AgWatchers

Shannon Beattie, founder of Bush and Beyond Media, joins Ag Watchers to talk all things agricultural communication, storytelling and media. The conversation covers the difference between communications and marketing, why authenticity matters more than ever, and how agricultural industries can turn complex research, policy and technical information into messages people actually want to hear. Shannon also shares her views on presentation skills, the changing media landscape, the role of podcasts and social media, and why chasing viral content is often less useful than reaching the right audience with the right message. It is a practical and wide-ranging discussion for anyone involved in agriculture, advocacy, extension, media or industry communication.

We cover off on the big news in grains, fert and livestock. 

We are back for another AgWatchersX. This week we will be covering off on the tentitive peace in the middle east. We give our views on future grain prices, fert for next year, Chinese beef tariffs, the weather in Australia and a whole lot more. 

On this episode of the AgWatchers Podcast, we’re joined by Julie Collins to unpack the forces shaping Australian agriculture. From Canberra to the Middle East, we explore how geopolitical tensions are influencing fuel, fertiliser and food production and why events unfolding thousands of kilometres away are being felt at the farm gate. As instability in the Middle East rattles global energy markets, Australian producers are once again grappling with rising diesel prices, volatile fertiliser costs and mounting uncertainty across supply chains. When shipping lanes tighten and oil prices surge, the ripple effects are immediate, pushing up the cost of planting, harvesting and transporting food and fibre. For farmers, it’s a stark reminder that geopolitics can have as much influence on profitability as rainfall and commodity prices. Julie Collins shares her insights on regional Australia, agricultural policy and the role government plays in supporting producers through an increasingly complex and unpredictable global landscape. Together, we examine the challenges facing rural communities, the policy decisions shaping the sector’s future and the resilience required to navigate an era defined by uncertainty.  

We have a chat with Melinda Hashimoto, CEO of Egg Farmers of Australia. In this podcast, we talk about a wide range of issues from biosecurity to Japanese raw eggs. 

We have a chat with Lola Rauch, who works for the German Ag Society, who is now working in Australia to bring an offshoot of the famous Agritechnica conference to Australia - the future ag expo in Melbourne in July.

Will we run out of fuel? will we need horses for harvest? What about our urea supply? Are people stockpiling? We have Rebecca Reardon, Vice President of the NSW Farmers organisation, and Samuel Miller, lead economist for NSW Farmers, on the podcast to have a chat about the response from NSW Farmers to the current crisis impacting our farming inputs. 

Food is one of our favourite topics. The two of us love to go out and eat a good meal, and meat is usually the centre point. We invited Professor Peter McGilchrist onto the podcast to talk about what makes meat so great to eat. We talk about the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that drive the taste of meat.  Warning: Do not listen to this podcast when you are hungry. 

This podcast was recorded live on stage at EvokeAg. In this podcast, we have Sarah Adams, GM of Global Strategy and New Ventures for Gallagher, and Dr Guy Coleman, a researcher and innovator currently working at the University of Copenhagen.  In this podcast, we discuss where innovations will come from, whether from small start-ups or big corporations.    *Please note the sound quality is not the best due to being recorded on stage and Matt having a microphone malfunction. 

In this podcast we talk about the new tariffs announced over the weekend and due to go into action as of tomorrow. 

This podcast was recorded live on stage at EvokeAg*, so if you didn't make it to the event, you don't miss out. This podcast was a discussion of geopolitics and how the industry should respond. We had Rachel Triggs, the chair of Women in Wine and Will Barton, CEO of Gundagai Lamb up on the stage for a chat.  *Due to being onstage, the sound quality is not the best. 

We have a chat with Leighton Wilksch of Agbyte. We discuss the possibilities and the value that farmers get from localised weather information through having IoT-enabled weather stations on the farm. We also learn about the signal that allows weather stations to continue working on 4G, whilst all our other services seem to fail.    We then talk about his Cows for Cambodia trip, which he is running in September, a charity event where you get to learn about farming in Cambodia, and also give something back to those who are more in need. If you want more info follow this link 

We chat with Alastair Rayner, an independent beef extension officer. In this podcast we discuss the using genetics to improve efficiency in a herd, but also a secondary benefit, reducing emissions.  A really interesting discussion, with strong linkages back into farm profitability. 

