Head Shepherd
Mark Ferguson
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Mark Ferguson from neXtgen Agri brings you the latest in livestock, genetics, innovation and technology. We focus on sheep and beef farming in Australia and New Zealand and the people doing great things in those industries.
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4 days ago
Maintaining genetic diversity and resilience around the world with Dr. Roswitha Baumung
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 in the genetics of small populations". After a scientific career at University, she began a helping farmers in her home country, Austria, set up breeding programmes for rare breeds.
Now she works for the FAO, working with all of the breeds around the world. Roswitha works in a team of three and is responsible for looking at the diversity of our livestock breeds.
In her role she supports countries by implementing breeding plans to preserve the genetic diversity of the population amongst many other things.
Mark and Roswitha discuss the importance of maintaining a native population to deal with shifting climate conditions. She says in some developing countries, she has seen a shift in species that specialise in harder conditions, aka going from sheep farming to camel farming!
"We need animals that are resilient, that recover fast after a [weather] event." And it's not just an environmental shift, it's also a consumer shift.
Mark asks is there is a secret gene bank full of the worlds animal genetics, like there is with seeds, but alas there is not. Roswitha does mention "cryoconservation" though, which you can read more about here
This podcast is a fantastic insight of the bigger picture thinking when it comes to the future of livestock breeding.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE
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Mar 12, 2023
An insight into Irish Sheep Farming with Tim Keady
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 efficiency. So, we decided to go to New Zealand" says Tim. "... to look at the systems of sheep reproduction... but also to look at the types and levels of technologies that are used on farm, particularly to improve labour efficiency."
Dr Tim Keady is principal sheep research scientist in the Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc Athenry and has a wealth of knowlege on the Irish sheep industry.
Mark and Tim compare the different genetics, grassland management, hogget breeding and markets which are surprisingly similar in many ways.
Firstly, in the last number of years in pedigree breeding genotyping is becoming more and more important in Ireland. Tim says "It's looking like there's a new scheme thats been launched this year that one of the requirements is that you have to buy a genotyped ram." A concept that has yet to reach our shores.
Tim runs Mark through the Irish sheep meat markets. Much like New Zealand, Ireland exports most of it's lamb, with 70% going overseas, making it the largest net sheep meat exporter in Europe. With 2.5 million ewes, that's no mean feat.
Mark and Tim discuss the breed profile of these sheep to fit both the Irish seasons but also the export market requirements.
Thank you Tim for sharing your time with us.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE
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Mar 5, 2023
Building your livestock cash flow with Richard Brimblecombe
If you can optimise your stocking rate for your season, there's no reason you can't make profit in livestock. However, accessing capital for trading and breeding stock, isn't always easy and can hold a producer back.
That's where Richard Brimblecombe and Legacy Livestock come in. Richard is a "Queenslander through and through" who always had a hankering for numbers. After a career in banking, Richard became one of the founding CEOs of stockco's Australian business. In 2019 he joined the North Australia Pastural Company.
Richard says, "It was a very interesting roll, but having to the taste for livestock finance and what it can do for the Australian Ag Industry, and for individual producers, I was very keen to do something different in that space again; so we kicked off Legacy Livestock."
"The role [of Legacy Livestock] is to come in and provide the piece of capital to allow a producer to run his property at his full stocking rate and therefore at its full potential.
The best way to get in touch is to visit the website: www.legacylivestock.com.au
Richard says "Give us a call, have a look around on the website. You can ring the number and you will talk directly to a relationship manager, and sometimes you might even get me!''
Richard and Mark also cover what it is to be a good producer, how optimum stocking rate can do wonders, and Richards insights into market trends.
https://www.legacylivestock.com.au/
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE
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Feb 26, 2023
Managing drench resistance in sheep with Ginny Dodunski
Want to know more about sheep parasites? This week we have Ginny Dodunski on the podcast chatting everything from drenches and capsules, to resistance and refugia. This podcast is full of handy helpful tips which will hopefully make you take a step back and look at your worm management program on farm.
In the last 12 month Ginny has been the Wormwise program manager but prior to that Ginny was (and still is) a practicing large animal vet.
Wormwise was launched as an initiative to help farmers manage drench resistance
Ginny says resistance (to anthelmintics) was always going to happen. "Parasites were always going to develop a resistance to drugs. The more days in the year your worm population is exposed to drugs, the more opportunities they have to breed and get around it."
Mark and Ginny spend the podcast discussing what you can do if you do have a drench resistance, and how you can clean your farm up practically.
From different methods of refugia, cattle grazing, careful management of drench usage, Ginny says there are solutions to the problem. However, Mark says, "Well monitored is the only way to be, you cant do any of this shooting blind." Ginny explains that for the first few years technical management can be overwhelming, but once you "get your eye in", she says it can be a lot less formal.
Mark and Ginny discuss the genetics behind it, and how it's not always about doing fecael egg counts and watching drenches. "Its about really focusing on feed and condition and minimising larval challenge."
If you'd like to keep up to date with Ginny and Wormwise you can find them on Facebook here.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE
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Feb 19, 2023
Current market trends with @Meat_Watcher - Matt Dalgleish
This week we are discussing markets and were lucky to secure some time with Matt Dalgleish to talk through the current markets and current trends. Matt has a wealth of experience in livestock markets.
Matt works with Andrew Whitelaw and together they have founded Episode 3 to provide market analytics. You can find out more about their work at Episode 3
They began working together in commodity market analysis in 2016 at an agriculture analysis firm owned and operated by Ruralco, a listed Australian company. In 2019, Ruralco was acquired by Agrium Australia (formerly known as Landmark), a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian agribusiness, Nutrien.
In 2020 Andrew and Matt decided to leave Nutrien to form a new food and agriculture analysis business known as Thomas Elder Markets (TEM), with the support of Elders Rural Services, a listed Australian company.
In 2022, Andrew and Matt took over the ownership of TEM, rebranding the business and relaunching as Episode 3 (EP3).
Matt and his business partner produce the Ag Watchers Podcast - here is the link to follow their work: https://agwatchers.podbean.com/
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE
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Feb 12, 2023
Innovation is coming to livestock farming - will it make you or break you? Ferg's thoughts
This week we bring you Ferg's thoughts on innovation and particularly the role Artificial Intelligence will play in livestock farming in the future. The uptake of innovations in livestock breeding in the last 20 years is about to go into over drive and we are on the cusp of big changes in how sheep breeding happens across the industry. There will be two options for those breeders out there - adapt or be disrupted.
Some of the concepts in this podcast are borrowed from Christian Kromme, we highly recommend you read or listen to his book and follow him on social as well as subscribing to his news letter.
A link to his book is here - https://christiankromme.com/the-book-eng/
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE
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Feb 5, 2023
Three years into transitioning to a finer wool genotype. With Mark Wragg.
Mark Wragg transitioned from Romney ewes to a finer wool cross three years ago. Today he chats to Mark Ferguson about that process and also about the introduction of a White Suffolk stud to their business.
After attending a NZM workshop a few years ago Cheviot, which Mark Ferguson spoke at, Mark Wragg decided to make the jump into transitioning to finer wool genotype.
"A long time ago they tried merinos but the feet just fell apart. We have heavy clay downs and it stays wet all winter. It's pretty hard on feet." But after hearing about the work done in footrot breeding values in Merinos, Mark decided to give it another go. "Certainly that workshop opened our eyes to the potential and what was possible."
Mark introduced the Southern Cross genotype into his Romney flock three years ago. The southern cross is a fine wool sheep that focuses very heavily on footrot breeding values, dag breeding values and WEC breeding values...
"...and all the things you need to entice a Romney farmer to take on a fine wool genotype. " says Ferg
Ferg and Mark run through the highs and lows of transitioning into a new genotype.
The main issue is uneven lines of lambs. But as Mark explains, "It's just transitioning and its's part of it and you've got to grin and bare it until you get through it."
But the highlights?
"We had the opportunity to shear about 4000 first cross lambs and even in that first cross they went from $2.50 for Romney lambs wool to getting almost $10 a kilo for that first cross wool"
"Certainly helped with paying the shearers." says Mark.
Along with the first cross hoggets averaging 26 micron, weaning weights being up 2kg on last year and there not being a sign of footrot on the place, you could say Mark is convinced.
Mark also discusses the introduction of the White Suffolks into New Zealand from Australia. "The thing I really like about the White Suffolk is that it has a really nice shape for lambing ease nice, low birth weights but very rapid growth, which is what kiwis needs as seasons are short and variable."
Ferg also has a love for the breed. "It would be hard to argue there is a more performance driven terminal breed in the world than the White Suffolk."
This podcast is a great insight into what it looks like to transition from a Romney to a finer wool genotype without sacrificing any of the production traits that traditionally came with a finer wool type.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE
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Jan 22, 2023
Feed efficiency and behaviours in sheep with Tricia Johnson
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have another senior scientist of AgResearch, Tricia Johnson.
Following on from our podcast with Dr Suzanne Rowe on "Genetic selection for lower methane in ruminants", we invited Tricia on to focus on her research in one of Marks favourite topics, feed efficiency and body composition.
Tricia has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to sheep phenotypes and genetics; from muscling and meat quality traits to Facial Eczema .
Mark starts off this epic podcast with the Myomax gene.
"Early 2000's when Texel's were gaining prominence in New Zealand [...] We identified a region of the myostatin gene which was associated with increased muscling in the Texels."
Tricia dives into more about muscling and fat, which then leads to the topic of feed use efficiency.
"We've known for a long time that feed use efficiency is a really important economic trait in terms of feed cost, but also in terms of animals being able to be a little more resilient in the face of variable feed amounts" She explains.
Tricia walks us through the trial that began back in 2015. "We have 6 weeks where we have daily feed intake recording. Any time an animal goes into a feeder we see the timestamp of when she goes in, how long she's there for and how much feed she eats for that feeding event." This gives a fantastic profile of feeding events over the trial period.
"We also take live weights twice a week ... we have a really nice profile of her growth and her feed intake at the time and a whole lot of behavioural traits of how she's eating that feed"
Mark asks about those behavioural traits and if they discovered anything interesing.
Tricia tells us about a fascinating finding when they ran the BLNZG Low Input Sheep Progeny Test animals through the intake facility.
"One of the really interesting things, in terms of looking it some of these behaviour traits, happened in the first cohort of these [low input] girls."
After their Farm manager at the time noticed a "bunch" of them were refusing to transition into the facility, something highly unusual after over 2,000 sheep had previously done so sucessfully.
So, Tricia wondered if they were all from the same low input sire? And they were. He was also a leading ram in a certain trait, can you guess which one?
Tricias knowledge in feeding efficiency and behaviour, the genetics behind them and the resulting factors of those behavioural patterns is just incredible. You'll want to listen to this podcast a few times!
Thank you Tricia for sharing your time with us and our listeners.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE
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Jan 15, 2023
Building a successful farm business with Prue Bondfield.
This week on the podcast we have the wonderful Prue Bondfield.
Prue didn't have a traditional pathway into agriculture. "In terms of the beef industry my association there started when I got married to my husband who owned a Charolais stud. I was a lawyer in Brisbane, Queensland." Says Prue. "It was really city meets country in the best way".
From the time David and Prue purchased 50 cows from her Father in law, the stud went from strength to strength. "We ran the Palgrove seedstock herd for 35 years and in summary exited that business early this year".
Mark asks, now that Prue and David have built and exited a successful business, with the power of hindsight would they do anything differently now?
"You learn by trying. If it hadn't been invented, we'd try and develop or pioneer something. We found that over our life we had to find different ways of breeding our cattle or different breed standards for us.. they're not things you'd do differently but they certainly make character."
"When you do things half right, you never feel great about it." Says Prue. "It feels better if you're doing things really really well, to the best you can do it and producing quality at the other end."
Prue credits the key factors to their businesses success to a few things. First was leasing land whilst they increased their numbers. "We had a factory operating before we bought the factory floor [...] So we had productive animals ready to move onto any new land that we bought."
"Once embryo transplants started to become part of the norm in the business, that really jumped our numbers up. There was this never-ending game of chase behind the production. And then that gets to the certain point where you become a big supplier."
Prue says they never intended to be a large business, they wanted quality over quantity but they were obviously onto a winning formula!
