Humans of Agriculture

Season 4 of Monthly Markets opens with a strong pulse check across livestock, wool, property and grain. Tom and Mick begin with: Wagga sheep market strength, with mutton pushing 7.50–8.00 and trade lambs over 10.50 The Eastern Market Indicator hitting 1677 cents — a two-year record Cattle prices holding firm at Gunnedah Major rural property listings across NSW and QLD, including Springfield, Bogo,...

For decades, Australian agriculture has operated within a set of conditions that quietly shaped its success - stable geopolitics, expanding global trade, predictable markets, and steady productivity gains. That era is ending. In this conversation, Tim Hunt joins Oli Le Lievre to unpack the global forces reshaping food and agriculture right now, from geopolitics and trade fragmentation to climate v...

Millie Moore didn’t leave her job because she was unhappy. She left because she was curious. After four and a half years in a corporate ag role, Millie made a decision that many people talk about but few actually take. She quit, moved to Canada, and went ranching to properly immerse herself in the beef industry and test herself on the ground. That choice led to something bigger. In this episode, M...

At just 19 years old, Sam Rogers is building one of Australia’s most exciting agtech startups. Founder of GrazeMate, Sam is using autonomous drones, robotics, and AI to help farmers and ranchers move cattle, measure pasture, and gain real-time insights straight to their phone. In this episode, Sam shares his journey from growing up on a cattle station in North Queensland to raising capital, reloca...

Clancy Mackay’s story is one of the most extraordinary ever shared on Humans of Agriculture and there’s a reason it remains our most downloaded episode of all time. This is a full re release of our most listened to episode ever. In this conversation, Oli Le Lievre sits down with Clancy Mackay to share one of the most extraordinary stories ever told on Humans of Agriculture. From growing up off gri...

I loved the day we had with the team at Rohde's and the way we crafted this into an amazing video and our last #ThisIsAussieAg video in audio format did pretty well -  you can check it out on our YouTube in full! Watch it on YouTube here - link to our video

In today’s episode, I wanted to do something a little different and share an update on where Humans of Agriculture is heading. Over the last six years we’ve told hundreds of stories and met thousands of people, and it’s clear that the beating heart of our work isn’t just the stories themselves, but the people behind them. We’re stepping into a new chapter. One that builds on our storytelling roots...

Bridgitte Brooks is rewriting the story of Australian wool - and of rural women.  The fifth-generation sheep farmer has launched a wool athleisure brand from her farm in Yuna, Western Australia in a bid to connect modern consumers with a natural fibre that she feels is undercelebrated.  From baby blankets to wool athleisure wear, Bridgitte is stitching together sustainability, style, and heritage—...

In this episode, Oli sits down with Australia’s Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry — Julie Collins — live from the National Farmers’ Federation Conference on the Gold Coast. From her Tasmanian roots to leading one of the nation’s most important portfolios, Julie shares how her background shaped her approach to agriculture, sustainability, and community. She reflects on the go...

Passionfruit farmer Mitchell East is flipping the script on food waste, giving unsellable fruit a second chance.  Mitchell returned to his family farm in Manjimup WA on a mission to find a tasty use for surplus, speedily perishable fruit like passionfruit and cherries. The horticulture industry is always looking for new ways of squeezing value from seconds produce, with many tonnes of fruit and ve...

This month Tom and Mick catch up with New England livestock agent Mat Larkings about what he’s seeing on the ground—from post-drought price shifts to clients swapping breeding for trading.  They dive into the growing interest in coastal markets, the cautious optimism among producers, and why quality stock still rules. It’s a great listen for anyone keen to understand the real dynamics behind the n...

A decade ago, if Ben 'Wundy' Wundersitz spotted a mate's ute parked on the main drag in town he'd assume they were at the pub sinking a pint. These days, there's more chance of Wundy finding his mates working out at the gym across the road from the pub in his local town of Maitland in South Australia, which has fully embraced the Fat Farmers movement. Fat Farmers began 13 years ago when Wundy and...

Adventure pulses through the veins of Pilbara cattle woman Blythe Calnan. From navigating live cattle export supply chains in Jordan in the Middle East, to raising pasture-raised poultry in southern WA - Blythe's habit of saying 'yes' to opportunities in agriculture has taken her to all sorts of climates and farming systems. She's now back in her home state of Western Australia, teaching the basic...

