# 195 - Breeding Better, Building Smarter The Science of Genetic Gain with Dr Mark Ferguson, neXtgen Agri

What if the best investment you could make on your farm costs nothing extra to feed, never needs a day off, and compounds in value every single year? That's the case Dr Mark Ferguson has been making for 30 years. And the numbers back him up. Mark is a sheep geneticist turned ag tech founder who grew up on a family farm in the Victorian Mallee. After completing his PhD in Merino genetics, he founded neXtgen Agri to help sheep and beef producers across Australia and New Zealand breed better and build more profitable enterprises. He also heads up Genesmith, an AI-powered sheep facial recognition platform and hosts the Head Shepherd podcast. In this episode, we reconnect to talk genetics, entrepreneurship and what it really takes to build a business that compounds in value over time. We explore: The research behind the modern Merino, how fat and muscle selection transformed lamb survival and what that means for your flock today How to make genuinely objective breeding decisions and break free from the emotional, vision-driven choices that quietly hold most operations back The kitchen table origins of neXtgen Agri, what a trip to Stanford University sparked, and the lessons Ferg learned building a 19-person trans-Tasman business Genesmith: the AI-powered facial recognition platform trying to solve one of the sheep industry's oldest problems, dam-lamb matching at commercial scale, and what it needs to get there How to attract and retain great people in ag, give them the freedom to grow and build a team that performs beyond any individual To connect with Dr Mark Ferguson, visit www.nextgenagri.com or email [email protected]. The Genetic Plan and other resources are available at thehub.nextgenagri.com. If you are interested in Genesmith, whether as a supporter, partner or someone who wants to help drive the project forward, get in touch via the details above. And if you haven't already, search Head Shepherd wherever you listen to podcasts. Ferg, thanks for your time, your openness and your complete dedication to helping farming families get more from their genetics. The industry is better for it. It was great to re-connect again.