"We started to think about how we raise some capital, to raise some to find a partner who will very much be part of this growth story." "We started to look for a partner. We did look all over the world." One essential for success was that Prue made sure he business was ready for investment. Prue says "You have to be operating as a corporate entity in a family business which is what we really gave a lot of time into getting that right prior to looking for capital".
Prue now sits on a range of boards and governance structures and still has connections throughout the industry. Mark asks Prue's thoughts on the health of industry and what innovations are required to take it to the next step.
Prue chats about some of the companies of boards she's on "One of them is an AgriTech company called Black Box Co. It's fantastic, it gives me a really good insight on what farmers are asking for in terms of practical, good technology"
"There is that sense now, that I haven't s
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE
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Jan 8, 2023
Genetic selection for lower methane in ruminants with Dr Suzanne Rowe
This week we have a fantastic podcast for you discussing a very hot topic, Methane emissions in ruminants.
We have Dr Suzanne Rowe, Senior Scientist at AgResearch talking about the history of recording methane in sheep, what the industry is currently doing towards reducing methane emissions and where the future of methane in sheep is heading.
Dr Rowe was born and raised in the UK, studied Agriculture and has a PhD in Quantitative Genetics. She then moved to NZ "..where we've got the great facilities and big herds." Suzanne has been working, for almost the past decade, on breeding sheep with low methane outputs.
"The program was started in 2007 by a man called John McEwan, I'm sure many of your listeners would have heard of John. He set out to understand whether methane could be measured and whether it was heritable."
John started with 1,000 animals from CPT flocks, so his findings would be applicable in the industry immediately. "It took him around 4 years to get them all through the Portable Accumulation Chamber (PAC)." The PAC is a chamber which uses a gas analyser measuring device to record gas outputs from sheep.
Back then it took two days to measure one animal. Every 6 minutes a sample would be taken from a PAC, so it did give a very detailed result.
"From there what John did was select high and low methane selection lines and go on to breed these sheep for generations, to see if methane was passed on."
And was it?
"We're here today because it was. It's heritable."
"We went back and looked at those 6 minutes measures over the 48 hour time periods and we looked at each [...] measure and we worked out which of the ones were most predictive." This research and investigation work, evolved since the initial detailed studies, means now just a half an hour 'stint' is needed inside a chamber.
There are currently PACs in Ireland, units in Norway, one off to Scotland, France and Australia so the world is really starting to ramp up methane measurements in livestock.
AgResearch are currently trying to find out the connection between the gut microbes and methane emissions. "The microbiome that sits in the gut, is a property of its' host." Says Dr Rowe. "I don't think thats some maternal transfer, I think that's from the genetics of the animal"
"There are different ways to ferment feed, it seems that the low methane sheep have picked a different way to ferment the feed"
Suzanne briefly talks about the future of measuring methane in sheep. Recently they have been looking into taking and processing rumen samples and comparing them with PAC results. This could allow for more rumen samples to be taken in difficult locations where a trailer can't reach, or even with larger species such as cattle and deer.
However, it's not currently as easy as it may seem. The feed intake has to be very specific and precise prior to taking rumen samples because, as Suzanne explains, "We just don
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE
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Jan 1, 2023
Fergs thoughts: New Year Special
This week we have another in our "Fergs Thoughts" series. Seeing as it's the start of a New Year, Mark chats about what we can achieve in the future.
"How can we set ourselves up for success in 2023?" Mark asks "We always think back to that 30 years, depending on where you are in your farming cycle. That '30' being the number of times you get to select a bull or ram tea to go out."
"So roughly we get those 30 opportunities to keep the females we keep and the males we either buy or keep as well. " says Mark.
"The point of that is that, that is not many, so we have to make the best decision we can." He says, highlighting the importance of every breeding purchase and decision.
Mark asks "What is the story you're telling yourself? What was the story you told yourself in 2022? We have this story in our head about what is possible, but it's hard to not get caught up in the hardships of farming. Be it the weather, legislation or any other problems farmers can face. "
"The reality is, we…
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Dec 25, 2022
Implementing a genomics program in a stud context with James Lines
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have our freshest recruit, James Lines.
After only 9 days on the job, Mark got James onto the head shepherd podcast to talk about his upbringing and what lead to him applying for a job at a genetics consultancy firm.
James grew up on a mixed farming enterprise, which also had the Gum Hills Merinos stud and south Devon cattle. After a 'gap year' working on the home farm and jackarooing, James studied Ag Science at Adelaide University. He's spent his last year really focusing on genomics during his honours project where he specialised in livestock production.
James runs Mark through his project. "It was implementing a genomics program in a stud context, which was at home at Gum Hill." James explains. "It was interesting working with family and working with academics and researchers."
James started off by sorting through a decade of data based mainly on wool quality. "Most of the sheep in the population had had yearling measurements for around…
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Dec 18, 2022
The story of the incredible Elizabeth Macarthur with Michelle Scott Tucker
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast, we're changing gears a little and chatting with author Michelle Scott Tucker.
Having an audience of mostly sheep tragics, Mark thought the parallels between Michelles book, Elizabeth Macarthur: a life at the edge of the world; and our listeners was too good not to make the most of.
Michelle tells us more about the wonderful Elizabeth Macarthur and the foundations of the Merino wool industry of Australia.
Elizabeths story begins in on a farm in North Devon, after marrying a not-strongly liked soldier named John Macarthur. In 1790, Elizabeth followed him to "make his fortune" in Australia- the only officers wife to go and what Michelle refers to as a "pretty stupid decision".
June 1790 she arrived in Sydney Harbour excited to see this mythical township she'd been promised Australia held , and instead saw an army campsite of tents full of soldiers without shoes, food or women to talk to.
In 1793, the Macarthurs got their first land grant of 100…
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Dec 11, 2022
Understanding problems in Ag with Sarah Adams
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Sarah talking about genetics, technology and solving problems in the Agricultural industry.
Sarah is currently Global Strategy and New Ventures Manager at Gallagher and also breeds Polled Dorsets in the Waikato, NZ. Sarah grew up on a farm with a father who was a ram breeder. "I have always been around stud sheep," says Sarah
After spending some time after university as an Agricultural journalist, Sarah returned to genetics and started working for the the Ultrafine Merino Company.
"I looked after the breeding programme of their nucleus flock at Tara Hills and helped sell the wool into Asia, developing different pricing mechanisms."
"We did a lot of testing around spinning efficiently and the wool. We could show the company we were working with that we could add more value to their processing efficiency and then we shared the premiums with them."
Mark explains what the company is. "Breeders came together and measured the micron of over…
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Dec 4, 2022
Success with sexed semen with Professor Simon de Graaf
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Professor Simon de Graaf, a fellow podcaster and a world expert in sheep reproduction, sperm sexing and AI.
Simon is currently a Professor of Animal Reproduction at The University of Sydney, where he says 90% of the work he does now is sheep "But my background is such that we've dealt with a lot of different species."
Simons work in reproduction began during his PhD where he studied sexed semen. Mark asks for a run through of the process of sexing semen.
"It's all based on the fact there's a different amount of DNA in a male sperm and a female sperm." explains Simon. "The X chromosome is bigger than the Y chromosome so if you add a special dye to it, you can pick up the higher florescence in the X chromosome."
The method for successfully separating sexed semen was a success. "The big challenge, after they initially developed the technology, was keeping the sperm alive though the process." explains Simon. "It's a lot to be shot through…
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Nov 27, 2022
The benefits of supply chain security with Jason Strong
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Jason Strong, Managing Director of Meat & Livestock Australia Ltd. (MLA)
Jason grew up on a farm and says "I can never remember not wanting to be a cow farmer." He says that winning a scholarship to the University of Illinois in his late teens was "transformative" in his career.
"The most important thing was learning about meat grading and meat science. I got really excited about being a meat grader and came home [...] and realised we didn't have a meat grading system.... which is quite career limiting."
"That's what got me started working with Dr Rod Polkinghorne and John Webster [...] that set up the Meat Standards, Australia system."
Jason worked in various roles in Agriculture but with one common goal, to make the industry better for everyone. Now, as Managing Director of MLA, Jason gives us a run down of what MLA do, for our non-Australian listeners, and also what they are focusing on in the next few years.
"At our core, we focus…
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Nov 20, 2022
The key to lamb survival with Cathy Dwyer
This week on the Head Shepherd Podcast, we head over to Europe to chat with Cathy Dwyer.
Cathy is based in Edinburgh and splits her time between two roles. One at Scotlands Rural College, leading a team of researchers in Animal Welfare and Behaviour and the other at the Royal School of Veterinary Studies where they have a centre for Animal Welfare Education of which Cathy is a Director.
We invited Cathy onto the podcast because of her research into the maternal bond and maternal behaviour at birth in sheep. It has been one of her core research areas.
Cathy says they started out thinking about just the behaviour of the ewe. "Everyone thought it was the mothers fault if the lamb didn't survive, so we started [research] with the mother"
"One of the key things that we found, as part of that work using embryo transfer between two of our different Scottish breeds with different levels of maternal care, was that the lamb was really important... although we tended to blame the mother, the…
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Nov 13, 2022
Sub-Clover and beyond with Charlie de Fegely
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Charlie de Fegely chatting about things all things sub clover and beyond.
Charlie farms in Western Victoria in the foothills of The Grampians. They average around 550mm of rainfall per year and are in a predominantly cropping area but they have chosen to be all stock because of their heavy clay soils.
Charlie and his family will be mating 10,000 ewes this year. Last year he mated 8,300 and marked 12,000 lambs. Figures to be very happy with.
Charlie chats about his time at the Grassland Society and the "Longterm Phosphate Trial" and Sub Clover research.
"It was a terrible time [in sheep farming], and we were looking at alternatives to retain viability and long term profitability. Dr Peter Schroder came to me when I was president of the Grasslands Society and he said "Charlie, we've got the help these farmers pick themselves back up after the wool prices have been shot."
"The work they'd done at the long-term phosphate trial, it showed…
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Nov 6, 2022
Bonus Episode. Head Shepherd Premium
This week, to tide you over between seasons, we've released two of our Head Shepherd Premium podcasts for you.
Mark recently uploaded a series on different traits that might be important for our clients. In the "Breeding Series", Mark covers many traits. From staple length, to growth to muscling.
We've decided to share CVoFD and Fat with you today. CVoFD might seem like an unusual one but as Mark says, "It's quite cool as its correlated with lots of things."
They are both linked to whole body energy, which is why we put these two together.
If you are interested in more Head Shepherd Premium podcasts, contact us on info@nextgenagri.com
We will be releasing an episode every week alongside all transcripts of the podcasts as well as giving you access to the other 28 bonus episodes.
We will be back next week with Season 9.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch…
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Oct 31, 2022
Season 8 Q&A with Dr Mark Ferguson
We've reached the end of season 8 and we've got a great Q&A podcast for you.
We have questions from “What's your opinion on Australia’s LEQ index compared to focusing solely on IMF and shear force figures if your number one breeding objective is to increase eating quality?” to "Is there any correlation between worm burdens/high genetic WEC and dermatitis/wool rot?"
Mark also covers breeding for footrot resistance in crossbred (non-merino) sheep and how the industry can go about improving that at a producer level.
We also cover the future of neXtgen Agri and where Mark hopes the industry will be in 20/30 years time, and it's an exciting place to be sure!
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex…
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Oct 23, 2022
Improving reproductive performance in maiden ewes, with Charlie Wootton
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Charlie Wootton.
Charlie is currently based in Adelaide but is originally from Jigsaw Farms in South West Victoria.
Charlie is doing his honours project on the "Magnificent Maidens" project, which is the topic of todays podcast.
The MLA funded PDS project, "Magnificent Maidens", is to demonstrate best-bet management of maiden ewes on their reproductive performance and carryover effects on subsequent performance.
"There's not much research done on maiden merino hoggets that join at 18-19 months of age" Charlie says. He also says that improving maiden hogget performance is a "low hanging fruit."
Maiden ewes can represent up to 30% of the whole farm ewe flock and their reproductive performance is usually 20-30% lower than that achieved at their subsequent joinings.
"You can't prioritise all of the sheep in your flock. So that means that maiden hoggets are often put on the back burner [...] and forgotten about until their first joining at…
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Oct 16, 2022
Thinking outside of the box with Duncan Humm
This week on the podcast we have Duncan Humm. Duncan farms Deer for venison and velvet and is also one of the minds behind NZ Farming on Facebook.
