Head Shepherd
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. To learn more about neXtgen Agri, visit www.nextgenagri.com.
Episodes
313 episodes
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...
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 Zari...
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 sheddin...
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 Ha...
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 Ex...
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...
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,...
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 cultur...
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 th...
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 ...
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...
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 impac...
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, sh...
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, "W...
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 Canterbu...
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 L...
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 an...
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 agricultur...
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 ew...
Turning grass into money with Nigel Kerin
Nigel and Kate Kerin own and operate Kerin Agriculture, which comprises a trading enterprise as well as a Merino ram-breeding operation. Their focus is on turning grass into profit, with a highly flexible system that can optimise the class and ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 successful career making very real differences to farming families...
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...
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...