On this podcast, we have Emma Kealy MP, the deputy leader of the Victorian National Party, and shadow minister for agriculture and mental health.  We discuss the recent heatwave, fires, the CFA levy, renewables and a whole lot more. 

Our fortnightly market update. We talk about grains, cattle, sheep and the new change in who pays for export certifications from the government. 

On todays podcast, we have a chat with Jared Greenville of ABARES. In this discussion we discuss the 100bn target, the value of ag, the risks to ag and the new updates on the Australian crop.  We also discuss the March ABARES conference, which we recommend attending - either online or in person.  Find out about the conference by clicking below: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/event/abares-outlook

The AgWatchers podcast is an open platform for different views, and we have had politicians from most of the major parties. This week, we have Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, the Greens senator for Tasmania. Peter holds the Greens portfolio for agriculture.  In this podcast, we discuss competition in agriculture, ACCC changes, net zero, his favourite politicians, and a range of other topics.  Peter comes from a farming background and has qualifications in Economics and a career in banking and finance. 

Our fortnightly market update. We talk about grains, cattle, sheep and wool - and the new Trump deal. 

Our fortnightly market update, brought to you by Sproutag. We talk about the state of the grain markets, the potential for aid for US farmers, beef and sheep exports. 

In this podcast, we have Jack Gough, the CEO of the Invasive Species Council. We learnt a lot from this podcast about the various species invading Australia, how to control them, and the strength of the hunting lobby.   

Our fortnightly market update. We talk on this podcast about the livestock industry trending higher, the sheep ships no longer coming and the impact of the new biofuels announcement from Albo on the grain and livestock sectors. 

We had a chat with Tyson Cattle, who runs his own consultancy (Salmon Haven), but for years has been behind the scenes in the agripolitical space.  Tyson is undertaking a Nuffield project, which aims to review advocacy strategies in the agricultural industry. Tyson is independent, like EP3, and provides us with a good update on what is happening, where we are excelling, and where we are falling short as an industry. 

Our fortnightly market update, supported by SproutAg.   You can also visit our new grain trading simulator, which can be found here You can visit the SproutAg website by clicking here

We have a chat with Georgia Beattie, Australia's largest organic mushroom farmer. We talk about a range of topics from whether the government should have a Chief Farmer, growing mushrooms and the impact of the beef wellington trial on the mushroom sector. 

Our fortnightly market update, supported by SproutAg.   You can also visit our new grain trading simulator, which can be found here You can visit the SproutAg website by clicking here

As the final in our series talking with presenters/panellists from the Future Ag Expo, we have John Bennett on for a chat. A great discussion where we talk about how to fight drought, the protest in Victoria and a whole lot more.  Remember to register for the future ag expo by clicking here

In the lead-up to the future ag expo, we have a chat with Georgia Stormont. Georgia is a sales coach, and provides advice to companies on how to approach their relationships with farmers.  In this podcast we talk about personalities, we do a roll play, and a whole lot more.  Make sure to get organised for the future ag expo by clicking here

AgWatchers and Episode 3 have been at the forefront of AI for years, as you all know. It turns out that you can do more than make images from it. We talk to Future Ag Expo presenter Lachie Vogt, who is the founder of Algorithm, an AI developer for agriculture. As usual we talk about a range of topics, both serious and (mostly) not so serious. We also bring back our old intro music after requests from multiple listeners who missed it. Links below: https://futureagexpo.com.au https://www.aigorithm.com.au  

We have a chat with Joshua Gilbert. Joshua has recently penned a book called Australia's Agricultural Identity, and is presenting at the Future Ag Expo on the 6th to 8th of August.  This podcast covered a wide range of topics related to indigenous inclusion in Australian agriculture.   

We have a chat with Natalie Green, who is organising the future ag expo in Melbourne from the 6th to 8th of August. This event is a trade show and conference, where AgWatchers will be the MCs for the three days.  On this podcast, we have a frank and honest chat about what went wrong and right last year, and what the plans are for this year. Many conferences in Australia are pretty expensive, this has a lot of good speakers, and only costs a maximum of A$180, and there are some free tickets, if you dont want to hear all the speakers! Click below to get involved: https://futureagexpo.com.au

We had a chat with Mick Crowley, the CEO of Meat and Livestock Australia. We chat about dropping the 2030 carbon neutrality plan, the five year plan, using tik tok and a whole range of other topics. 

