Humans of Agriculture

Caitlin McConnell is an extremely high achieving young agriculturalist. With a corporate career in litigation law, she also sits on multiple organisations as the chair of the RNA Future Directions committee, non-executive director of the Future Farmers Network, Committee Member of the RNA and she still manages to find time to roll her sleeves up and help on the family grazing property. Caitlin's family property 'Cressbrook Station' is home to the oldest residence in Queensland and is also Queensland's oldest farming business. In today's chat, Caitlin talks candidly about her life experience from growing up in the midst of the Millenium drought and the effect this had on her father, her family and herself. She talks about her challenges with mental illness and how she has found a way to manage it, reconnect herself with farming, balance study and continue to give back to the community. If you or someone you know needs help you can get assistance from Lifeline on 13 11 14, via Beyond Blue or you can reach out to our friends at the This is a Conversations Starter (TIACS) hotline - on 0488 846 988. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humans-of-agriculture/message

Sam Fryer has an extraordinary story. Growing up in Hughenden in Far North Queensland he is a brother, a son, a father and his story of challenge and adversity is more than most of us will ever experience in a life time.  Sam has a unique outlook on life, it's his experiences that have shaped his perspective and his optimism is infectious and awe inspiring. Within this 50 minute episode are little pieces of life advice from someone who has seen a lot. Sam reached out during #Movember to join the Humans of Agriculture team, as we got chatting Sam's story absolutely blew me away. For a bloke who has faced more than his fair share of challenges it is Sam's optimism and zest for life that is so infectious. Sam is a true storyteller and if you're anything like me during this chat, he will have you captivated to his story with complete and undivided attention. As you join us for today's episode you can expect to hear a bit about; - The childhood of someone with a sister with special needs - The transition from a school of 5 students to a school of 1,500 thousands of kilometres from home - Sam's own personal stories of grief through losing a close mate and his sister Alex - His battle with mental illness, and; - How he is implementing good habits to better manage himself and support those around him  *If Today's episode raises any concerns with you or you need to talk to someone you can reach out to the TIACS foundation of 0488 846 988, lifeline on 13 11 44 or beyond blue 1300 22 4636  #MentalHealth #Agriculture #DisabilityintheBush #Disability #adversity #hope #motivation --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humans-of-agriculture/message

Welcome back to the Humans of Agriculture podcast for 2021. We're kicking of the year with a few episodes talking about Mental Health with people sharing their own stories. It comes off the back of a successful Movember by the Humans of Agriculture team, but it also comes with the realities of friends struggling with their own mental health challenges. I took the chance late in 2020 to sit down down with Dan & Ed from Trademutt and Mark Ahmelman from 'TIACS foundation' to chat about Mental Health, check in on the year and just have a general catch up. - Both Dan and Ed talk about their own approaches to mental health management - Mark talks through his own experience with mental illness and ways he overcame it - The importance of supporting friends and family around you  TIACS foundation provide a free text, chat and call back service connecting individuals seeking counselling services with qualified professionals. You can find them at www.tiacs.org or 0488 846 988 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humans-of-agriculture/message

Brianna Casey is a pretty incredible person, her list of accomplishments is extensive – a CEO at the age of 23, a passionate ‘agvocate’ and people person. Brianna has spent her fair share of time on ‘The Hill’ in Canberra where she has succeeded in lobbying government to increase their support of the Food relief organisations and in turn some of the most vulnerable people in society. For me, Brianna has been somewhat of an informal mentor – bouncing ideas off her and earlier this year we were chatting and I said ‘I really want to shift the narrative around agriculture and bring different groups into the conversation to try and make Agriculture more circular – I’m thinking of doing a podcast’ the response I go was “DO IT” – the initial shove was the catalyst for what has now been 41 episodes since the end of March; a very welcome distraction, challenge and opportunity to ask questions of people and get some insights on how the world has been changing before our eyes this year. I owe Brianna a big Thank you and a big welcome to the Humans of Agriculture podcast Brianna!! Today we have a bit of an all-round chat from food waste and food insecurity, leadership, being given a chance to prove yourself, rural mental health, and the importance of being human. This is also the last episode in what has been our first season. I’d like to thank everyone who’s tuned in, kept me motivated and kept me company over the last few months. Next year we’ll be back bigger and better and hopefully with a few new voices on the airwaves too as we look to diversify with new and interesting segments and series. Look after yourselves, stay safe and stay sane and I can’t wait to join you all in 2021. LinkedIn: Brianna Casey | Foodbank Facebook:  Foodbank Twitter: @briannacasey1​ | @FoodbankAus  Instagram: @briannacasey1 | @foodbankaus Hunger Report via Foodbank.org.au --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humans-of-agriculture/message