A knowledge tour around Brazil cotton farms has blown the minds of a group of Aussie growers. Imagine having a cotton gin on every single farm?... or a family-led business with a breezy 220,000 hectares in crop? Rabobank Area Manager Felicity Taylor says the sheer sophistication and scale of Brazilian cotton production has to be seen to be believed. Freshly home from a Rabo Agri Knowledge Tour of...

WA sheep farmers do things "bloody well" if you ask Fraser Stewart, which is why he wrestled the 2025 Rabo WA Sheep & Wool tour to the west side of the country.   Fraser was proud to see curiosity and ideas bounce between the 21 big industry players visiting from the Eastern States and New Zealand to WA's Great Southern region last month.   WA is a key restocking market nationally, but Fraser...

We're keen to know what's going on with sheep - there seems to be records hit week after week at sale yards across the country. Are farmers getting FOMO?  Tom & Mick chat with stock and station royalty Todd Clements and Nick Fogarty about the underlying drivers of current sheep and lamb prices and what's likely to come. Todd and Nick are from Bowyer & Livermore in the Central West of NSW -...

There’s more to meat than what Aussies might think. After graduating from uni, Sophie Marriott couldn't wait to leave the bright lights of Brisbane to explore the seemingly endless opportunities in red meat processing. She never expected she'd end up in Tasmania, working for family-owned beef processing company Greenham, on the north-western coast. She's become totally smitten by the local communi...

When buying eggs, what matters to you? In this chat with Martin Rohde, of Rohde Egg Co, Oli learns what free range actually means, as well as some other intricacies of running a rapidly expanding higher-welfare egg business in South Australia's Clare Valley region. Even when navigating challenges around COVID-19 and avian influenza, the Rohde family has always kept animal welfare at the core of th...

A new voice joins Humans of Agriculture! Liv Thorn pokes her face from behind the curtain to share a bit about her background in media and what she brings to her (relatively) new role as Content Specialist in our ever-evolving team. Liv is a passionate storyteller and determined to propel more authentic, human-led stories from the bush into the mainstream. A seasoned journalist with over 15 years...

At the heart of Australia’s meat processing industry are the people. From graduates to CEOs, and those who work on the floor, we're letting their stories shine through this special More To Meat series.  In part two, we meet the unforgettable Stephen Duncan, aka Chainy, from Casino Food Company in NSW.  Chainy has been in the red meat processing game since 1985 and has worked just about every role...

In the first episode of our three-part More To Meat series, we're revealing a side of meat production you don't often get to see.  Oli visits Australian Country Choice (ACC) in Brisbane where they've recently processed 6000 head of cattle in just one week. That's enough beef for 49 million spaghetti bolognese meals... enough to feed every Australian twice! CEO Anthony Lee welcomes us into the ACC...

An 'overnight success' is often many years in the making and that's certainly the case for the Our Cow empire. Husband and wife duo Dave McGiveron and Bianca Tarrant scraped together a deposit to buy a small cattle property in 2019 and fulfill their dream of being 'mad weaner producers'. With just one steer to their name, they launched a direct-to-consumer meat business which soon exploded into a...

Beware, the burn! Tom & Mick got more than they bargained for in this chat with Wagyu breeder Charlie Perry. Apart from minor ego bruising, the fellas discovered that breeding some of the country's best Wagyu cattle is about more than just marbling. Charlie explains how sophisticated genetic tools are helping him grow a more balanced and functional animal, so he and his clients can endure the...

There are many fascinating pockets of Aussie agriculture and Grace Griffiths is keen to explore them all. A few years ago, Grace created 101 Ag Pathways to showcase the plethora of roles and career pathways into agriculture.  Grace is an agronomist, cotton grower, GIS specialist and part of her family business Data Ag, based in Goodiwindi QLD.  She chats about the chaos of juggling multiple roles,...

The biotech at the fingertips of farmers is super exciting. But is regulation keeping pace with scientific leaps? Biotech like gene editing has the potential to revolutionise the industry - by not only enhancing crop yields, but supporting sustainable farming practices, and helping address global climate change and food security.  Michael Leader's job with Bayer is an interesting one - he's the br...