Mark and Duncan discuss deer farming, a topic not often covered on the Head Shepherd podcast. Duncan farms with his partner Lorna in the picturesque foothills of the Southern Alps in the South Island of New Zealand.
They have two different lines of deer with their velvet hinds looking drastically different to their venison hinds, rather than attempting a duel purpose animal.
"The velvet hinds are like these tiny little 'Perendale' type things versus our massive venison animals"
Duncan says he focuses on temperament and maternal ability when picking replacements. "The velvet industry has been a bit too focused just on kilos which has left a few of those maternal traits behind as a result"
"They wouldn't be the first industry to get lost chasing the product and forgetting about the animals" Mark says.
"There's still so much potential in…
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Oct 9, 2022
Preparing for the future Agtech innovation, with Georgia Pugh
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have our newest recruit at neXtgen Agri, Georgia Pugh.
Georgia comes from a background of farming in Western Australia on a mixed family farm farming around 4,500 Ha. Georgia went on to study Ag Science with commerce at UWA. With honours in Meat Science.
Georgia started out as a recent graduate wanting to be a farm consultant but she felt she needed to develop her "business muscle" when she graduated. So she headed to a graduate role at PwC, and dug into the advisory role with focus in research and development consulting.
"You've just got to do everything, and learn, and build life skills. That diversity will make you a more well rounded human. So I really focused on in that on the early part of my career."
Georgia found herself ready to apply her skills directly to farming business, helping individual farmers rather than the industry as a whole. And so, she applied for a role here at neXtgen Agri.
Mark asks Georgia what her predictions ar…
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Oct 5, 2022
Ferg's Thoughts: EID and Replacement Ewe selection
This week we have another in our "Fergs Thoughts" series. This week Dr Mark Ferguson talks us through the benefits of using EID and how it can help with replacement ewe selection.
Ferg shares his thoughts on how to best utilise EID to make better decisions when selecting replacement ewes for your flock.
"What we have to be careful of is, within that selection decision, is only a part of what we see is genetic. We see a small animal that's not doing so well.. but it may be a late born twin... It's genetics could be just as good as an early born lamb"
Mark suggests separating twins from singles at replacement selection so you're not judging twins against singles. This requires lambing twins and singles separately and keeping them that way until marking/docking, so that you can identify them with tags then.
EID allows you to store data points which gives you the ability you to make that informed decision.
"Without EID it becomes difficult to keep track of all of those things."
Weani…
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Sep 25, 2022
Actual to Ideal. Achieving Operational Excellence with Neville Brady
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Neville Brady of Browsup Consulting, a consultancy company "...providing management support for groups, organisations and corporate businesses seeking to develop and implement structures that improve Leadership, Management, Staff Engagement, Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence. "
After having the opportunity to hear Neville speak recently, Mark thought he'd be a great guest for the Head Shepherd podcast- and he wasn't wrong!
Nevilles background is in the advertisement industry with studies in marketing. "I was always interested in buyer behaviour. As an adult student I also did some study in psychology." He says. "I was really interested in a theory proposed by Professor Higgings called 'Self Discrepancy Theory". It's as follows
* Actual - This is what I'm actually doing.
* Ought- This is what I ought to be doing.
* Ideally- This is what I could do.
The team of three at Browsup Consulting have been applying that to…
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Sep 18, 2022
Meeting Export Market Demands with Atkins Ranch
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Pat Maher, CEO of Atkins Ranch.
Atkins Ranch supplies premium New Zealand Lamb to Whole Foods in North America and Canada, supplying 95% of their lamb, plus they supply a handful of other traders such as Trader Joes and Costco from time to time.
Mark and Pat discuss the starts of Atkins Ranch, which has great story behind it. Started in 1989 by two farming families frustrated at the returns from the meat works at the time, they came up with the concept of Atkins Ranch. Then they tossed a coin over who would move over to America to start selling their premium product.
33 years later, there are now hundreds of suppliers to Atkins Ranch.
A key selling point of Atkins Ranch is supplying grass fed lamb 52 weeks of the year, because New Zealand grows grass year round.
Atkins Ranch looks to be ahead of the trends. They were doing antibiotic free 20 years ago before it became a thing. They moved onto "non GMO products", then GAP (Global Anima…
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Sep 11, 2022
50 years of breeding seedstock at Lawson Angus with Harry Lawson
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Harry Lawson of Lawson Angus.
Harry goes through the progression of the Lawson Angus business, a pioneering family for performance recording cattle. His parents started performance recording in the late 60s and they recently held their 50th Bull Sale. They currently farm in 4 states of Australia.
When Harry and his brother returned to the family farm in 1994, they were running 300 cows. Over the next 10 years, Harry and his brother upped that to 2,500. They went from selling 50 bulls a year to 1000.
Mark and Harry compare the change in genetics and traits Lawson Angus have been chasing over their 50 years of recording. They started with recording maternal ability and growth.
It wasn't until mid-80's when the US bulls came into Australia, that they focused on birth weights.
They also started ultra-sounding in the late 80s as they wanted to start selecting on carcass and marbling. They then focused in on mature weight as they got bigger g…
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Sep 4, 2022
Building successful farm teams with Drover Ag.
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we are discussing employment in the Ag sector. Mark chats with John Boote, CEO of Drover Ag, specialists in Ag recruitment.
John has been involved in Agriculture his entire life working his way up through senior management roles. He'd always seen recruitment as a major issues in the Agricultural Industry. To solve that problem, three years ago, he started Drover Ag. They now has over 1000 clients Australia-wide.
"Putting the right people in the right jobs is what keeps us going"
"Personality matching is the most important thing" John says. Sometimes it's not always about their qualifications or experience "We'll promote exceptional characters to roles where they may not have the desired skill set" Skills can be taught, a personality is hard to change.
Mark and John go through what makes a good employer AND a good employee.
John says that there's so many choices for employees now that employers have to make sure they're offering something abov…
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Aug 28, 2022
What does success look like to you? with Nathan Scott
This week on the podcast we have Nathan Scott.
With a background in Prime Lamb production, Nathan started his own consultancy firm, Achieve Ag Solutions, eight years ago.
"We work with a range of producers, looking for the low hanging fruit within their business and applying the latest science and technology, in a practical way that means something to their business"
Nathan is passionate about knowledge transfer in the Agricultural industry.
"Coca-Cola didn't come out with just one advertisement, they came out with a campaign to appeal to a range of different audiences" and there's no reason why knowledge transfer from experts, to farmers, should be any different.
Nathan says if we keep providing "Fact sheets" and hoping something will change, nothing will.
"Times wont always be as good as this", Nathan says. He says we should be using these good times to set ourselves up for when times are harder.
Nathan says for a lot of people it's not always about making more money, but simp…
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Aug 21, 2022
Profit from pasture allocation with Tom Fraser
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have a guest from our recent event, the neXtgen Agri Muster. Tom Fraser is a scientist at AgResearch.
Tom spoke at the muster about pasture allocation and making the most of your genetics. It was such a great talk we decided to get Tom on the podcast to share the knowledge with our podcast listeners.
Tom talks about Body Condition Scoring and how "your hand is the cheapest tool you have". Mark says "it's the most profitable thing you can do on a sheep farm".
They also run through pasture quality throughout the year. Summer and early Autumn period is the time to consider the ME of the pasture, once they've started loosing quality. "We only have to worry about the quality of our pastures for about three months of the year" (in New Zealand), says Tom.
The biggest driver of profit on a sheep farm is Kg of weaned lamb per Ha. "Wether that's done by high scanning, or high lactation growth rates, it's the way to make money," says Tom.
Mark and To…
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Aug 14, 2022
Successful weaning practices with Rob Bell
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Rob Bell, Co founder and CTO at ProAgni and CEO and Principle Consultant at Formula Ag. Which Ferg translates to "knowing a lot about nutrition."
On this episode we're focusing on weaning, a process not too far away in parts of Australia.
Rob initially started off as an agronomist in the cotton industry but the droughts soon led to a change of career. One thing that really struck him was that regardless of what happened, even in the worst draughts, livestock farmers still had an asset at the end. Whereas in the cropping game if you put a seed in the ground, and it didn't' germinate, you had nothing.
So for the past 16 years Rob has been finding his feet as a consultant in the mixed farming game. Rob says it was really a case of taking the lessons learned within the cotton industry and implementing them into a livestock business.
Six years ago ProAgni was born after a luck meeting with a ruminant microbiologist in Queensland led to an o…
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Aug 7, 2022
The factors of success in a large scale farming enterprise with Julie McDonald
Welcome back to season 8 of the Head Shepherd podcast. As ever, we're starting off with a bang and have the fantastic Julie McDonald as our first guest.
Julie is the CFO of McDonalds Holdings- 3.36 million hectares based in Queensland Australia. Julie credits many things to the success of such a large scale enterprise but one of the defining reasons is the intergenerational knowledge. Having support and information from older generations combed with the younger generations enthusiasm, combined with good communication, has been a real strength for the McDonalds.
Mark and Julie cover how the business runs and what markets they're targeting and, obviously, what genetics they are using to achieve that goal.
Nearly 10 years ago, Julie lost her partner, Zanda. Zanda was a prominent figure in the Agricultural industry in Australia, known for trying new things and helping young people out in the industry.
In 2014, in honour of Zanda McDonald, the Zanda McDonald award was created. The award…
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Jul 31, 2022
BONUS Episode - Genetics of Reproduction
We are currently busily recording season 8 of the podcast. While we do that we thought we would share with you one of the podcasts from the private podcast we run within The Hub - Head Shepherd Radio. Ferg has been recording a breeding series and this week we are sharing one of those with you. We are sharing the reproduction episode from the breeding series this week and Ferg goes through the various traits to look at when buying rams this year. The Hub is a great virtual home for livestock producers, with great content added frequently and a great place to interact with like-minded livestock farmers. The Hub membership costs just $56/month or $575 for the year. If you sign up during Sheepvention you will get 20% off your annual subscription.
Check it out at *thehub.nextgenagri.com* or sign up here *www.nextgenagri.com*
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with…
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Jul 24, 2022
Season 7 Q&A with Dr Mark Ferguson
This week is our season finale of Season 7 of the Head Shepherd podcast. As ever, we asked our listeners if they had any questions for Mark Ferguson to answer.
Mark covers questions such as:
"Are the commercial farmers still planning to invest similar this up coming ram selling season in Australia, at the same level they have in previous years? Is there any uncertainty in higher interest rates and FMD on the horizon?"
to
"Can high temperatures during joining affect the quality of the foetus? Is it possible to get more abortions or reabsorption if semen and/or egg quality is affected by extreme heat?"
Mark also runs through the recent footrot work he is involved with in New Zealand and Australia.
This weekend Mark and the Australian half of the team will be at Sheepvention, either on stand 219 or roaming the show-grounds. Towards90 also launches at Sheepvention next weekend. Take a look at towards90.com to find out more.
Have you looked at our upcoming events? We have our neXt…
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Jul 17, 2022
Chasing sheep around the world- with Sophie Barnes
This week on the podcast we have Sophie Barnes- sheep fan and producer of the Head Shepherd Podcast.
Sophie isn't from a farming background but is now one of the biggest fans of sheep you could find. Sophie came across farming when she was 18 and has been hooked ever since. Sophie moved to New Zealand seven years ago for a "two year trip". Sophie runs through her time here in New Zealand and the jobs she's held- a from gorse spraying shepherd to production manager of the youngstock at a sheep dairy.
Mark and Sophie discuss her introduction to farming and what she is doing today. Sophie lives on her partners family farm in the King Country, NZ. Farming 1,200 Polled Dorsets, Facial Eczema is an issue Sophie and her partner deal with on their farm. Mark and Sophie discuss FE and the implications of it in arriving in the South Island.
They briefly cover rearing lambs as this is something Sophie is very passionate about after her time working at the dairy.
*Check out The Hub*
thehub.nex…
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Jul 10, 2022
Culture is the bailing twine that keeps a business together
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Sally Murfet of Inspire Ag.
Sally is a farmer's daughter born and raised in North West Tasmania on a farm producing beef cattle and seed potatoes.
Sally established Inspire Ag after seeing a gap in the support system for the agriculture industry. There was no one helping farmers increase business performance through human capital.
"If you have a disengaged employee, it will cost you 30-200% of their wage to reemploy that staff member. Focusing on employee engagement lessens the need to try and attract people into your business in the first place."
