Edition 5: Your Rural Success Magazine

A Legacy of Success

van Eyk Family Farming demonstrate how to work for generational success

The Valley of Champions

Widden Stud producing champion bloodstock for 156 years in the Upper Hunter Valley

The Sky's The

Limit

With the all new T40 Agras drone

Fibre to Fashion

Dedicated

Fashion designer Emma Bond explores the Liverpool Plains cotton industry.

6 KICK-STARTING THE CONVERSATION On succession planning with Ben Law

22 THE VALLEY OF CHAMPIONS

Producing champion bloodstock for seven generations at Widden Stud

29 A LEGACY OF SUCCESS

van Eyk family farming operate for generational success

38 FIBRE TO FASHION

Fashion designer Emma Bond explores the Liverpool Plains cotton industry

From Pursehouse Rural

3 MALCOLM PURSEHOUSE: A BUSINESS IS ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS PEOPLE

5 IAN SCUTT: CHAT GPT: WHAT DOES IT MEAN ON-FARM

8 STAKKA BIN: SMARTER THAN YOUR AVERAGE BIN

11 ANIMAL PERFORMANCE UPDATES

That will make managing your livestock easier than ever

13 ALL NEW OPTI-PHIL SAVING PUMP LIFE AND ENERGY ON FARM

Animal Health

19 COMBINATION DRENCHES

The new standard in cattle

21 CATTLE CARE AND HEALTH

With Dr. Matthew Petersen and Zoetis

Editor: Andrew Maughan

Artwork/Design: Jessica Rea

Photography: Jessica Rea & Sally Alden

Cover Photo: Sally Alden

Articles: Jessica Rea & Andrew Maughan

Publisher: Pursehouse Rural

Cnr Lennox and Loder Streets

Quirindi. NSW. 2343

P: 02 6741 2500

E: marketing@pursehouserural.com.au

W: pursehouserural.com.au

All rights reserved. No part of this publication [Your Rural Success Magazine] may be reproduced in whole or part without prior written permission of Pursehouse Rural. All material appearing in the publication is subject to copyright unless otherwise stated. Pursehouse Rural have taken reasonable steps to secure the copyright of each article and photograph reproduced in this publication and every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of information in this publication. Pursehouse Rural accept no responsibility for any errors, omissions or resultant consequences including any loss or damage arising from reliance on information in the publication. Pursehouse Rural Pty Ltd takes no responsibility for advertising content. Products featured within this publication are subject to availability at Pursehouse Rural branches.

Image - Romney Vale Sunflowers

Credit - Sally Alden

MALCOLM PURSEHOUSE: A Business Is Only As Good As Its People

At Pursehouse Rural our vision is to be a successful Independent Rural Business focused on our customers, our people, our profitability and our sustainability. We aim to strengthen partnerships with existing customers, grow with new customers and plan with all customers for their success in their rural initiatives. The company wants to retain, develop, and recognise our employees, having people with the right skills in the right roles. We want to meet all financial targets, promote best practice across all sectors of our business, and we want to minimise waste and prioritise initiatives that support environmental sustainability.

Managing Director, Malcolm Pursehouse says,

"To be successful, Pursehouse Rural aims to align itself to key business strategies and strive for the highest level of communication across the companies it controls."

The company is excited about the future of agriculture in Australia, including rural input distribution. Pursehouse Rural continually seeks and promotes new products, services and technologies that will increase customer profitability.

Malcolm Pursehouse says, "We know we must be nimble and flexible around decision processes." The company is privately owned and strives to be a fastdeveloping entity on the move to create success across its 27 locations. "We have a strong Board of Directors, and a very experienced senior management team with great branch employees."

Pursehouse Rural knows its future is its employees. There is a strong employee development initiative at Pursehouse Rural.

"Every day there seems to be employees attending courses, sometimes short training periods and in many situations weekly or longer training, in areas that allow those employees wanting to advance the opportunity to do so. The Pursehouse Rural Group have a great group of employees. Our focus on employee development, retention, recruitment, safety, and wellbeing is proving to be very important and successful."

CHAT GPT: WHAT DOES IT MEAN ONFARM?

Ian Scutt: AgLink Australia

Chat GPT, an artificial intelligence-powered language model, was released to the public on November 30th, 2022, and has since dominated news and media globally. Developed by OpenAI, the model is designed to be a conversational bot capable of interacting with and responding to users. With over 100 million users worldwide, Chat GPT is the most powerful chatbot released to date, offering potential uses in various areas such as marketing, sales, and customer service.

In the agricultural industry, Chat GPT provides a potential opportunity for growers facing challenges such as supplying a growing population, climate change, and a lack of labour. Chat GPT can provide important product information for farmers on seeds, fertilizers, and agricultural chemicals, including product comparisons, benefits, uses, risks, and hazards. However, it is important to note that this information is still generic and should be used in conjunction with a local agronomist to improve context.

One of Chat GPT's claims is that it can provide real-time information on weather and climate conditions, providing farmers with key information to make decisions about sowing times, harvesting, and irrigation. Additionally, Chat GPT claims to provide insights on market trends and prices for agricultural commodities, assisting farmers

Ian Scut CEO AgLink Australia

with what crops to grow and when to sell them. However, the current version of Chat GPT is only up to date as of September 2021 and cannot provide seasonal weather or commodity trends for the local area. As a result, the insights provided by Chat GPT may not be actionable due to the seasonal variability and other parameters that are not accounted for.

