were thrown the curve ball of a divorce and a sudden illness, their best laid plans were put to...

When Scott and Renae got married and started a family, they dreamed of having their own dairy. It made perfect sense to team up with Scott’s parents in the family dairy business and begin what they thought was a clear succession plan road map. But balancing the family relationships alongside the business put the pressure on, and soon the cracks began to emerge. In this episode Scott and Renae shar...

In Season 2 of Propagate we’re chatting about one of the biggest challenges for farming families - succession planning. We’ll unpack the essential ingredients for a positive succession plan and hear about how good communication, a clear road map, and the right support, can keep both the family relationships, and the farming business, on track.

Today it’s time to put on a lifejacket and cast off with Paul Aquilina, a young fisherman living on the Hawkesbury River, 90 minutes from Sydney. Paul has never been in any doubt that he wanted to be a fisherman and no amount of early morning starts, broken down boats, stolen eel traps, or empty nets could stop him from achieving his dream. To say he’s focused on what he wants is an understatement...

In this episode we speak with Sheia Kironn, who owns and operates Lifeforce Farm; a one-acre certified organic farm in Mullumbimby, a small town near Byron Bay, NSW. Sheia grew up in the Midlands of England, where she spent hours gardening with her grandma in a small allotment garden in a council estate. The small patch of land provided a large amount of food to the family and left a lasting impre...

In this episode, Angus Maurice from Farmer Brown’s Pastured Eggs talks us through how a few changes in the way they viewed and presented their business has had an incredible impact on their bottom line. Based in Central West New South Wales, Farmer Brown’s is a family affair, with Angus’ brother, sister and parents all involved in the daily operations. They also have a dedicated team of maremma wo...

In this episode, husband and wife team Jarrod and Emma Amery welcome us onto their farm outside of Forbes, NSW. While both Jarrod and Emma grew up amongst farming, it took them a long time for them to find the perfect farm to call their own. Location was obviously one crucial consideration to finding the right property, but equally important was finding one with a house large enough for them and t...

When you think of farming, it’s very unlikely that you think about farming flies. In fact, if you have any experience on a farm, you probably know how destructive flies can be to livestock. Yet in a small industrial building in the Canberra suburb of Fyshwick, Olympia Yarger is farming flies. And a lot of people are very excited by her unique work. It turns out that there’s more to flies than the...

This episode we set the alarm clock for an early start with Heath Cook, a dairy farmer from Dorrigo in the Northern Tablelands of NSW. It’s a long way from the mines where he spent the first two decades of his working life. But when the fly-in-fly-out mining lifestyle began to keep him away from home for long stretches, it was time to ignore the advice of a financial planner and invest their life...

In this episode of Propagate, we visit Brad Cavanagh from Hardhat Angus, situated in Harden, NSW. Originally from a non-farming family in Dubbo, Brad became interested in cattle as a high school student thanks to the Angus Youth program. His interest continued to grow into a full blown passion for Angus cattle, even taking him to the USA to learn more about cattle farming techniques and the all im...

In this episode, Bodie and Rachel Hill discuss the ups and downs of living and working in one of the most remote parts of the state. Their property, Waka Station is near Cameron Corner at the border between New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. More than three hours hours away from the nearest town, the pair consider their patch of land an oasis. But making a living from the land isn’t...