A lot of the work Sally does is around succession planning, performance management leadership and team development.
Mark and Sally go through the components of a good team. Culture, Sally says, is one of the most undervalued factors in running a successful business.
There's research out there that says that leaders can have up to 70% variance on team engagement- positive or negative. So the…
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Jul 4, 2022
Two lambings by 24 months - the success factors with Dr Andrew Thompson
In this episode we are providing a recording of Associate Professor Andrew Thompson from Murdoch University. Thommo, as he is better known, presented this talk at workshops in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. There are loads of tips in here and I'm sure you are going to enjoy the depth of knowledge that this man has.
The workshops were for an MLA funded project that involves developing a decision support tool for those considering or currently mating ewe lambs and are keen to understand the economics of various strategies.
For more information or to ask questions about the project, check out:
https://thehub.nextgenagri.com/c/calculated-ewe-lamb-joining/
*Check out The Hub*
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Our community where our members have the opportunity to keep up to date with everything we are working on.
*
Thanks to our Sponsors*
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and tra…
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Jun 26, 2022
Ferg's Thoughts: Making a genetic plan and implementing it
We started this podcast with three episodes of Ferg telling us what he thinks about genetics. We thought it was time to hear his latest thoughts a couple of years on.
This episode provides you a few thoughts and tips on setting a breeding objective or genetic plan and then implementing strategies to put the plan into action.
It refers to a genetic planning document that Ferg has written. If you would like a copy of this template, please send through an email to info@nextgenagri.com and we will send it out to you.
*Check out The Hub*
thehub.nextgenagri.com
Our community where our members have the opportunity to keep up to date with everything we are working on.
*
Thanks to our Sponsors*
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands…
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Jun 19, 2022
Breeding biologically efficient livestock with Ross Richards
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Ross Richards of Romani Farms, Taumarunui, New Zealand.
Ross farms in a fairly challenging environment. With warm muggy summers and paddocks surrounded by native bush it is hard to produce good wool even on the best of years. Facial eczema has always been around but with the warmer winters we've had recently the spore counts are getting worse.
Ross has spent the last 16 years breeding what he terms a "biologically efficient" sheep to counteract these challenges. Ross has reduced chemical and labour inputs by not dipping or drenching his adult ewes, or treating for facial eczema. He aims to breed to animals that are fit for the environment they are farmed in. Ones that don’t need constant propping up with chemicals or management inputs.
Like many forward thinking ram breeders, once Ross realised his clients were going elsewhere for shedding sheep, Ross began to breed some of his own. Currently they're no match for the efficiency of Ros…
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Jun 12, 2022
The global potential of wool, with Monica Ebert
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Monica Ebert.
Monica has been involved with sheep her entire life. She grew up on a stud farm in North East Kansas, USA breeding and showing British Downs Breeds.
The passion for wool came a little later after Monica studied Fashion Design and Marketing at University. This is where she started to see the link between fashion and fibre. She decided she wanted to focus on wool as it goes into apparel. Monica interned in Texas at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research centre.
Monica returned to Texas AgriLife Research to complete her masters degree focusing on wool supply chains. There she focused on a genetic study crossing Australian Merino genetics to try and fine up the Rambouillet (Merino) in the US.
From there she went to Montana State University to manage the Wool Research Lab for a year, focusing on working with local wool growers in the state of Montana.
Mark and Monica worked together at the NZ Merino company and both left at similar…
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Jun 5, 2022
Numnuts® – The benefits of pain relief for Lamb Marking.
This week on the podcast we have Robin Smith of Numnuts.
Numnuts is a device that simultaneously castrates or tails a lamb whilst also administering pain relief.
Mark chats with Robin, a Product Design Engineer and creator of Numnuts, but is originally from a family of sheep vets.
"You end up back in the flock as you get older"
The Numnuts story began when Robins father developed a vaccine for barbers pole. Robins company, 4C design, developed the machine that produced the vaccine. That bought Robin over to Australia, where he had a chance meeting with Meat and Livestock Australia. Here he came across the need for a pain relief administering device during lamb marking.
Research had suggested that local anaesthetics were the best option to provide relief during the castration and tailing process but there wasn't a way to make that process repeatable, reliable and accessible to farmers. And so, Numnuts was born.
Robin says the interesting thing about this challenge, was that the dr…
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May 29, 2022
Good farming is no secret! With Dayanne Almeida
This week on the Head Shepherd Podcast we have Dayanne Almeida aka The Sheep Nutter.
Dayanne isn't from a farming background, but through her Animal Science degree in her home country Brazil, she fell in love with sheep. Once she'd finished her degree she began to work for sheep breeders associations in her home country then one day, Dayannes friend suggested she travel to New Zealand to learn more about sheep farming. To which she laughed!
Dayanne didn't know English at the time. But, she didn't let this stop her and with her friends help she sent out over 800 emails to farms, studs and breed associations in New Zealand asking if they would share their wisdom with her.
She finally received a reply from a farmer in Gisborne, NZ and after a few conversations, she booked her flights to NZ in 2009.
Dayanne worked there for the next five years learning all there was to New Zealand Sheep and Beef farming. That short trip she planned never ended and now she has citizenship here in New Ze…
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May 22, 2022
Staying curious rather than critical with St John Craner
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have St John Craner, rural sales and marketing trainer, owner of Agrarian and Kellogg scholar.
The podcast this week takes a step sideways from our usual content. St John specialises in rural sales and the psychology behind it.
His company, Agrarian, offers in person and online training programmes where they help agribusiness grow using digital strategies and marketing campaigns, to sales training and farmer panel research.
St John says "In order to sell you have to get curious about the buyers brain and how it buys and the process in which the buyers brain goes through.
Mark and St John cover the "buyers" brain and the "farmers" brain- and where they combine when farmers buy breeding stock. They discuss why the biggest, fattest animal usually sells for the highest figure, rather than the ones with the best data.
"We have three main drivers in life; status, significance and survival" St John says. "We are signalling our genetic merit in th…
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May 15, 2022
Hemprino™, where heritage meets innovation
In this week's episode, Mark catches up with the three co-founders of Hemprino™; Siobhan O'Malley, Paul Ensor and Harriet Bell. As the name suggests, Hemprino™ is a luxurious blend of the two heritage fibres; hemp and merino wool.
The trio met as Kellogg Rural Leadership Scholars and share a huge passion for innovation and challenging the way we operate.
The Hemprino™ journey began in 2018 with a curious question, which was, thanks to funding from AGMARDT, soon followed by a trip to Shanghai to investigate the complexities of Siobhan and Paul's vision.
The research and development phase began abroad, but production delays associated with COVID threatened to halt progress. So, the decision was made to bring all manufacturing and R&D back to New Zealand, where it proudly remains!
As you'll hear in this episode, all three co-founders wear a lot of hats! Aside from trying to get Hemprino™ off the ground, Siobhan O'Malley is a full-time teacher, a share-milker, and a co-founder…
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May 8, 2022
The marriage between management and genetics with Darren Gordon
This week on the Head Shepherd Podcast, Mark catches up with a long-term colleague and friend, Darren Gordon. Darren is a sheep nutrition and breeding consultant for neXtgen Agri, based near Dunkeld in Victoria. The pair spent several years working together, researching and collating data for the Department of Primary Industries, which later went on to form the foundation of the Lifetime Ewe Management program.
Darren speaks of his various roles within the industry and the research projects that have shaped his consulting career and galvanized what he thought animals to be capable of. The pair both attribute a lot of their career success to the years of continuous assessment of pasture and animals and seeing how different genetics respond in different scenarios.
From their years of research, both Mark and Darren agree that stock performance comes down to 70% management and 30% genetics.
*Check out The Hub*
thehub.nextgenagri.com
Our community is where our members have the opportun…
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May 1, 2022
Taking ownership of your story with Sarah Perriam
Welcome back to the Head Shepherd Podcast! To kick off season 7, we have the wonderful Sarah Perriam on to chat about her extensive media career and passion for the future of New Zealand agriculture. These days Sarah runs a production company based just outside of Christchurch and produces her own agricultural podcast called Sarah's country.
Sarah grew up on a sheep and beef station in Central Otago. Her rural upbringing, alongside influential figures such as John Perriam, shaped her love for the industry at an early age.
A big part of her production role is to assist clients in creating their own shows. Typically the focus of these partnerships is to present emerging Ag research in a way that's engaging, easy to digest and accessible to farmers.
A great conversation between fellow podcast producers who share a similar view on telling and taking ownership of our stories; people don't know what they don't know.
*Sarah's Country*
We highly recommend that you check out Sarah's podcas…
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Apr 11, 2022
Season 6 Q&A with Dr Mark Ferguson
As with our previous seasons of Head Shepherd, we're finishing off season 6 with a Q&A episode with Mark Ferguson.
We'd like to thank everyone who sent through their questions. They were vastly different and very thought-provoking, as you'll hear on the podcast!
There were nine questions, ranging from the affects of fertility genes on eating quality to the limiting factors within the agricultural industry.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to season 6 of Head Shepherd; we will be back soon with more fantastic guests!
If you're enjoying listening to the podcast, feel free to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!*
Check out The Hub*
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Our community where our members have the opportunity to keep up to date with everything we are working on.
*
Thanks to our Sponsors*
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their data-driven…
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Apr 3, 2022
Agtech is not always about making money.
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Jock Lawrence, creator and founder of Mobble.
After returning home to the family farm in Victoria Australia, and realising that all of the important information was up in "Dads head", Jock and his family trialed some farm management software in an attempt to get the operation running more smoothly. However, none of them worked for both generations of farmers, and none had all of the things they both wanted.
And so, Mobble was born.
"Everything you need to help manage your livestock farming business. Simple, practical, flexible livestock farm management software."
There has been great feedback so far on Mobble, with farmers finding it solving their communications issues between teams and family members without any complications.
Being a "mob" based app, you can't get caught up in the complications of individual animals which is where some software goes wrong. "The data the farmer needs most, is up in their face. We want to give them qui…
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Mar 27, 2022
Create an industry you want to farm in, with Renée Hogg.
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Renée Hogg of Inside NZ.
Renee grew up wanting to go farming, and always had a vision to "Create an industry I wanted to go farming in, and then go farming in it".
Her first role towards this dream, was actually with Apples with the Apple and Pear Marketing Board before it deregulated. And then, during that time she had her own business helping Apple growers get their head around the changes.
She then went back into red meat, working as Supply Chain Manager for Rissington Breedline Logistics and Marketing, establishing value added products for Marks and Spencer, a higher end supermarket in the UK.
For the past six years, Renée has been running her own consultancy business, Inside New Zealand, specialising in production agriculture and the associated value chains. Inside Edge is split into three 'categories', all with a primary sector focus. Governance roles, analysis and consultancy keep all of Renées eggs all in different baskets a…
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Mar 20, 2022
Protecting sheep from Campylobacter with Allflex and MSD Animal Health
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast, we're joined by Steve Kelly, Commercial Identification Manager of Allflex, and Kim Kelly, Veterinary Technical Advisor of MSD Animal Health.
Allflex has been the sponsor of our podcast since its inception and it is always great to catch up with the team to hear what they're up to.
Recently, Allflex was acquired by MSD Animal Health. Steve and Kim describe the companies coming together as "A match made in Heaven”, with the number of synergies between the two companies being beneficial not only to the business but more importantly to farmers. Using the EID technology to help manage animal health and performance at an individual level being just one simple example.
Kim was a practicing vet for many years, and has been working as a Technical Advisor for MSD Animal Health for the past 12 years. Her role includes training the internal sales team, veterinary clinics and farm stores and the farming community in New Zealand about the uses and benefit…
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Mar 13, 2022
Painting a picture of the sheep of the future with Johan Greeff.
This week on the podcast we have an hour long special for you! Mark caught up with Dr Johan Greef, an expert in production and disease traits in Merino Sheep.
Johan's career is an exceptional one. From worm resistance and resilience, to breech and dag correlation, high fertility composites, identifying odours from wool; Johan has worked on just about anything important when it comes to breeding productive and healthy sheep.
One particularly fascinating conversation involves using dogs to scent detect sheep are susceptible to fly strike with up to 82% accuracy.
Mark and Johan discuss the work done in South Africa showing that a clean face and a bare breech on a sheep results in more lambs per ewe joined.
This conversation paints a picture of what seemingly will be the perfect sheep in the future, and this is one, thanks to genomics and people like Johan, that we can actually work towards with a calculated breeding plan.
