The Farmers Club Podcast

Claudia Bryant teaches financial literacy to Farmers. But it wasn't something she was trained for, it was a learnt trait. Claudia turned this need into a business and has delivered courses on the subject. Claudia is young and calculated, and she really gets this space. 

She also said this: "Farmers are willing to pay for her courses, knowing they need to improve their financial literacy, but it's actually getting them to stick at it that is where the problem lies. Farmers just return to their old habits". 

So with her business Farm Life Plan, she is about to pivot and use those learnings to rejig and come at this problem from a different angle. Farm financial literacy is a big issue in Agriculture. We write about it a lot in The Farmers Club newsletter. And we need people like Claudia to succeed in her chosen quest to educate the masses. 

I really enjoyed this chat with a young agriculturalist who is making a difference to people's lives. 

I hope you enjoy it too. End of message.

Our sponsors are The Farmers Club, which is a free and subscription-based email newsletter chock for Farming and Ag news, info and stories. It comes out 6 mornings a week at 5 am Eastern. Go to www.thefarmersclub.com.au and sign up for free.

Our co-sponsor is our sister business Farm Tender, which is an online buying and selling marketplace for Farmers and associated Ag businesses. Go to www.farmtender.com.au for more. 

Donald Carter has spent 15 years of his life pursuing justice. What was originally a major deception or maybe even corruption by the Megafert/Interfert companies, resulted in $139 million going missing, never to be recovered. They soon realised that pursuing Megafart was futile, so they turned their attention to the National Australia Bank.

The NAB potentially deceived the 22 Fertiliser retailers, who collectively lost 13 million in this scandal. Some businesses went bankrupt, and some people never recovered.

The NAB admitted guilt by paying 17.5 cents in the dollar to these 22 Fertiliser retailers but refused to pay the balance. The bank just kept on sweeping it under the carpet and still is.

Donald, at the ripe old age of 85, is still actively seeking to regain the losses he and his contemporaries suffered. This is one great example of David vs Goliath, with Goliath treating David with contempt. 

It's a very fascinating story that's never really ended. We've titled it the Megafert Scandal.

I hope you enjoy. End of message

Our sponsors are The Farmers Club, which is a free and subscription-based email newsletter chock for Farming and Ag news, info and stories. It comes out 6 mornings a week at 5 am Eastern. Go to www.thefarmersclub.com.au and sign up for free.

Our co-sponsor is our sister business Farm Tender, which is an online buying and selling marketplace for Farmers and associated Ag businesses. Go to www.farmtender.com.au for more. 

This podcast on Donald Carter is another untold story of an Ag entrepreneur who saw opportunities, took risks, did deals, had to find money when he didn't have any, and innovate his way through the ups and downs of his business life. 

Along the way, Donald was involved in a very innovative trucking co-op, which had a unique business model that worked well until it didn't. He was heavily involved in the Grain Storage side of things, but it was his connection with the Fertiliser industry that he is most famous for. 

We actually did two podcasts, the first one about his life in business, mainly through his Laharum Bulk Handling company. But the 2nd one is how he finished his business life, being involved in one of the biggest Agriculture scandals we have seen in this country. We'll call it the "Megafert scandal", which we will release soon after this one. 

Donald is now 85, and his memory is as sharp as a tack. I admire people who can departmentalise all the important happenings of their life and talk about them like it was yesterday. 

I hope you enjoy. End of message

Our sponsors are The Farmers Club, which is a free and subscription-based email newsletter chock for Farming and Ag news, info and stories. It comes out 6 mornings a week at 5 am Eastern. Go to www.thefarmersclub.com.au and sign up for free.

Our co-sponsor is our sister business Farm Tender, which is an online buying and selling marketplace for Farmers and associated Ag businesses. Go to www.farmtender.com.au for more. 

Our latest podcast is with Nigel Kerin. We did an interactive question-and-answer type webinar in early July 2025 with our Farmers Club subscribers, and Nigel mentioned one thing that sums up that webinar and this podcast. He said, "When the students are ready to learn, the teacher will appear".