Episode 300! On this podcast, like episodes 100 and 200, we have a professional turn the tables and take over our podcast.  We have Warwick Long, presenter of the Victorian Country Hour, on to chat with us. We also have a big announcement at the end of the podcast. 

Our fortnightly market update, supported by SproutAg.  In this podcast we chat about livestock pricing, and the impact of the Iran/Israel conflict on grain and fert markets.  You can also visit our new grain trading simulator, which can be found here You can visit the SproutAg website by clicking here

Our fortnightly market update, supported by SproutAg.  In this podcast, we update on the my families visit from Scotland (and my aunts trashy magazines), wheat doldrums, Iran and Israel conflict, record beef exports and record low live sheep exports.  You can also visit our new grain trading simulator, which can be found here You can visit the SproutAg website by clicking here

On this podcast, we have a chat with Brad Perry, the CEO of Grain Producers South Australia. We chat with Brad just after he has toured South Australia with the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Julie Collins. We discuss this visit, along with topics such as the drought, available support, the reclassification of farming land, and a range of other issues. 

Our fortnightly market update, supported by SproutAg.  In this podcast, we update on the tariff roundabout, record-high lamb prices, and the lack of a drought premium.   We also talk about our new grain trading simulator, which can be found here You can visit the SproutAg website by clicking here

In this podcast, we have Brad Hogg, a former professional cricketer originally hailing from Narrogin in WA and Rachael Oxborrrow an executive officer from Grain Producers Austalia.  Brad has been on the podcast in the past, chatting about his advocacy and discussing mental health in rural areas. On this podcast, he is here with Rachael to launch their new podcast series, the 'Mates Mental Health Toolbox'. This series will delve into the really important conversations that we need to be having with our mates and neighbours.  We talk about a wide range of topics, around mental health in the bush. Visit the GPA website to get access to the podcast: https://www.grainproducers.com.au  

On today's podcast, we chat with Dale Grey. Dale works with Agriculture Victoria and is our go-to when it comes to understanding weather and climate in an engaging and entertaining manner.  This podcast focuses on what is causing Victoria and South Australia to be so dry. We recommend you get onto his newsletters and YouTube channel, The Fast Break and The Very Fast Break (click here).   Remember to support this podcast by leaving a review, and sharing with your friends and family. 

In this podcast, we have Troy Constance, the CEO of Sprout Ag, a finance brokerage firm. Troy is a fountain of knowledge on how financing and refinancing. So we picked his brains on financing, succession planning, interest rates and the planned unrealised capital gains and how it could impact farms.  Andrew also talks about his experience of picking up hitchhikers on the weekend.

We have renamed our fortnightly market update to make it sound cooler than it is. It is now AgWatchersX (Extra). This fortnightly update will update you on what is happening in the ag markets, focusing on Australia.  This week, we will discuss urea, wheat, cattle, sheep, and the Chinese/USA negotiations.  AgWatchers thank our supporter SproutAg, for helping make this podcast happen. Visit their website at Sproutag.com.au

In this podcast, we have Natalie Collard from Farmers for Climate Action. In this podcast, we have a chat about the election results, their priorities for the government, electric hilux, batteries on farm, favourite movies, the upcoming FCA conference and a whole lot more. 

In this sobering episode, we invited back a previous guest, episode 106, John Blackburn AO. John, a former air vice-marshal and Deputy Chief of the RAAF.  These are turbulent times, and we have a chat about our defence, fuel supply chain and national food security. 

In conjunction with AuctionsPlus, AgWatchers provides a fortnightly update on the drivers of the main agricultural markets in Australia. This podcast is a quick way to find out about the big market moves in agriculture, from an independent point of view. AgWatchers are the only independent agricultural market analysts covering the Australian market.  To make this podcast possible, our friends at AuctionsPlus are powering this segment of the Agwatchers podcast.  Remember to support the sponsor of this segment by subscribing by clicking here: AuctionsPlus

We have a chat with Kate Burke, who has been running her consultancy Think Agri for ten years. In this podcast, we talk about a range of topics including the current drought conditions in parts of the country. 