Full of facts, figures and trial results, this is a podcast fo…
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Mar 6, 2022
A Scottish shearer, shepherd and scanner, with Ryan Maclean.
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Ryan Maclean, based in North West Scotland. Ryan and Mark met through a mutual friend and sheep scanner Daniel Wheeler.
Ryan was raised on a beef and sheep farm in Scotland, where he is running around 1,000 ewes and 120 breeding cattle between himself and his father. He runs predominately Cheviot sheep, with some crossed to a Texel. They also have a pedigree Limousins and Belted Galloway herds.
Ryan however, spends most of his time off farm following the seasonal cycle of farming with his contracting business. Sheep and cattle pregnancy scanning, sheep shearing, lambing and calving plus crop work. He says it works well when the seasons play ball, but there isn't much time to spare when they don't.
He first picked up his handpiece when he was around 15 and now has his own shearing run where he covers around 55,000 sheep a year.
Ryan spent time in Australia and New Zealand shepherding and shearing, claiming his 200 Merinos in a day a few…
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Feb 27, 2022
Checking udders and reducing lamb wastage with Anne Ridler
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Anne Ridler chatting to Mark about Ewe wastage and checking udders post-weaning.
Anne Ridler is an associate professor at Massey University specialising in sheep and beef. Anne has been in her current role for 11 years and prior to that was a practicing vet.
One of Annes recent research projects involved checking udders on ewes. The project came about from Annes interest in Ewe wastage. Most farmers will cull on poor udders but Anne found that most farmers checked and assessed them all very differently, resulting in different levels of culling.
She found that in ewes with bad udders, their lambs would be 3/4 times more likely to die. (Bad udders being lumps or hardness in the udder)
Between 2 and 8% of ewes have "dodgy" udders post lambing, and the best time to check is 4-6 weeks post weaning so you can actually see the defects.
Annes goal was to have a more standardised way of checking udders and culling on them.
Annes interest in e…
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Feb 20, 2022
Winning with Wagyu. 2022 Zanda McDonald award winner (Aus)
Sticking with our Zanda McDonald theme, this week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Australia's 2022 award winner, Charlie Perry
Charlie grew up on a farm in northern NSW, Australia, but as with many family operations, was told he had to work elsewhere before he could work on the home farm. He went to study in Sydney and stayed there for seven more years working in management consulting.
The family farm Charlie has returned to is in Guyra, a relatively summer safe part of Australia, with 30-32 inches of rainfall a year, hence Charlies interest in New Zealand pasture growing methods. It's something he hopes to see on his Zanda McDonald Award tour
Charlies family farm Wagyu cattle, with 600 seedstock registered animals, plus F1 crosses on the family farm so there's plenty to keep Charlie busy after taking over management in 2016.
The Wagyu breed is something Charlie is very passionate about and he serves as president and chair of the Australian Wagyu Association.
Charlie definite…
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Feb 13, 2022
The role of a Livestock Breeding Consultant with Henry Hickson
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Henry Hickson, our Livestock Breeding Consultant in Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia.
Henry grew on a mixed far near Boomi, New South Wales, Australia- aka an hour north of the middle of nowhere. With his dad breeding his own Merino rams, the start of a genetics addiction began at a young age. Henry then went on to study at UNE and after a stint working in farm benchmarking, applied for a consulting role with neXtgen Agri.
Henry is servicing predominantly the Victoria and NSW regions of Australia but is also involved with businesses in WA, SA and Tasmania. From flock assessment, to ram selection, Henry also helps individuals tailor indexes to their individual needs and desires.
"We have a few indexes now that are slightly (read very) different to the industry MP and DP+" Says Henry.
In this work, Henry will be taking into account up to 16 different traits and creating a custom index that moves all of the traits in the desired direction.
Bo…
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Feb 6, 2022
Healthy staff, healthy business with Rhys Roberts - 2022 Zanda McDonald award winner (NZ)
Rhys Roberts is Chief Executive and Director of the Align Group, who operate 7 farms, a market garden, and are vertically integrated with a yoghurt brand and milk processing facility.
An entrepreneurial approach to primary production has resulted in Rhys Roberts of mid-Canterbury receiving the 2022 New Zealand Zanda McDonald Award. The Zanda McDonald Award, now in its eighth year, supports talented and passionate young professionals in the ag sector from Australia and New Zealand.
Rhys is passionate about food production and future workplaces. He’s currently running a regenerative agriculture project trial, to monitor farm productivity, animal health, human health and environmental outcomes . His focus on building a “future workplace” has resulted in creating a market garden that feeds his team through the fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry and eggs from their farms. All of the team are on fully flexible rosters, and can manage their own schedules, choosing shifts that suit them.…
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Jan 30, 2022
Sheep Genetics, a wealth of knowledge with Bronwyn Clarke
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Bronwyn Clarke chatting to Mark about the research she's currently involved in, and the wealth of knowledge that she has around sheep genetics.
Bronwyn is an expert in genetics focused R&D and project management and has over 20 years of experience in the New Zealand and Australian Merino industry.
Bronwyn did not grow up around sheep, spending her childhood growing up in Papa New Guinea. Fast forward a few years, and Bronwyn completed her Bachelor of Science in Wool and Pastural Science in Sydney, and so the interest in sheep began.
She then completed a PhD at University of New England on quantitative genetics, simulating all of her sheep on her computer- the combination of Maths and Animal Science really appealing to Bronwyn.
A lot of Bronwyn's work has been in helping commercial farmers and breeders understand the use of genetics
The Merino Validation project was one that Bronwyn ran around 20 years ago- which set Mark up in his pHd…
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Jan 23, 2022
Young livestock manager on a path to success.
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Jack Devlin, 2IC of Bonavaree, Marlborough NZ.
Jack spent several years working around New Zealand working on several notable stations after completing his degree- and putting it into practice was something he really enjoyed. In 2020 he headed over to Japan to work as a ski instructor, which Covid quickly put a halt to.
Jack decided to give Fraser Avery a ring to see if he could help with tailing for a while. Roll forward two years and Jack is now working as 2IC on the Bonavaree station.
Bon Avery runs up to 20,000 stock units on 2,500ha of 530ml of rainfall a year. Farming next to one of the largest salt flats in New Zealand has led to a concise farming system with lots of calculated decisions. The mix of sheep and beef breeding/finishing, bull beef and dairy grazing allows for flexibility through the seasons.
They currently have around 350ha of lucerne at the moment, and put in around 60ha of new Lucerne in a year. This crop is what…
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Jan 16, 2022
Farmer, shearer and entrepreneur, with Karol Devaney
Welcome back to Season 6 of the Head Shepherd podcast. We have a fantastic line up of guests for you this season and we can't wait to share their stories over the coming 13 weeks.
Today, we have 27 year old Karol Devaney of Drumcliff, a village in County Sligo, Ireland.
Shearing from a young age, Karol used his skill early on in life to travel around the worlds sheep farms. At the age of 27 Karol has travelled to New Zealand and Australia multiple times. The income from shearing paid for his college where he studied Ag Science at UCD.
"It's good work, and hard works never killed anyone,"
Due to the last few years being what they were, Karol is now settled at home below the foot of Benbulben, a 526 m mountain where his Mayo Blackface sheep graze some incredibly tough conditions.
Mark and Karol run through their farming enterprise and what works for such harsh , unforgiving conditions.
Karol began his clothing company Ewenit whilst on work placement in 2018. After the life of a far…
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Dec 19, 2021
Season 5 Q&A with Dr Mark Ferguson.
As with our previous seasons of Head Shepherd, we're finishing season 5 out with a Q&A with Mark Ferguson.
Mark answers questions received from social media- from economic indexes, whole body energy and it's importance, first steps establishing a pedigree flock and the process of hiring staff.
Thank you to everyone who has listened to season 5 of Head Shepherd, we will be back on the 17th of January with some more fantastic guests.
The team here at neXtgen Agri wish you all the best for holiday season, and we'll see you in the New Year.
If you would like to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, that would be fantastic so we can spread more of the word!
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Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their dat…
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Dec 11, 2021
A young leader in livestock. A conversation with Rozzie O'Reilly of LambPro.
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast, we have the wonderful Rozzie O'Reilly. Rozzie is from Narrandera, NSW, Australia, and currently works as Operations Manager at the largest prime lamb seedstock business, LambPro.
Bought up on a farm, after completing her Bachelor of Animal Science at the University of New England, Rozzie went on to complete a graduate program on a beef cattle feedlot in Queensland. She then went on to work as a supervisor at the mill at 23 years old which meant she learnt a lot in a short time, especially managing a team of 8.
After 6 years in the role, Tom Bull approached Rozzie to work for LambPro. Rozzie was ready to move closer to home and took the job offer. Five years later, here she is.
Rozzie and Mark go through Rozzie's role at LambPro- joining over 10,000 seedstock ewes with 4 breeding programme involves a lot of work! Data is the core of the LambPro business, so it's a hell of a job at that scale- Rozzie credits the success "to a very young and enth…
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Dec 5, 2021
Farming kiwi sheep in the UK with Robert Hodgkins.
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Robert Hodgkins, a British sheep and arable farmer.
Robert and his partner Jo farm about 45 minutes north of London in the UK. Roberts father was a first generation farmer, and Robert worked on the farm from a young age. At 16, he decided farming wasn't for him and completed a degree in Engineering and Mathematics. He then went on to work for Caterpillar and Ford, but 7 years on he realised he hated office life- he just wanted to crack on with something- that something was farming again.
Roberts father converted to outdoor lambing when he was a young teen, which set him on the track he's on now of farming New Zealand genetics in the UK. Concentrating on the narrow shoulders, wide pelvis and maternal ability, they manage to reduce any lambing issues which keeps his "local" population of 4 million happy.
They began with English Romney sheep, and quickly realised they needed to target the New Zealand Romney which resulted in Wairere UK bei…
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Nov 29, 2021
From Merinos, to Dairy Cows, to Oysters and Shrimp- with Emeritus Professor Herman Raadsma
This week we have Emeritus Professor Herman Raadsma on the podcast.
Herman's career started by accident- after training, he received a job opportunity to work at Trangie, the Agricultural Research Center run by the NSW Department of Agriculture, known as one of the best sheep breeding centres in the world. The rest, as they say, was history.
Herman worked on pivotal research revolving around fleece rot, body strike and breech strike, which was the founding of the current Australian breeding values.
Mark and Herman both worked on the Footrot Estimated Breeding Value (EBV). From previous breeding programs, Herman knew natural genetic variation existed within the Merino industry in terms of sire groups that produced highly resistant or highly susceptible offspring when it came to health and welfare traits. They had also discovered in past research they could not find an individual gene marker for the Footrot gene. This foundation gave NZM and researchers a leap-pad to start from when d…
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Nov 21, 2021
Components of a Thriving farm business, with Andrew Kennedy
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast, Mark catches up with long-time friend, Andrew Kennedy.
Mark and Andrew worked together back in 2001 at the start of the Lifetime Ewe Management project, and have kept in touch ever since.
Andrew completed a PhD at the University of Western Australia and has an undergraduate degree in agriculture from the University of Melbourne.
Andrews career and experience with farm systems, pasture agronomy, animal nutrition and farm economics/management means there's plenty for Mark and Andrew to discuss.
Alongside his partner Kirsty, Andrew started Thrive Agri Services. They provide independent production, business and research and development services to the Australian sheep and beef supply chains throughout Western Victoria- with the tag ling "to enable your animals, farm systems and people to *THRIVE*."
Find out more below.
www.thriveagriservices.com.au/
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Nov 14, 2021
Insights of a sheep pregnancy scanner, with Daniel Wheeler.
This week Mark chats with Daniel Wheeler, sheep scanner and sheep fanatic.
Daniel has scanned over 6.5 million sheep in his time as a scanner, a career path Daniel was never intending on taking. After getting off at the wrong tube stop on his OE in London, Daniel decided to take up a position of sheep scanning assistant up in Scotland. The rest is history.
Scanning so many sheep across the world has given Daniel a chance to see many different farming systems and notice patterns in success. "Doing the simple stuff right", seems to be key according to Dan. It's allowed him to remove the mental glass ceiling because he's seen what can be done on farms first hand.