So in this podcast, we are the students and Nigel is the teacher. So listen hard and listen often, as there are many gold bars dropping right through this 1-hour 50-minute publication.

I thought about slicing and dicing the content to make it shorter, and then I thought again, we are not slicers and dicers. This sort of stuff is best presented in its raw form. 

As I said before, listen hard and listen often, and jot down notes because you are in for an education of the highest order.

It's got a Livestock tone to it, but I'd highly recommend that anyone in Ag and business in general take a listen.

Be the student, and listen to the teacher.

I hope you enjoy. End of message

Our sponsors are The Farmers Club, which is a free and subscription-based email newsletter chock for Farming and Ag news, info and stories. It comes out 6 mornings a week at 5 am Eastern. Go to www.thefarmersclub.com.au and sign up for free.

Our co-sponsor is our sister business Farm Tender, which is an online buying and selling marketplace for Farmers and associated Ag businesses. Go to www.farmtender.com.au for more. 

Paul Ryan had a very interesting upbringing. You see, his dad, Austin, was one of the greatest Farm Machinery inventors and innovators we have seen in this country. 

So much so that Austin got an OAM for his services to the Broadacre Cropping industry.

The business was Ryan Farm Machinery, or RFM for short, which many of you will know. Paul explains what it was like growing up with an old man who thought outside the box. Someone whose mind was often elsewhere in inventor mode. Paul said he was often up at 3 am, and they would find him down in the workshop designing.

He did some brilliant, ahead-of-its-times stuff, which Paul relays in this interview.

Paul himself has continued the family tradition and is an inventor through his own business, Ryan NT (short for No-Till).

Ryan NT is a growing business that sells retrofitted Tynes, Discs, Guage and Press Wheels into the Australian Broadacre Cropping market. They are just starting to sell some decent volumes into other Cropping countries.

This is a fascinating story of a family who has achieved so much. I hope you enjoy. End of message. 

Our sponsors are The Farmers Club, which is a free and subscription-based email newsletter chock for Farming and Ag news, info and stories. It comes out 6 mornings a week at 5 am Eastern. Go to www.thefarmersclub.com.au and sign up for free.

Our co-sponsor is our sister business Farm Tender, which is an online buying and selling marketplace for Farmers and associated Ag businesses. Go to www.farmtender.com.au for more. 

I'm very excited about this podcast with Hay industry stalwart Jim Hoffmann. It's business wisdom on steroids. There are so many takeaways for those involved in Ag or business in general.

Jim, through the business he started, Green & Gold Contracting, was one of the pioneers and innovators of the domestic Hay industry as we know it today.

There have been so many changes in the Hay game over the years, and we go through and unpack some of those advancements one by one.

Jim designed the Green & Gold business model around Contract Baling for a Farmer, buying the Hay off that Farmer, freighting it, and selling it to a customer. This model has served him very well over the years. 

He heeded the words of an old mentor right at the start. The mentor said this: "The only way to make money out of Trucks is you need to own what's on the back of the Truck". The rest is history.

This one is a ripper. End of message.

Our sponsors are The Farmers Club, which is a free and subscription-based email newsletter chock for Farming and Ag news, info and stories. It comes out 6 mornings a week at 5 am Eastern. Go to www.thefarmersclub.com.au and sign up for free.

Our co-sponsor is our sister business Farm Tender, which is an online buying and selling marketplace for Farmers and associated Ag businesses. Go to www.farmtender.com.au for more. 

The Homestead on Mount William Station, Willaura (Vic), is like the many magnificent old-world Homesteads dotted around the Western District of Victoria. 

Many have become burdens to their owners because of the expense of upkeep; they are pretty much money pits. 

Will Abbott and his three siblings had a unique succession outcome, which saw Will end up with the Homestead. So, what do you do when you own a prominent slice of Pastoral history? You turn it into a Hotel. And what a magnificent Hotel it is. 

