AgWatchers

The ag minister from the shadows.

We had a chat with shadow agricultural minister David Littleproud about a wide variety of topics and how he thinks the current government is performing.

Biosecurity - a new levy or a tax?

We have a chat with Colin Bettles, CEO of Grain Producers Australia. Last week, a huge section of agricultural representatives sent a letter to the government advocating for the removal of the new biosecurity levy. 
In this chat, we discuss this, along with the cost of living pressures for everyday Australians - specifically beer!

You're so Wyn*, you probably think this auctions about you

We have a chat with Wyn Snyman, the new CEO of Auctionsplus. We chat about the COVID impact on online livestock auctions, new competitors in the space, the Auctionsplus foray into media and a whole lot more. 
*Wyn is pronounced vein

Meat Vending Machine

We have a chat with Jacob Wolki (@jakewolki), who has set up a direct-to-customer meat retailing business. We chat about how this works with no retail staff. In our conversation we also learn about how he makes money from vegan complaints. 

#205 The end of 2023

We had a quick chat about what we found interesting about 2023. 

#204 Thinking outside, or on the box.

We had a chat with livestock market analyst Tim McRae, head of markets at On the Box. On the box is a new addition to the online auction space.We find out about the new start-up, but also have a lot of debate about livestock markets and markets in general.

#203 It’s all smoke and clear mirrors.

"I used to have a job cleaning mirrors. It's something I could really see myself doing."We have a chat with Trent Smoker, General Manager at Clear Grain. Trent talks about his biggest career achievement - bringing Andrew into Australian agriculture. We also talk about change in the grain industry, transacting online, grain 'marketing' plans and a whole lot more. 

#202 Love me tender, love me inputs.

Inputs have been an issue in recent years; they have increased dramatically in price, and there have been supposed shortages. We hard about a new start-up called iinputs.com, which wants to be the website for farm tenders, allowing farmers to tender out their input purchases in agchem. 
We like to hear about new ideas, so invited the founder, Fraser on to explain what it is.  

#201 The king of black pudding.

In this episode, we have a hero of the agwatchers hosts - Jim Arrowsmith of Pacdon Park. Pacdon Park are a supplier of British smallgoods from pork pies to black pudding. 
We chat about setting up a small goods business, the costs of business, access to staff and a whole lot more. 

#200 Grabrielle sounds the trumpet.

It is judgement day at AgWatchers. After a couple of years, we hit episode 200. Gabrielle Chan, author of 'Why you should give a F$#k about farming' and 'Rusted off', and well-known rural journalist, takes over the podcast to chat with us. 
 
The discussion covers a range of topics, including why we are dodgy, live export of sheep, advocacy in agriculture, getting in trouble with fertilizer and swearing in agriculture. 

#199 Raising the steaks.

We have a chat with Adam Coffey, the interim CEO of the newly(ish) formed Cattle Australia organisation. As usual, we cover a range of topics, from advocacy to emissions in the livestock industry.
 

#198 It’s just not cricket with Brad Hogg.

We have a chat with elite cricket player Brad Hogg. We delve a little into his cricketing, but have a much bigger focus on his post-retirement work in mental health awareness. 
This discussion covers a wide range of tough areas, and we recommend you listen (and we aren't just biased). 

#197 Urea, you gotta see her with Chris Lawson

Chris is the head of fertilizers for CRU Group, and has been a regular on the podcast over the past two years. He joins us from his New York City penthouse apartment to talk about the fertilizer market. Topics covered include; fertilizer pricing, supply and demand, shortages in Australia, conflict in the Middle East, minerals for batteries and a lot more. 

#196 Finding the people of agriculture

How do we find staff?We have a chat with Ryan Hoiberg aka Chris Hoiberg of Rimfire Resources. As is always the case with Ryan, we cover a range of topics related to recruitment, retention and the job supply situation. 
 

#195 The big events in ag in twenty minutes

You give us twenty minutes, we'll give you the world (of ag). In this episode, the two of us briefly chat about the following major topics in agricultural markets. 
The middle eastern conflict and its potential to impact markets.
The Russian-Chinese grain trade deal and whether it threatens Australian producers.
The Australian fertilizer shortage of 2023
The beef processors making the big bucks.
Trading cattle online, and the price premium. 

#194 Plowing Politics: The Journey to NFF Presidency - Tony York

The nominations are in for the position of NFF president as Fiona Simson steps down after more than six years at the helm. Later in the month, member organisations of the NFF will vote on who will become the next president and effectively represent farming to Canberra. 
We thought it would be interesting to chat briefly with them to see what makes them tick, and their views of agriculture. In this episode, we talk with Tony York.(The connection wasn't great, but we made it through!)

#193 Plowing Politics: The Journey to NFF Presidency - Georgie Somerset

The nominations are in for the position of NFF president as Fiona Simson steps down after more than six years at the helm. Later in the month, member organisations of the NFF will vote on who will become the next president and effectively represent farming to Canberra. 
We thought it would be interesting to chat briefly with them to see what makes them tick, and their views of agriculture. In this episode, we talk with Georgie Somerset.  

#192 Plowing Politics: The Journey to NFF Presidency - David Jochinke

The nominations are in for the position of NFF president as Fiona Simson steps down after more than six years at the helm. Later in the month, member organisations of the NFF will vote on who will become the next president and effectively represent farming to Canberra. 
We thought it would be interesting to chat briefly with them to see what makes them tick, and their views of agriculture. In this episode, we talk with David Jochinke,  commonly called DJ. 

#191 Pigs might fly.

We had a chat with Dawson Bradford, a pig, sheep and grain producer from Western Australia. He is also a local councillor and director of Australian Pork. This discussion covers off on topics from animal rights activists to building a mill on farm. 

#190 We are going to need a smaller flock.

We had a chat with Tom Bull, GM of Lambpro. In this episode we talk about the state of the industry, where it is going, and whether the future is bright or not?