Daniel also breeds his own sheep which are a range of shedders and high fertility breeds. He owned his first stud Merinos at the age of 15 and developed an interest in genetics, a passion that came before scanning was on his radar. He now breeds Finnsheep, Meatmaster, Texel and Luings with a current breeding focus being low-inp…
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Nov 8, 2021
Why, or better still, why not? Farming at Waikaka with Ross Paterson.
On the Head Shepherd podcast this week, we have Ross Paterson of Waikaka Genetics, Southland NZ. Ross is fifth generation at Waikaka Station. The family farm 200 Hereford Stud cows and run 4,000 ewes which includes a Texel, Romney, Romtex and Romdale studs.
The Patersons are well known for their Hereford stud, and breeding a functional cow that their buyers want is priority. Ross highlights it's important to ask your buyers what they want, not to try to tell them what they need.
As a 'retired builder', Ross has a different outlook on farming and often asks why, or better still, why not? This year they left tails on some of their Texel x ewes after scoring them at docking. They're naturally shorter coming from a Texel, so, why not?
It is always great to hear how other farmers work, and this is a great chat between Mark and Ross running through their farming system in Southland.
Find out more about Waikaka Genetics below
*www.waikakagenetics.com**
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Oct 31, 2021
Farming for the future at Bog Roy Station
This week on the podcast, Mark Ferguson chats with Gundy (David) Anderson and Angus Fraser, of Bog Roy Station.
Gundy and Lisa Anderson are fourth generation owners of Bog Roy station, farming just under 3,000 Ha with 4,000 merino ewes and 140 Hereford cows on the shores of Lake Benmore, Omarama, New Zealand.
Gundy and Angus go through the past, present and future of Bog Roy. When they arrived in 1980, Bog Roy farmed Corriedales but changed to Merinos in the mid 90's based on the wool prices at the time.
After finding themselves carrying too much stock through winter, and finding their peak feed demand occurring when there wasn't any grass growth, Gundy and Lisa changed their thinking.
Well thought out, small and incremental changes over the years has gotten Bog Roy to where they are today. Starting with trials around the farm, ensuring it works for them and their land, and then expanding it is how they started with increasing scanning, grazing lucerne and mating hoggets.
Gundy an…
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Oct 24, 2021
Talking Teasing- and the role of the brain in sheep reproduction, with Graeme Martin.
This week Mark Ferguson chats with Emeritus Professor Graeme Martin about the role of the brain in sheep reproduction and how teasing works.
Graeme has a long and distinguished career in sheep reproduction. Raised on a sheep and cereal farm in Western Australia, after studying at university, Graeme went on to complete a phD in the area of sheep reproduction. He then worked in France and Scotland, and returned to WA, Australia, in the mid 80's as Lecturer in Animal Science (The University of WA) and Research Scientist (CSIRO Division of Animal Production)- continuing to focus on sheep reproduction, specialising on the "Male effect", throughout his career.
After a long and esteemed career, Graeme has since retired from teaching but is still continuing to think and develop the science of reproduction- and how this can apply to farmers.
Mark and Graeme go through what goes on internally in the ewe to trigger ovulation, as well as what happens in the ram. Knowing the science behind the "…
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Oct 17, 2021
Breeding sturdy sheep, with Kate Broadbent.
This week Mark catches up with Kate Broadbent, president of Coopworth Genetics and is stud farming in the Waikato, NZ.
Kate spent 20 years chasing sheep filled summers around the world, and finally settled in New Zealand 12 years ago. At this point she purchased Nikau Coopworth sheep stud, and has been passionate about the breed ever since.
Facial Eczema is a serious concern in the North Island of New Zealand, and Kate explains to Mark how the stud, and the Coopworth breed, have been breeding for FE tolerance for well over 35 years and, at the same time have been targeting worm resistance and more recently, dags.
Mark and Kate have great discussions about the benefits, and gains, from selecting for sheep with a good immune system/high welfare traits, and how that allows the animal to express it's potential.
If you would like to learn more about the low-input CPT discussed, take a look here
To learn more about Nikau Coopworths, take a look here.
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Oct 10, 2021
How does your farm work? with Dr Richard Shephard of Herd Health
This week we change tracks a little and catch up with Dr Richard Shephard of Herd Health, a specialist animal health company which Richard founded in 1998 to address multi-disciplinary problems of animal and human health and animal production.
Richards started as a clinical dairy veterinarian, who then went on to do post-grad training in epidemiology, whilst also working as a farm management consultant. This career path made him step back and view the dairy farm very, very differently.
This is one of those "not to be missed" episodes of Head Shepherd where the lifetime of insights provided by Richard are truly invaluable.
Mark and Richard discuss industry indices, and how they're all well and good for regional populations, but how knowing your farm and your flock are far more essential to boost profit. They also cover the outlook in the future for breeding "low input" animals, and what that could mean for the animal as a whole.
If you'd like to listen to Bill Malcoms podcast you ca…
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Oct 3, 2021
A lifetime's agri-business experience with Shane McManaway.
This week we have the fantastic Shane McManaway. Shane is Chair of PPP, Chair of the Wiararapa Development Group, among many other things.
From spraying ragwort with a knapsack as a teen around the Wairarapa, to 17 years as CEO of Allflex in the Asia/Pacific region, Shane shares his story of how he got to lead some of Australasia's biggest operations.
Mark and Shane discuss the evolution of data during Shane's time at Allflex, and also the importance of recognising leaders in the Agricultural industry, and how we go about bringing them out to their best potential. Team mentality and culture is key in building the foundations of a good business, Shane believes.
Another of Shane's beliefs is the power of farmers talking to farmers. He wanted Allflex to know their customers better, so they started with 7 top producers from Australia and New Zealand, sat around a table discussing ideas.
This 'idea' Shane had is now PPP, Platinum Primary Producers, which was launched in 2013.
Listen in…
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Sep 27, 2021
How is "AgTech" going to change your business? with Sarah Nolet.
Welcome back to Season 5 of the Head Shepherd podcast. We have a fantastic season lined up for you, and we're starting with a bang!
Sarah Nolet is an internationally recognised food systems innovation expert, the CEO and Founder of AgThentic, a global food and agriculture strategy firm, and co-founder of Tenacious Ventures, Australia’s first dedicated agrifood tech VC firm AND podcast host of "Ag Tech So What?".
But, before all that, Sarah grew up in California, quite literally in the centre of the tech world. After studying computer science at University, Sarah then ended up in the defence industry. She enjoyed the tech, but felt like her heart wasn't into it. Roll forward a year and her experiences in Agriculture in South America, Sarah was inspired to go down the rabbit hole of Ag Tech.
Ten years later, Sarah now lives in Australia and is fully immersed in a whole different world.
Sarah challenges the usual way of finding investments. In contrast to starting at the research en…
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Sep 12, 2021
Head Shepherd Live: Q&A with Dr Mark Ferguson (Recording)
Welcome back to the 50th episode of Head Shepherd! This week we hosted a live Q&A where Mark answered your questions. This is a recording of that live stream.
Mark answers questions about the polled gene and the variations that exist there, about breeding for lamb growth without ending up with excess adult weight and more.
Thank you to everyone who has listened so far, we have thoroughly enjoyed producing the past 50 episodes for you and can't wait to bring you the next 50.
We will be taking a week off, and will be back on the 27th of September.
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Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcomes.
A big thank you…
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Sep 5, 2021
Breeding for twins in cattle with Leo Cummins
This week Mark chats with Dr Leo Cummins of Byaduk North, Aus.
With the world favouring environmental efficiency, why is it that we don't breed cattle to have twins? Mark and Leo go through the ins and outs of Beef Twinners, a composite from Nebraska that Leo has been working with for the past 17 years.
During Leos research career, he investigated high fecundity beef and sheep livestock systems including Booroola sheep. During this time he became aware of a twinning herd in Nebraska ran by the Meat Animal Research Center (MARC), which had a 50% twinning rate in cows. The first imported embryos were implanted into cows in 2004, and the progeny are now producing twin calves at a rate of about 50 per cent.
Beef twinners are a composite line of cattle developed at the U.S. MARC. This project started in 1981 by selecting cattle based on their ability to produce twins. This was based on selection on both twinning history and recorded ovulation rates over several cycles in heifers. Bulls w…
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Aug 30, 2021
Combining data and joining forces at Black Box Co.
Black Box Co is the brain child of Shannon Speight and Emma Black who both have backgrounds in the beef industry and have both won the Zanda McDonald award.
After seeing how little data was utilised at all levels in the industry, Shannon was inspired to find a way to capture and standardise the data that potentially existed all along the value chain. She met Emmathrough the Zanda McDonald award, Emma shared her passion and frustrations around data and convinced her to join her on the Black Box Co journey.
Roll forward a few years, and Black Box Co has just registered their millionth animal on the database and have a 10 people team- they also have their sights on the sheep industry!
Mark, Emma and Shannon discuss what Black Box Co is, and the potential in the industry. With such scale in Northern Australia, incremental differences really make a difference to the dollar at the other end.
It is truly inspiring to hear the enthusiasm both women have for genetics and data. An enthusiasm…
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Aug 23, 2021
Scaling Success with Richard Scholefield
Mark chats with Richard Scholefield of Whangara Farms, Gisborne NZ on this weeks Head Shepherd podcast.
Whangara Farms comprises of 7 farms, making up 9,500 Ha overall. Across the seven farms, there are 20 staff to manage the 37,000 breeding ewes (all of which are EID tagged), 10,000 replacement hoggets and 3,500 breeding cows. They regularly scan over 200% and mark over 50,000 lambs a year, an event the whole team is bought together for.
This opportunity of scale allows them to make the right choices when it comes to land allocation, an area, amongst others, Richard says has led to an increase of EFS from $70 /ha to $500 ha in his time at Whangara.
Richard is genetics crazy, which makes for a great conversation between him and Mark! The importance of your genetic decisions cannot be ignored, and is highlighted well in this conversation.
We are hosting another Q&A podcast this season, and this time we're going to record it live! If you have any questions for Mark, please email them…
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Aug 15, 2021
Breeding for success with Dawson Bradford.
This week Mark catches up with long-time friend, Dawson Bradford. Dawson started off in pigs, and bought some sheep to 'keep himself entertained' whilst he waited around to feed twice a day. What started off as a hobby, led to Dawson becoming one of Australia's most successful performance breeders. The Hillcroft Farms name can be found in many high performance Poll Dorset and White Suffolk pedigrees.
Mark and Dawson discuss a little about breeding pigs, and then onto how Dawson got his sheep to where he wanted them to be and where he hopes they'll be sometime soon with the addition of the GDF9 gene.
A truly great episode listening to two of the best in the industry discussing their passion for breeding and genetics.
If you would like to hear more from Dawson, we have another interview with him which can be found here .
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Aug 9, 2021
Cropping and livestock enterprise south of Marnoo
Wallaloo Park is a family-owned and managed business located south of Marnoo in the Wimmera district of Victoria. The business operates a 3500ha mixed enterprise farming system, including cropping and livestock enterprises.
Wallaloo Park merino stud was founded in 1978, currently running 2500 ewes. Utilizing the latest technology to enhance genetic gain, through both ASBV’s and stringent visual classing, Wallaloo Park is at the forefront of the merino and poll merino industry. A renowned leader of innovation, depth and service to the industry. Impacting both stud and commercial growers across Australia and abroad.
More information about Wallaloo Park can be found here:
www.wallaloopark.com
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Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting int…
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Aug 1, 2021
Global networking in Agriculture.
We are delighted to have had the chance to catch up with Laura Ryan. Laura is the founder and global Chair of Meat Business Women which launched in 2015.
With a first-class Honours in Marketing and a Masters in Management, Laura joined the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in 2007. Successfully launching premium beef & lamb brands within a large butchery business in the North East of England. Working her way through the ranks she was appointed as Sector Strategy Director for Beef & Lamb Board in 2015. She led the strategic review and development for the Beef & Lamb sector in England by identifying key challenges and opportunities which deliver long-term growth.
More recently, Laura successfully launched Lavenpark, her own consultancy business which is working with levy boards, government and commercial companies to achieve greater success through improved industry insight, connectivity, business development, marketing, and communications.
Meat Business Women has…
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Jul 26, 2021
Former All Blacks player with a passion for livestock
Richard Loe, a former All Blacks player with a passion for livestock joined us this week on the Head Shepherd Podcast. Loe's family farm, Glenloe is based near Oxford in Canterbury in the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. Richard is farming Dohne Merino Sheep and Santa Gertrudis Cattle. Richard is a co-host of Magic Radio's Rural Exchange program which airs every Saturday and Sunday morning from 6 til 8am. Listen in to hear the latest on all things rural New Zealand.
