Head Shepherd

Maximising the potential of the grass you grow is a critical component of pasture-based agriculture; doing it well is what separates the good farmers from the great.  In this episode of the Head Shepherd podcast, we discuss this and more with Michael Gooden, an Angus seed stock business expert and a champion of sustainable cattle farming practices. Michael hails from NSW, Australia, where he and h...

Are we aware of where our food comes from? What about the subtle complexities in our food production systems? Join us as we get a fresh perspective on this and more from Jill Griffiths, a science writer, journalist, and author.  Her recently launched book, "What's for Dinner?", dives into how our food is grown and our role as food-eaters. With a mix of science, history, and personal...

Do you vaccinate your livestock correctly? Do you read the label every time? Is your fridge at the correct temperature to store the vaccine? Today we're discussing gold star vaccination protocol with Kim Kelly, a Veterinary Technical Advisor from MSD Animal Health. Mark and Kim discuss the common pitfalls people often stumble into when administering vaccines. These range from improper storage...

Our guest this week, Robynne Anderson, is an authority on global agricultural and food policy. Robynne grew up on a farm and started her career in agricultural publishing. After selling her first business and taking a short break to contemplate her next move, she founded Emerging Ag Inc. Robynne realised there was a lot of talk about 'food security', but very little understanding of what...

This week, we have our first lawyer on the show, Pat Barrett. He is both a lawyer and farmer in Wagga Wagga, Australia. Pat grew up with a passion for agriculture with friends and family involved in the industry and studied Agribusiness and Law at the University of New England with the intention of using the degree in a management position. “I never thought I was going to be a lawyer,” says Pat. B...

This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we’re heading back over to the US to speak to Brad A. Freking, a research geneticist in the Livestock Bio-Systems Research Unit, Clay Center in Nebraska. Originally, Brad grew up on a small mixed farm. Brad's first connection to genetics came when he went to study at university, working on beef cattle efficiency. Brad then went on to work with pigs; sinc...

This week on the podcast we're switching up species and discussing cashmere goats with David Shaw. In 2017, David undertook a self-directed R&D project to see if he could ‘resurrect’ the cashmere industry. David found that New Zealand had some of the best cashmere fibre in the world. “We know our fibre is whiter and longer. Research indicates that the fibre from this part of the world is...

In this podcast, two genetics enthusiasts delve into IMF, methane, mature cow weight, immune competence and more, exploring the latest developments in livestock genetics and breeding strategies for Angus cattle. Yes that's right, we are heading back into the Angus world with Christian Duff, general manager of genetic improvement at Angus Australia .  As Mark puts it, Christian is "involv...

Have you ever wondered why some cattle thrive better through an unusually hot summer? Our guest this week, Dr. Raluca Mateescu, Professor of Quantitative Genetics and Genomics at the University of Florida, has been focusing on the impact of heat and climate on beef production in the southern regions of North America. Raluca and her team have been looking into how to breed cattle to handle increasi...

This week we're back chatting about Angus cattle with another great livestock producer with a passion for genetics. Born and raised on the family farm, Lucinda always knew she was going to be involved in the agricultural industry.  After growing up on a merino sheep property,  she gained a first class honours degree in Agricultural Science, followed by a formative time in the goat industry. ...

Welcome to the latest episode of the Head Shepherd podcast, where Ferg is chatting with Dr. Susan Robertson, a senior lecturer in ruminant production at Charles Sturt University. Susan has a wide range of research interests - from a PhD looking at staple strength in ewes, then delving more into pasture production, before transitioning into a full-time research role in 2016 with the EverGraze proje...

Today we discuss the bigger part of how you make money on the farm - how well you feed the animals. Nutrition of your livestock is one thing that you can get right, or wrong, on a daily basis; genetics is a longer burn. With nutrition, you can see the results almost immediately. To discuss this, our guest this week is Charlotte Westwood. Charlotte got her vet degree from Massey University and spen...