A banker by trade, Will outlined how his left field venture came to fruition and what his future plans are. It’s a great listen, and if you are looking for a getaway treat, I can thoroughly recommend Mt William Station. 

Enjoy. End of message.

Our sponsors are The Farmers Club, which is a free and subscription-based email newsletter chock for Farming and Ag news, info and stories. It comes out 6 mornings a week at 5 am Eastern. Go to www.thefarmersclub.com.au and sign up for free.

Our co-sponsor is our sister business Farm Tender, which is an online buying and selling marketplace for Farmers and associated Ag businesses. Go to www.farmtender.com.au for more. 

Andrew Sloan was an Auctioneer with Dalgety originally, which became Landmark and then Nutrien before he retired a few years back.

Andrew talks about his rise through the ranks and the many techniques he used to use. From breathing methods to his detailed before-sale research to his ability and emphasis to know who all the buyers were, and with a dash of humour for entertainment purposes, Andrew excelled at his craft for many decades. He was fully respected throughout the Sheep and Cattle Stud Stock game.

He also wasn't afraid to veer outside the box and do Auctions outside of Sheep and Cattle; this included Alpacas when that industry was in its halcyon days.

And we also talk about the restaurant venture......

It's a great story of someone who excelled at his career of choice and was able to work out what the client/customer wanted and needed.

We hope you enjoy. End of message.

Our sponsors are The Farmers Club, which is a free and subscription-based email newsletter chock for Farming and Ag news, info and stories. It comes out 6 mornings a week at 5 am Eastern. Go to www.thefarmersclub.com.au and sign up for free.

Our co-sponsor is our sister business Farm Tender, which is an online buying and selling marketplace for Farmers and associated Ag businesses. Go to www.farmtender.com.au for more. 

Warren Davies, The Unbreakable Farmer, does a lot of podcasts and talks to groups and individuals on the subject of mental health.

Warren spoke to our Farm Tender staff recently, as our team are collectively speaking to hundreds of Farmers every day. 

Sometimes, those conversations can be tricky; by that, I mean some people are doing it tough, and we provide an ear for them to talk to. This can affect our staff, so getting Warren in for a chat was a great initiative by our MD Megan Ruyg, whose voice you will hear in the podcast. 

This is not an interview-style podcast; in this one, you will hear Warrens's own powerful story. He also has some valuable tips for those who are helping people with mental health issues. There are also tips and tools for those who are doing it tough right now. 

Take a listen, and if you feel it might help someone, please pass it on. 

Look after yourself. End of message.

Our sponsors are The Farmers Club, which is a free and subscription-based email newsletter chock for Farming and Ag news, info and stories. It comes out 6 mornings a week at 5 am Eastern. Go to www.thefarmersclub.com.au and sign up for free.

Our co-sponsor is our sister business Farm Tender, which is an online buying and selling marketplace for Farmers and associated Ag businesses. Go to www.farmtender.com.au for more. 

Jim Riordan is a quintassential Ag entrepreneur. I'm so excited to bring you this edition, there are so many takeaways and lessons for anyone in Ag or in business.

Jim comes from a successful business background. He did a wide range of things before he bought a Truck and Trailer and started carting Grain. That's where Roirdans got going. 

The business, interestingly, has a similar model today as it did back then. Buy Grain from a seller, sell to a buyer and cart it from A to B.

So, from his first single load of 30 tonnes to now handling over 3 million tonnes of Grain, it's a story well worth unpicking.

I hope you enjoy. End of message.

Our sponsors are The Farmers Club, which is a free and subscription-based email newsletter chock for Farming and Ag news, info and stories. It comes out 6 mornings a week at 5 am Eastern. Go to www.thefarmersclub.com.au and sign up for free.

Our co-sponsor is our sister business Farm Tender, which is an online buying and selling marketplace for Farmers and associated Ag businesses. Go to www.farmtender.com.au for more.