Rural Exchange
https://www.rova.nz/home/podcasts/magics-rural-exchange.html
Rural
https://www.magic.co.nz/home/shows/talk/newshub-rural.html
Check out The Hub below
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Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions…
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Jul 18, 2021
Diversifying your farm business with Middlehurst Delivered
Sophie and Lucy, who grew up at Middlehurst Station for the past 20 years, have had the absolute privilege of bringing Middlehurst Delivered to life. Bringing a premium product that you can enjoy at home, knowing exactly where it came from. Middlehurst Delivered aims to have consistency with their meat and to always give that "great experience".
It doesn't stop there, Middlehurst is on a mission to ensure that they are bringing you an innovative product and packaging that is sustainable. There is such a great range of cuts on each animal and Middlehurst Delivered believes a little education and inspiration around what can be achieved with them will help change the opinions of what some people might consider 'lesser cuts'.
Middlehurst Accommodation
https://www.middlehurst.co.nz
Order or check out more about Middlehurst Delivered
https://middlehurstdelivered.co.nz/
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A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence…
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Jul 6, 2021
Running up the learning curve with Russell and Ricky Luhrs
The Luhrs family farm near Cavendish in Western Victoria. Ricky and his wife Marni farm with Russell, Ricky's dad. They have two speeds, flat out and asleep. They are always thinking about extracting the next few percent out of the business through strategic management, pasture performance and genetics. If what they need doesn't exist on the market they build it. I'm sure you'll enjoy the banter, openness and energy of this episode.
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A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcomes.
Head Shepherd is a bought to…
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Jun 27, 2021
Taking the highs and lows out of agriculture, with Brendon Savage
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast Mark speaks with Brendon Savage from Western Australia. Brendon has a great insight on soils and pasture after spending the past few years improving his pastures via various, slightly different methods with the goal of producing the same, with less.
Brendon also upped his sheep numbers to take his business to 50:50 crop to sheep which isn't common in the area in which Brendon lives. This is to take the typical highs and lows out of his farming system. Brendon focuses on higher fertility so that he can have less sheep in the Autumn, and more during Spring.
This week is really a podcast to get you thinking about how to make the most of your business, whilst also looking to the future for the changes that may be coming to the Agricultural industry.
Check out The Hub below
https://thehub.nextgenagri.com
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in th…
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Jun 21, 2021
Trial and change with Todd Burger.
Welcome back to the Head Shepherd podcast. This week we have Todd Burger from the Western Districts of Victoria. Todd farms his merino sheep a little differently.
After being frustrated with the lack of maternal behavior in his ewes, he decided to do something different. Todd intensively manages around 700 of his 7,000 ewes around lambing time. This means shedding up at night, temporary shelters and more.
Mark and Todd cover the new genetics and AI that has been implemented recently, and the changes that has brought to Todds farming business.
We hope this podcast gets you thinking!
We have upcoming Farm Fit Ewes workshops coming up in Victoria.
The workshops cover breeding and feeding of ewes, and optimizing your production system.
It is free to member's and $250 for non-members.
Below are the dates and locations.
*Farm Fit Ewes at Burnbrae Poll Merino Stud *28th June 2021 at 1pm
*Farm Fit Ewes at Hannaton Poll Merinos & White Suffolks *29th June 2021 at 1pm
*Farm Fit Ewes at Firgr…
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Jun 13, 2021
Why productivity matters, with Professor Bill Malcolm.
Welcome back to Season 4 of the Head Shepherd podcast! We'd like to say thank you for all of your support in the past and we cannot wait to share this season's guests with you.
This week, we start things off with a bang. Mark chats with Bill Malcolm who has been a professor at Melbourne University since 1980. Mark actually grew up close to Bill in the Mallee, and Bill also taught Mark economics at university.
Bill is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to agricultural, farm and resource economics and agribusiness.
We discuss optimum vs maximum and how really, it all comes down to productivity, and a big key part of that is appropriate and well funded R&D, something Bill believes has been lacking in Agriculture in the past 30 years.
Check out The Hub below
https://thehub.nextgenagri.com
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery o…
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May 18, 2021
Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture. Introducing Genesmith.
For our final episode of Season 3, we are excited to discuss Genesmith, a startup within neXtgen Agri.
Mark catches up with Ian Harris, Electronics and Data Science Manager at neXtgen Agri who, along side Ali Alqassab and Jack Zarifeh, are developing facial recognition cameras to apply the power of machine learning to the livestock industry. We are starting with matching lambs and ewes, in the paddock at a commercial scale. We believe this will unlock an enormous opportunity in the sheep industry.
This is a fascinating insight into the future of the industry and where tech might take us.
If you'd like to know more about Genesmith, you can visit the website here
https://www.genesmith.ai/
Check out The Hub below
https://thehub.nextgenagri.com
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and trac…
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May 9, 2021
Q&A with Dr Mark Ferguson.
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast, we decided to offer the mic over to you to answer your questions.
We put a call out on various social media platforms and we had a great response. We had lots of questions ranging from wool vs shedding sheep, to the use of AI and Face Recognition in farming.
It is always great to hear Marks opinion on these things and as ever, it's a podcast to get you thinking.
Find us on social at
Twitter: @neXtgenAgri
Facebook: @nextgenagri
Check out The Hub below
https://thehub.nextgenagri.com
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal out…
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May 2, 2021
Drought drives determination with Moojepin Merinos.
Mark first came across Moojepin Merinos, a Merino stud near Badgebup in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia, fifteen years ago whilst looking for some high growth merinos. This week, Mark discusses what's going on at Moojepin with Hamish Thompson, stud co-principal and third generation on the farm.
After Hamish's father David Thompson, was told joining merino ewe lambs was impossible, he set his mind to the task. Ten years later, Moojepin are mating ewe lambs at 7 months, at the same time as their ewes, to make the most of their incredibly short growing season.
The country that the Thompsons farm in Western Australia is tough going with a constant battle with salinity. Hamish discusses how they tackle this and where they see the farm and stud going in the future.
If you would like to learn more about either Moojepin Foods or the stud, you can find them at the links below
www.moojepin.com
www.moojepinfoods.com
Twitter: MoojepinMerinos
Facebook: MoojepinMerinos
A big tha…
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Apr 25, 2021
Julia Jones, a glass half full.
Julia Jones shares her optimistic outlook on the future of the Agriculture industry this week.
Julia grew up on the West Coast of the South Island of NZ, riding a horse to school. Now, Julia is head of Analytics at NZX, New Zealand's Exchange.
With an infectious, positive view on life, Julia covers what she sees happening in the future of our industry, and the world.
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcomes.
Check out The Hub below
https://thehub.nextgenagri.com
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock far…
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Apr 18, 2021
Fat animals create flexibility, with Chad Taylor of Mumblebone Merinos
This week, Mark catches up with Chad Taylor of Mumblebone Merinos, of Wellington, NSW, Australia.
Both Chad and Mark are fans of putting maternal traits with carcass traits on a wool producing animal. They discuss the benefits of putting fat and muscle in a Merino and how it has improved both Mumblebone's production, and also their clients.
They also cover succession and where Mark and Chad think the industry will be in 10 years time, what with all of the innovation happening in the industry right now.
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcomes.
Check out T…
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Apr 9, 2021
Success through perseverance with Georgina Gubbins.
On this episode of the Head Shepherd podcast, Mark catches up with Georgina Gubbins. Georgina is not only a passionate red meat producer, but is also chair of Lambex and Great South Coast Food and Fibre.
We discuss the future of Lambex, the need for new entrants in agriculture and also run through Georginas farming business focusing on giving the consumer a healthy satisifying eating experience.
Georgina is incredibly resilient, dealing with more than her fair share of challenges. Despite it all, she still manages to be huge advocate for Agriculture and one our industry is lucky to have.
Take a listen to be inspired by an incredible woman.
If you feel you are struggling with your mental health, and need someone to talk to here are some free services:
-New Zealand 1737.org.nz
-Australia lifeline.org.au/
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturin…
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Apr 4, 2021
Export Markets. Selling venison in China with Hunter McGregor.
Hunter McGregor gives us a great insight to the Chinese meat market this week.
Hunter has been in China for fourteen years and now runs a New Zealand Venison import and distribution business. He has a fascinating insight into the cultural diversity when it comes to food in China and how they perceive Australian and New Zealand red meat.
A great podcast this week with something a little different.
If you would like to know more about Hunter and Shanghai Rata Trading, you can contact him on the email below.
hunter.mcgregor@icloud.com
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for…
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Mar 28, 2021
A gold medal mindset.
This week, Mark catches up with Jill Hill of Benambra.
After following her fathers footsteps to rowing, Jill reached the World Championships in Greece, 1998, returning home with a gold medal in the lightweight double skull. Jill then went on to nationals in mountain biking. After her stint in sports, Jill practiced as a physiotherapist, before returning home to the family farm in 2017.
By introducing the right sheep genetics to their Merino flock, and changing management practices, Jill increased the farms weaning rate from 60% to 129% in the first year.
Jill has endless enthusiasm and a drive for building and achieving goals and this is a great listen.
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in the design, development, manufacturing, and delivery of animal monitoring, identification, and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By p…
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Mar 21, 2021
Family Farming with the Kealys
This week Mark catches up with Tony, Elise and Bernie Kealy of Curlew Merinos, Edenhope, Victoria. The Kealys are a great example of successfully navigating the tensions of business and family being intertwined. Their story is also a great example of how to involve the next generation in the business at a relatively young age.
We cover how they run their successful enterprise as individuals but also as a team, and how they make the decisions they do. We also cover how ASBVs have really allowed the Kealys to put the accelerator down on their breeding objectives, especially when the traits they're pushing for can often be antagonistic.
If you'd like to contact the Kealys, follow the link below
www.curlewmerinos.com/
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven…
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Mar 12, 2021
Aussie science and the global cattle industry
Lachlan Campbell is the CEO and co-founder of ProAgni, their moto is “Improving Farm economics today. Ensuring farming’s sustainability tomorrow."
How are they doing this? Well, it started with the realisation that Kangaroos don't burp methane. From a few bags of product in Dubbo to a national distribution network and now breaking into the huge lot feeding industry in the US, ProAgni has collected a swag of awards along the way. They have recently won the small business category of the National Australian Small Business Champion Awards
You can find more information on ProAgni at https://proagni.com/
Lachlans contact number is +61428467441
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent…
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Mar 7, 2021
White Suffolks on Kangaroo Island.
This week we hear from Andrew and Jamie Heinrich of Ella Matta, the first registered White Suffolk stud in the world.
Based on Kangaroo Island, which suffered a devastating fire just over 12 months ago, Andew and Jamie discuss the impacts of that on both them and their community, the start of the White Suffolk breed and the work they are doing to make their sheep work for them- not the other way around.
You can find more information on Ella Matta at www.ellamatta.com
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcome.
Check out The Hub below
https://thehub.nextgenagri.com…
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Mar 3, 2021
How to run your farm more efficiently, with Jana Hocken.
Welcome back to the start of Season 3 of the Head Shepherd Podcast!
Our first guest this week is Jana Hocken. Jana is a Lean consultant with more than 17 years’ experience working for Toyota and in Lean consulting.
Since 2013 she has also been involved in supporting her husband’s 1000-head dairy farm in New Zealand, introducing Lean thinking to the business. She developed and rolled out the successful LeanFarm training program across New Zealand in 2017.
For more information on Lean farming principles, follow the link below:
www.leanfarm.nz/
Find out more about Janas book at the following link:
www.theleandairyfarm.com/
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable info…
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Feb 26, 2021
15 minutes with Steve Cotton.
*Bonus Episode!*
Today we're quickly catching up with Steve Cotton, founder of Dynamic Ag.
We discuss his PhD in internal parasites, starting up his business in 2015 and also Steve explains what he will cover in his session, "World of Worms" in our upcoming course, Growing Ewe.
