Propagate

Today it’s time to put on a lifejacket and cast off with Paul Aquilina, a young fisherman living on the Hawkesbury River, 90 minutes from Sydney.

Paul has never been in any doubt that he wanted to be a fisherman and no amount of early morning starts, broken down boats, stolen eel traps, or empty nets could stop him from achieving his dream. To say he’s focused on what he wants is an understatement.

From his early days of volunteering on trawlers through to him leasing boats and licenses, Paul is now a ‘multi-fisher’ who owns several different fishing licences and boats, providing a range of products to the market. Despite his young age, it’s been a long journey that has required him to make plenty of sacrifices in his life. Paul also discusses how putting in extra effort can result in premium prices for his produce.

Propagate is proudly brought to you by the good folks at the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Young Farmer Business Program.

The Young Farmer Business Program is creating opportunities for young farmers and fishers to enter into or expand their existing businesses by helping them improve their business skills.

The Young Farmer Business Program has been funded by the NSW Government through the Department of Primary Industries to deliver a multifaceted approach to help young farmers and fishers. Our program is providing access to new business ideas, tools, products and services relevant to young farmers and fishers.

For more information on the Young Farmer Business Program please visit https://www.youngfarmer.nsw.gov.au/

In this episode of Propagate, we visit Brad Cavanagh from Hardhat Angus, situated in Harden, NSW. Originally from a non-farming family in Dubbo, Brad became interested in cattle as a high school student thanks to the Angus Youth program.

His interest continued to grow into a full blown passion for Angus cattle, even taking him to the USA to learn more about cattle farming techniques and the all important genetics from large corporations like the Sinclair Cattle Company.

These days he divides his hours between working full time at the extended family farm Oxton Park, and growing the Hardhat Angus business through challenging conditions.

It’s a role that has seen Brad grow as a ‘salesman’, but rather than focus on the wheeling and dealing, he’s more interested in being honest and upfront with customers and solving the little problems before they become big problems.

He’s come a long way from the kid from town who showed some cattle at high school, but that’s what happens when you’re obsessed.

Propagate is proudly brought to you by the good folks at the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Young Farmer Business Program.

The Young Farmer Business Program is creating opportunities for young farmers and fishers to enter into or expand their existing businesses by helping them improve their business skills.

The Young Farmer Business Program has been funded by the NSW Government through the Department of Primary Industries to deliver a multifaceted approach to help young farmers and fishers. Our program is providing access to new business ideas, tools, products and services relevant to young farmers and fishers.

For more information on the Young Farmer Business Program please visit https://www.youngfarmer.nsw.gov.au/

For more information on the Angus Youth program please visit https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/angusyouth/

This episode we set the alarm clock for an early start with Heath Cook, a dairy farmer from Dorrigo in the Northern Tablelands of NSW.

It’s a long way from the mines where he spent the first two decades of his working life. But when the fly-in-fly-out mining lifestyle began to keep him away from home for long stretches, it was time to ignore the advice of a financial planner and invest their life savings in a dairy farm.

Despite having no experience working on or running a dairy farm.

Fortunately for the Cook family, Heath didn’t believe that failure was an option.

So after years of hard work and learning from the helpful locals, Heath is now no longer a miner who became a dairy farmer; he’s a dairy farmer who once worked in the mining industry.

Propagate is proudly brought to you by the good folks at the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Young Farmer Business Program.

The Young Farmer Business Program is creating opportunities for young farmers and fishers to enter into or expand their existing businesses by helping them improve their business skills.

The Young Farmer Business Program has been funded by the NSW Government through the Department of Primary Industries to deliver a multifaceted approach to help young farmers and fishers. Our program is providing access to new business ideas, tools, products and services relevant to young farmers and fishers.

For more information on the Young Farmer Business Program please visit https://www.youngfarmer.nsw.gov.au/

In this episode, Bodie and Rachel Hill discuss the ups and downs of living and working in one of the most remote parts of the state. Their property, Waka Station is near Cameron Corner at the border between New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. More than three hours hours away from the nearest town, the pair consider their patch of land an oasis.

But making a living from the land isn’t always easy, and the pair speak candidly about their struggles with mental health and the challenges that experiencing depression can have on not just the family relationship, but the farm and the business.

Rather than being overwhelmed by the black dog, Bodie and Rachel embraced the opportunity to re-evaluate their life and their business, and shift their focus to positive elements in their life. They say the shift in perspective towards their lifestyle ultimately had a beneficial impact on their business.

The pair also discuss their complicated relationship with social media - how their approach to platforms such as Facebook has evolved over the years to become more about presenting life on the land honestly, rather than picture perfect selfies.

Propagate is proudly brought to you by the good folks at the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Young Farmer Business Program.

The Young Farmer Business Program is creating opportunities for young farmers and fishers to enter into or expand their existing businesses by helping them improve their business skills.

The Young Farmer Business Program has been funded by the NSW Government through the Department of Primary Industries to deliver a multifaceted approach to help young farmers and fishers. Our program is providing access to new business ideas, tools, products and services relevant to young farmers and fishers.

For more information on the Young Farmer Business Program please visit https://www.youngfarmer.nsw.gov.au/

If you or someone you know is suffering from anxiety or depression, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit http://beyondblue.org.au/

When you think of farming, it’s very unlikely that you think about farming flies. In fact, if you have any experience on a farm, you probably know how destructive flies can be to livestock.

Yet in a small industrial building in the Canberra suburb of Fyshwick, Olympia Yarger is farming flies. And a lot of people are very excited by her unique work.

It turns out that there’s more to flies than the average person realises, and Olympia is at the forefront of using the little buzzers to change the waste management industry. So much so that her company Goterra has even received funding from the notoriously agriculture shy Venture Capitalist sector.

Olympia candidly discusses how despite all her success as a CEO of a cutting edge company, she still sometimes struggles with the idea that she’s ‘...just a maggot lady’ who is more interested in growing the business than enjoying the perks of investment capital.

Propagate is proudly brought to you by the good folks at the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Young Farmer Business Program.

The Young Farmer Business Program is creating opportunities for young farmers and fishers to enter into or expand their existing businesses by helping them improve their business skills.

The Young Farmer Business Program has been funded by the NSW Government through the Department of Primary Industries to deliver a multifaceted approach to help young farmers and fishers. Our program is providing access to new business ideas, tools, products and services relevant to young farmers and fishers.

For more information on the Young Farmer Business Program please visit https://www.youngfarmer.nsw.gov.au/

To view the failed Rabobank ‘pitch’ that Olympia mentions in the podcast, visit https://youtu.be/EGeH_jPrzHg