We invited Andrew Weidemann AM and Colin Bettles of Grain Producers Australia onto the podcast to talk about what their election priorities. They tell us what they would like to see the government do to assist Australian grain farmers.  In addition we also talked about autonomous machinery and what GPA were doing in this space.  GPA are running a webinar next week on how to navigate a minority government. You can register by clicking here

In conjunction with AuctionsPlus, AgWatchers provides a fortnightly update on the drivers of the main agricultural markets in Australia. This podcast is a quick way to find out about the big market moves in agriculture, from an independent point of view. AgWatchers are the only independent agricultural market analysts covering the Australian market.  To make this podcast possible, our friends at AuctionsPlus are powering this segment of the Agwatchers podcast.  Remember to support the sponsor of this segment by subscribing by clicking here: AuctionsPlus

On this podcast we have the agricultural minister Julie Collins onto the podcast to discuss a wide range of topics. Will ALP vote for live export reversal if the coalition wins, food security in Australia, how does Julie rate Littleproud, US beef into Australia and a whole lot more? We are apolitical as a podcast, and a few weeks ago, we had the shadow ag minister David Littleproud on the AgWatchers podcast. You can listen to that podcast here The podcast is shorter than normal at 25minutes, and the sound quality isn't perfect, but it was our first in person recording. This podcast was recorded at the AMIC conference on the Gold Coast.

In conjunction with AuctionsPlus, AgWatchers provides a fortnightly update on the drivers of the main agricultural markets in Australia. For this podcast we had Paul Holm, General Manager of Networks from AuctionsPlus on the podcast.  We talk about a huge range of market issues from the recent rains to the Trump tariffs.  This podcast is a quick way to find out about the big market moves in agriculture, from an independent point of view. AgWatchers are the only independent agricultural market analysts covering the Australian market.  To make this podcast possible, our friends at AuctionsPlus are powering this segment of the Agwatchers podcast.  Remember to support the sponsor of this segment by subscribing by clicking here: AuctionsPlus

It's important to remember not to have all your eggs in one basket unless you are an egg farmer; if you have eggs, hold onto them because they are worth a fortune.  We invited friends of the podcast David Smyth and Tim Banfield of Euroz Hartleys onto the podcast to talk about something important: investing your money, thinking about retirement, and succession planning.  You can visit their website at eurozhartleys.com  ______________________________________ They are financial advisors, so we add the following disclaimer.  Euroz Hartleys Limited (‘Euroz Hartleys’) is the holder of an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) 230052 and guest David Smyth is a representative of this AFSL. Euroz Hartleys (and David Smyth’s) participation in the AgWatchers Podcast is general information only. Nothing shall be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell a security, or to engage in or refrain from engaging in any transaction. The general advice warning applies in any case that all investors, before making any investment decisions, they should consult their qualified, licensed investment or financial adviser in order to ascertain whether the investment decision (if any) is appropriate, having regard to their investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs. Euroz Hartleys believes that the information discussed is correct at the time of compilation, however we make no representation or warranty that it is accurate, complete, reliable or up to date, nor do we accept any obligation to correct or update the opinions in it. The opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. No member of Euroz Hartleys accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect, consequential or other loss arising from any use of this material. We cannot guarantee that the integrity of this communication has been maintained, is free from errors, virus interception or interference.

In conjunction with AuctionsPlus, AgWatchers provides a fortnightly update on the drivers of the main agricultural markets in Australia. In this podcast we cover, mutton pricing, Chinese cattle issues, very tight corn and wheat stocks and the ratio of grain and grassfed cattle.  This podcast is a quick way to find out about the big market moves in agriculture, from an independent point of view. AgWatchers are the only independent agricultural market analysts covering the Australian market.  To make this podcast possible, our friends at AuctionsPlus are powering this segment of the Agwatchers podcast.  Remember to support the sponsor of this segment by subscribing by clicking here: AuctionsPlus