If you want to sign up to, or find out more about our Growing Ewe course, follow the link below.
www.nextgenagri.com/growing-ewe-masterclass
You can find out more about Steve at
www.dynamicag.com.au
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them…
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Feb 9, 2021
Using EID to make better on farm decisions
In this episode we feature the role of EID in making more informed decisions within a sheep business. We hear from Steve Kelly, Commercial Manager at Allflex NZ as well as Charles Douglas-Clifford who farms at Stonyhurst in North Canterbury. Stonyhurst have been using EID in their sheep operation for over 15 years and have learnt a lot along the way. You can see some great pictures of Stonyhurst if you find them on Instagram @stonyhurst_nz or on facebook @stonyhurst
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcome.
www.nextgenagri.com
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by…
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Jan 19, 2021
Breeding a point of difference with Tom Bull.
"Why cant we have $140 cutlets?" Tom Bull speaks to Mark this week about the future of the sheep meat industry and how LambPro is hoping to achieve this astounding figure by the middle of this year.
This is a fascinating chat, considering LambPro lambs contribute to over 1,000,000 lambs in the Australian market. Tom discusses branding and working with clients to achieve common goals.
https://www.lambpro.com.au/
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcome.
www.nextgenagri.com
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock fa…
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Jan 14, 2021
Rob Hewett, a man of many hats.
This week I had a conversation with Rob Hewett, a man who is involved in the primary industries at many levels: production, processing, exporting and education. It is fascinating to hear his 'helicopter' perspective of these businesses and his view of the future of the primary industries in New Zealand. A recurring theme is how carbon is shaping the discussions in boardrooms all around New Zealand.
Rob is also one of the first commercial farmers in New Zealand to adopt Smart Shepherd technology on his farm in South Otago. His aim is to improve his flock by identifying his high performing ewes. The end goal is to stay carbon neutral by increasing production efficiency through farming with the best genetics.
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutio…
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Jan 14, 2021
Sheep farming in Canada with Sandi Brock
This week we caught up with Sandi Brock of Ontario, Canada. Sandi walks us through her indoor sheep production system, explains why and how she became Youtube's most popular sheep farmer, and also touches on the publics perception of agriculture in Canada.
Check out Sandi's website
https://sheepishlyme.com/
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcome.
www.nextgenagri.com
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear…
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Jan 10, 2021
A career’s worth of understanding of feed efficiency in just 30 minutes with Prof. Wayne Pitchford
A great 30 minute discussion with Professor Wayne Pitchford of Adelaide University covering hybrid vigour, how he changed his views on feed-use efficiency based on his research on feed intake and the science behind the biological function of ewe and cow efficiency.
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcome.
www.nextgenagri.com
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you d…
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Nov 30, 2020
Turning grass into money with Nigel Kerin
Nigel and Kate Kerin own and operate Kerin Agriculture which comprises a trading enterprises as well as a Merino ram breeding enterprise. Their focus is on turning grass into profit by having a very flexible system that can optimise the class and number of stock for each season. In this episode we cover the principles that Nigel uses to manage the enterprises and the importance of external influences in turning good businesses into great businesses
www.kerinpoll.com.au
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcome.
www.nextgenagri.com
Head Shepherd is a bought to you…
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Nov 14, 2020
The rise and rise of sustainable and ethical wool production with Willy Gallia
Willy Gallia is the part of the third generation in his family to be involved in the textile industry. He grew up in Argentina and is very passionate about the wool industry and the people within it. His family are heavily involved in wool production in Patagonia with Fuhrmann which is part of the Schneider group . Willy is now the Chief Sustainability Officer with the Schneider group and is based in Italy. Willy is charged with implementing the companies sustainability policies and frameworks.
For more information on the farms in Argentina:
https://fuhrmann-argentina.com/
For more information about the Schneider group:
https://www.gschneider.com/
For more information about the Wool Connect conference.
https://woolconnect.gschneider.com/
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability so…
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Nov 5, 2020
The importance of telling wool's story with Elisabeth van Delden
This week I had a conversation with Elisabeth van Delden that we are both sharing on our podcasts. Elisabeth provides support to wool businesses around the world to help them communicate effectively online. Elisabeth was heavily involved in the Schneider Group's Wool Connect conference held earlier in the year.
Check out Elisabeth's podcast - Wool Academy
https://www.elisabethvandelden.com/wool-academy/
Check out Wool Connect
https://woolconnect.gschneider.com/
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcome.
www.nextgenagri.com
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXt…
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Oct 8, 2020
34 minutes that every farmer needs to hear - an interview with Ken Solly
Ken Solly has a lifelong passion for helping farmers be the best version of themselves that they can be. This podcast contains some great tips from Ken as he reflects on a very successful career making very real differences to farming families. This is one not to miss.
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By putting intelligent, actionable information into farmers’ hands, their solutions empower them to act in a timely manner for optimal outcome.
www.nextgenagri.com
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what y…
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Oct 1, 2020
Breeding in the fast lane with Alistair Campbell.
One of the privileges of our roles in neXtgen Agri is the opportunity to learn from the experience of others. Alistair Campbell is a passionate sheep and cattle breeder, high country advocate and a genuinely fantastic person. I've had the pleasure of many evenings chatting with Alistair and thought that the world would like to hear from him too. We cover a range of topics around breeding sheep and cattle and finish with his passion for car racing which really does prove that mindset is everything.
Earnscleugh Station is a large pastoral operation of 21,000 hectares (52,000 acres) based in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand.
Earnscleugh produces over 100 tonnes of high quality Merino wool annually and also has three cattle and six Merino sheep pedigree stud operations involving over 6,000 individually recorded animals.
www.earnscleugh.co.nz
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is…
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Sep 22, 2020
The opportunities in beef genetics and related topics with Jo Scott
This week we are delighted to have Jo Scott on the show. Jo grew up on a farm in Otago, South Island, NZ. She has recently finished up after 7 years working with the Zoetis genetics. She has recently started a genetics consulting business and is very passionate about the opportunity to optimise genetic gain across the beef, sheep and dairy industries. We discuss a range of opportunities in genetics.
mark@nextgenagri.com
www.nextgenagri.com
@nextgenagri
If you want to touch base with Jo send her an email at jo@targetedbreeding.co.nz
If you are looking for information about the new NZ Angus indexes, follow this link. https://angusnz.com/cattle/technical/indexes-2/
A big thank you to our sponsors, Allflex Livestock Intelligence
https://www.allflex.global/nz/
Allflex Livestock Intelligence is the leader in design, development, manufacturing and delivery of animal monitoring, identification and traceability solutions. Their data-driven solutions are used by farmers to manage animals. By…
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Sep 14, 2020
"There's no place I'd rather be" - Sheep and cattle breeding with Will Gibson
Welcome back to Head Shepherd. It is great to be back with Season 2. For the first episode of season 2 we have featured Will Gibson. Will works with us here at neXtgen Agri as well as being heavily involved with his parents at Foulden Hill genetics. In this episode Will covers his combined passions for breeding coloured Merinos, breeding Hereford cattle as well as helping the clients of neXtgen Agri to explore their own data and achieve great things with genetics.
We thank Allflex NZ for sponsoring this episode and the entire 2nd season of Head Shepherd.
allflex.global/nz/
www.nextgenagri.com
members.nextgenagri.com
@FHGenetics
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Ze…
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Aug 9, 2020
The heritability of hope - part 3 of 3 - Farming with the perfect animals for you?
This is the third part of this series. What exactly do you want to produce? What are the traits that you most want to improve? How do you decrease the error in selecting rams and bulls? This episode takes you through the decision making steps and the available tools to help you get the best genetics for your farming enterprise. https://www.nextgenagri.com/on-farm-consulting
https://www.nextgenagri.com/online-courses
https://members.nextgenagri.com/access-plan
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making produ…
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Aug 1, 2020
Gene edits in livestock with Alison Van Eenennaam
This week I am joined by Dr Alison Van Eenennaam, Cooperative Extension Specialist in Animal Genomics and Biotechnology with the University of California, Davis.
Alison and her team have recently produced a gene edited calf that carries technology that could be applied to all terminal breeding lines at some point in the future. We talk about the 5 year project to produce this one calf and we discuss all things gene editing. Alison is highly skilled at making complicated science sound logical and understandable.
https://www.nextgenagri.com/online-courses
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a pri…
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Jul 25, 2020
From the city to the cows with Jo Newton
On this episode it is my pleasure to host Dr Jo Newton, Research Scientist with Agriculture Victoria. Jo has recently been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her contribution to agriculture through her advocacy and support of young people, volunteering and contribution to dairy science. In recent times she has also been named on the 2018 Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence List as well as winning a swag of awards during her first decade in the industry. I chat with Jo about the dairy industry, the contrast with the sheep and beef industries as well as some of her experiences to date.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These c…
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Jul 21, 2020
Tim Leeming and achieving industry leading lamb survival with precision lambing.
This week we bring you an interview with Tim Leeming. Tim and Geogie Leeming run Paradoo Prime near Pigeon Ponds in South-west Victoria. They run a composite maternal sheep and along with working hard to expand their business have been constantly innovating to improve their rate of lamb survival and have again recorded twin lamb survival over 90% this year. Hear about the practices Tim and Georgie employ to achieve this and other impressive targets.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices…
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Jul 11, 2020
Sheep reproduction - the path to prosperity with Russ Davis
In this episode I interview Russ Davis from who after serving in the armed forces returned to the sheep industry to find not that much had changed. He has a keen interest in optimising reproduction in sheep production systems and understands the reproductive process as well as anyone. We finish the interview hearing about his work in China and the projects that are focussed on alleviating poverty in rural China.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling…
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Jul 4, 2020
Flies, worms and lifetime productivity with Geoff Lindon - AWI
In this episode we ask Geoff Lindon about the genetics portfolio at AWI. We focus on the work completed on flystrike and worm resistance and discuss the Merino Lifetime Productivity project that is currently underway. The genetics of flystrike is mainly completed but has the left the industry with some breeding values that can be applied to reduce the incidence of flystrike in Merino flocks. It is now up to the industry to use them!
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are inst…
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Jun 27, 2020
Fitness versus production and a journey of learning with Andrew Bouffler - Trigger Vale sheep studs
In this episode we interview Andrew Bouffler. Andrew, his wife Mandi and their three children farm near Lockhart in Southern NSW. Around 13 years ago Andrew completed a Nuffield Scholarship. He reflects on what he learnt then and what he has learnt since as he continues on a life-long journey to continually improve his mixed farming enterprise and the sheep that he breeds. He discusses the importance of breeding fitness into animals and building resilience into farm businesses.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider the…
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Jun 20, 2020
Triplets, energy and everything in between with Sarah Blumer
This week we have Sarah Blumer lead us through some of the exciting research she is involved with at Murdoch University in Western Australia. Sarah explains the on-farm trials currently underway to help confirm 'best-bet' management guidelines for triplet bearing ewes. She also explains the work underway and the concept of whole-body energy and its importance in breeding a resilient sheep that optimises per hectare performance without compromising animal welfare. Sarah's energy and enthusiasm for sheep is sure to help you pass the time while feeding the sheep, driving the kids to school or where ever you listen to Head Shepherd.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zea…
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Jun 13, 2020
The story of ZQ wool with Dave Maslen
In this episode I talk to Dave Maslen who works at the New Zealand Merino Company. Dave works directly with many of the customers of NZM which are some of the worlds biggest brands. Dave understands these brands and the consumers that drive them. We discuss the then, the now and the future.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allf…
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Jun 7, 2020
The heritability of hope - part 2 of 3
This is the second in our three part series called The heritability of hope.
This episode focuses on the hope that in 10 years time we will still be able to farm the same way as we do now. We discuss the need to consider what is likely to change in 10 years and what we should be doing now to start breeding the animals for the future.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE…
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May 30, 2020
Breeding insights from Andrew Bendall
Andrew Bendall is a kiwi that is currently on a 2 year contract in the Falkland Islands. He has spent his career in breeding, firstly in Romney sheep and Angus cattle, then to composites, then to ryegrass, then back to sheep and now in fine wool sheep. He shares how good people have shaped his career and what he has learnt along the journey.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product ra…
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May 22, 2020
The heritability of hope - part 1 of 3
The first Head Shepherd podcast, this one is the first of a three part series titled The Heritability of Hope. In this episode, Mark Ferguson discusses the importance of focussing on the consumer when deciding on breeding strategies on livestock farms.
Head Shepherd is a bought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers to get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com
Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand.
These companies are leaders in their respective fields and it is a privilege to have them supporting the Head Shepherd Podcast. Please consider them when making product choices as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.
Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE
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