He's probably best known for his decades of tv screens in Melbourne as the resident weather presenter across multiple networks. But behind that, Rob Gell is an incredibly innovative thinker and extremely entrepreneurial guy. He has always been incredibly passionate about the nature, science and he is very realistic with his outlook on how we can make progressive change for the better. He shows no signs of slowing down in what should be his 'semi-retirement'. He's founded one start up and working in another, while assisting a couple of other businesses all with a sustainability lens. As you'll find out behind Rob's energy and drive is an ambition for a better future particularly with his grand-daughter in mind. I'm calling this episode a lesson with Rob Gell because he is one knowledgeable man and he's giving me a heck of a lot of stuff to go and look at. Rob Gell: ReThink Sustainability: https://www.rethinksustainability.com.au/ Attentis: https://attentistechnology.com/ Circular Things: https://circularthings.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humans-of-agriculture/message

Today we're chatting with Steve Faulkner who is a viticulturalist with Oakridge wines based in the Yarra Valley. They're the unsung heroes behind that beautiful glass of rose or the flavours that jump out at you in your shiraz. Today's chat with Steve covers some technical aspects of wine making which is really interesting. Steve mentions in 2009 there was a significant shift in practices and weather patterns and this has led to adjusting how they actually grow the wines in the vineyard. With harsher, hotter summers and springs like this year that are very wet – the flow on effects of climate change are seeing harvests and seasons change. I had this "A-ha" moment during this. A lot of what Steve talks about around plant health and soil health reminded me a lot of what both Amy Knight in Ep (24) and Steph Geddes Ep (13) were talking about relating to people. As Steve talks about the cross-over between soil management I'm really surprised that more farmers generally aren't talking. I would love to float the idea of bringing together a group of people – not just farmers but from different aspects of the food system to come and chat the translation of healthy soils to healthy people and amazing products. It's a great chance to plug the HoA Movember - https://movember.com/t/humans-of-agriculture?mc=1 The ripple effect, Mental Health for Rural Australia– https://therippleeffect.com.au/ Oakridge Wines - https://www.oakridgewines.com.au/ @viticulture_australia --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humans-of-agriculture/message

Today we're venturing down to the asparagus marshlands of Koo Wee Rup to chat with James Terry. James is a grower, exporter, trader, people manager, logistics organizer – you name it and it could quite possibly be in his job description. I'm excited about this one, we're doing a bit of a pow wow as we chat all things asparagus and this year in particularly has been challenging from the aspect of weather, transport and logistics, access to labour and everything in between. So interesting facts: - The 24 hour supply chain sees product picked and marketed quite often within 24 hours. - Every single spear involves people and hands. - Robotic automation has proven to be too slow and human power is far more efficient -  Some of the pickers have been away from their families back home in Vanuatu for more than 12 months --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humans-of-agriculture/message

Todays guest is Justin Webb a co-founder of AgriWebb a farm management software that is supporting farmers to digitise their paddock records replacing the old paper book. Justin's story spans many countries, many businesses including founding several of these himself in the financial space with successful exits. Justin speaks openly and candidly about not being a farming kid but needing to step in and run the family operation when his father fell ill. It was this moment where as a business man and a highly skilled mathematician he looked at the farming business at an analytical level, without pumping his tyres up but Justin and his co-founders have gone on to re-define farm management in Australian agriculture and are taking on the world. This is slightly different to other chats and I hope you learn a bit more about the world of AgTech, of AgriWebb, of the opportunities for the agriculture industry to and some more about the evolution of what is happening inside the farmgate. https://www.agriwebb.com/au/ Instagram: @Agriwebb --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humans-of-agriculture/message

G'day and welcome to episode 29 of the Humans of Agriculture podcast. I'm your host Oli Le Lievre and today we're sitting down with Fiona Baird. A few months ago Hugh Dawson said, 'Oli you've gotta chat to Fi'. Fi's an incredibly impressive person, I've never met her in person yet I feel like I already know her. Her journey potentially comes across as someone who was always destined for agriculture but jumping the Tasman she initially came to Australia as a make up artist before a life changing event led her to close her eyes, put her finger on a map and well… the rest is history. She's worked across the cape as a head stock women, across live export boats and in market and is now running her own clothing business Apple Tree flats supporting women in Indonesia. Enjoy the chat You can get in touch with Fi @appletreeflat_nz www.humansofagriculture.com Instagram: @humansofagricutlure_ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humans-of-agriculture/message

Welcome to Episode 28! It's been a chaotic few weeks with getting the episodes recorded and live as part of the Royal Melbourne Show. So we're back to one a week now so it's practically a holiday! Today I wanted to sit down with a good mate and pig Farmer from Northern Victoria. Tim Kingma or TK as he is more commonly known is one of the most passionate blokes I've ever come across. His K.I.S.S approach (Keep is Simple Stupid) has kept me on the straight and narrow a few times. I wanted to share TK's story from volunteering in Africa and meeting his now wife, Mariah, to taking over and running the family pig farm. He's heavily involved in the community and is passionate about supporting Australian agriculture and in particu -lar the pork industry. We're going to chat about animal welfare, his community, consumer awareness and some of the opportunities in and around pork. I would absolutely love any questions you've got on this and we can follow them up with TK! Get in touch with us at hello@humansofagriculture.com Website: www.humansofagriculture.com Instagram: @Humansofagriculture.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humans-of-agriculture/message