Do you want to develop your understanding of estimated breeding values (EBVs) in cattle? This week's podcast guest, Tom Gubbins, and our host Mark Ferguson chat about breeding values and Te Mania Angus, giving us a great insight into the role of genetics in a farm business. Te Mania started in New Zealand in 1928 with the closing of the Angus herd book. They have been involved in genetics fro...

In this podcast, we sit down with Rick, a seasoned farmer whose parents moved to his family farm in the 70s as a child,  as part of the family's succession plan. Rick now runs a self-replacing composite flock, focusing on early maturity, fat, muscle, and health traits such as worm resistance. Rick also sheds light on his involvement in the Farm Owners Academy as an accountability coach and ho...

This week, our guest is Ben Todhunter from Cleardale Station in Canterbury NZ.  Ben's grandfather purchased Cleardale in 1943 and is named after its geographical "snow shelter" attributes. Cleardale is only 4 km from Mount Hutt as the crow flies.  Stud breeding is in Ben's genetics, with his great grandfather founding the Blackford stud in 1924. In Ben's time, they had a t...

Join us today for a chat through Richard Rains's career of 40 years of selling meat around the world. "It became a great passion and I still pinch myself every day at the success a little kid from the bush was able to achieve."  Richard grew up in central NSW and was the youngest of four kids. When it was his turn to return to the farm, his father said to him, "Things aren&apos...

Are you optimising your farm's production? Today we have John Young, aka Youngy, on the podcast. There are so many ways to optimise your farming business and sometimes that can be overwhelming. John, however, makes it all sound very understandable and achievable. John's background is in farming but he now runs a systems analysis service.  Farm Systems Analysis Service has been involved i...

Integrated pest management for blowfly, worms and lice is the topic of todays podcast, with our guest Alison Colvin.  Alison has published work on practices on farm and has also been involved in a lot of survey work. You can find more here Alison runs us through the surveys, which had some interesting results about incidences of flystrike, treatment trends and the effects of drought on lice, fly a...

One of the main topics of today’s podcast is the financial modelling of transitioning to a shedding flock from a Romney our guest, Prof. Paul Kenyon of Massey University, has been involved with. Mark asks what instigated the work and what does the modelling show? "In reality, coarse wool is costing more to get it off. Many farmers spend their whole summer shearing, crutching, dagging, dipping...

As producers, you're always wanting to get the most for your hard earned produce and it always helps when your processor wants that for you, too. Located mid-way between Sydney and Melbourne, Gundagai Meat Processors (GMP) is one of the most innovative lamb processors in Australia. GMP became a household name within the industry as they were the first to offer premiums for IMF. This week we h...

Every day, we make hundreds of decisions. These decisions affect you, your business and those around you. This week we have Kate Burke on the podcast talking about how to make the right decisions. With 26 years of experience behind her, Kate has a huge range of expertise in the Agriculture industry. Kates principles come from her experience in the industry as an agronomist, an educator, researcher...

This week we have an old supervisor of Marks, Graham Gardener as our guest. Graham has been involved in a huge multi species project (ALMTECH) focusing on measuring lean meat yield and eating quality for the past 7 years. You can find out more about it here: https://www.almtechau.com/ Mark and Graham start off with the work ALMTECH have been doing on live animal measurements in terms of lean meat...

Bio shearing, wool harvesting practices and Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) research is the topic of this week's podcast. We have Jock Laurie, chair of AWI chatting with Mark today. Jock currently farms wool, lamb, beef and grain on properties in New South Wales. In 2021 Jock became chair of AWI. Jock runs us through what AWI does, and what they're currently looking into it. AWI, for th...

Today on the podcast we have a different kind of guest! We have the incredible Dr. Roswitha Baumung who currently works at the Division for Animal Production and Health of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). Roswitha has always had a passion for animals. She studied Agriculture and completing her pHD on Animal breeding and genetics.  "I was especially interested...

It is always interesting to compare different farming systems across this world. This week on the podcast we have Dr Tim Keady speaking about farming in Ireland. Having recently returned from a trip to New Zealand, Tim has a great insight at how the different systems compare. "We went to see the use of different technologies on-farm, with the intention of reducing labour and improving efficie...