Despite these limitations, Chat GPT is still improving and developing, and its potential uses are yet to be fully discovered. As the technology of AI and machine learning continue to progress, Chat GPT's value will only increase for farmers, agronomists, and the industry as a whole. The most likely use of Chat GPT in agriculture is as an on-farm information assistant for farmers at the touch of their fingers. The emergence of Chat GPT demonstrates the development of AI and ML and how it could play a part in daily life, generating a lot of noise around the world.

In conclusion, the agricultural industry can benefit from Chat GPT's potential to provide important information on products, climate trends, and market history for agricultural commodities. However, the current version of Chat GPT has limited uses in agriculture. Nevertheless, as the technology continues to progress, farmers and the industry as a whole can expect Chat GPT to provide more relevant and useful insights in the future.

THE CONVERSATION ON SUCCESSION PLANNING

With the Financial Bloke Podcast

Is retirement a dirty word? Oftentimes we find that farms are family businesses and as we live longer and work into our older (and wiser) years, retirement can seem like an elusive thing. But does it have to be this way? Succession planning can be much the same. A difficult conversation to be had with different expectations from each member of the family, can make succession planning a particularly difficult journey to embark upon.

As farmers, we learn how to plant the best crop, what nutrients the soil needs, how to rear good cattle, but what we don’t always invest in is business training. The missing link in farming is around financial literacy, in the sense of wealth and the growth, maintenance and transfer of wealth through successful succession.

That is how the Financial Bloke came to be as a persona for Ben Law. The product of a farming family heralding from Quirindi, on the Liverpool Plains of New South Wales, Ben has kept one foot in the agricultural industry and the other in the world of finance. With a career spanning over 22 years, Ben has worked for hedge funds based in London and in financial advice with his own practice here in Australia, but a health scare at age 42 kick started a journey that would fulfil a lifelong ambition to help more people in the

agricultural sector, specifically farming families.

The three generations curse has been discussed in financial circles for some time. It revolves around the theory that it takes two generations to build wealth and one to lose it. It has been documented that, in cases where failed succession occurs, within two generations, 60% of wealth is lost and within three generations, 90% of wealth is lost. Taking this phenomenon into consideration, Ben came up with the generational prosperity model which centres around helping farmers to grow their wealth, protect their wealth and then successfully transition their wealth to the next generation. Ben considered that many farmers didn’t have access to the training or support to grow and then transition their wealth successfully. Some may need assistance in protecting their wealth and the family relationships that come with it.

Ben states that in the agricultural industry, in the next twenty to thirty years we will see significant wealth tied up in farming assets such as machinery, livestock and land. There is a process to be followed to ensure those assets are successfully transferred to the next generation and the impact that will have on the family is a positive one. This journey begins early on, when children who may look to inherit those assets are young, setting out what is expected of them, almost like an apprenticeship.

More often than not, we may assume that a failed succession is due to bad professional advice. However, statistics show that this occurs in just 3% of cases. 60% of the time, failed succession is due to a breakdown in communication and trust within the family and 15% due to a failure to adequately prepare the family heirs. So surely this is where we should start? With good communication around succession planning.

"I didn’t want it to be just about the money, it’s not about money. It’s about wealth and wisdom and understanding."

What most of us who think of as an event, Ben looks at succession as a journey. A journey that starts at a young age on the farm. Ben calls from age 0 to 30 the apprenticeship stage. Whilst learning how to rear the best cattle, when to plant and what, we also need to learn about the family business and business affairs. What is the family and business vision? What are our family values and how do we stick to them as a business? How do we help make retirement as easy as possible, once the time comes? The journey is for the entire family, not just the generation taking over the farm. Ben Law set up his podcast to dive into these discussions and think them through in depth and detail. As a completely impartial party, Ben considers all factors in the succession journey and how to overcome the common themes hindering a successful succession plan.

It all comes down to communication and the right process. That’s the key to maintaining family relationships throughout the journey. Oftentimes we all want a good outcome but just can’t seem to find the common ground to make that happen. A conversation around values and eventually succession from day one can help. The solution is sometimes not how but who. Who can help with the succession planning process? Who can assist in these conversations? Succession is a new skill that every family member needs to learn and that is not going to happen overnight. If you can find the right way to communicate there is a path to successful succession planning to be found and travelled.

The next generation of farmers must be sophisticated and business minded with the rising cost of operations and increasing red tape. They have to ensure each acre is productive and business operations are tight. This can mean they spend more time in the office than ever before. They need a smart team behind them keeping operations on farm profitable. This can be a positive for the next generation of farmers, they’re thinking business, which includes succession planning, wealth growth, management, and transferral.

Farmers as a group are tech savvy business operators and Ben identified that the podcasting medium could solve one or two of the missing links around education in the agricultural industry. Unlike traditional forms of media, podcasts can be consumed on the go, in the car, in the truck or on the tractor. They fit into a busy life on farm. And the podcast can be educational, opening up potentially difficult topics of conversation either directly to the listener or through discussions with guest speakers. Recently Ben sat down with the CEO of Auctions Plus, Angus Street, a young CEO who has harnessed the power of technology

which many farmers now use in their day to day operations to purchase cattle or machinery without having to get up from the kitchen table. The episode centres around the use of Agtech and the pace of change we are seeing in this space. Put succinctly, the pace of change in agriculture has never been this fast before, and it will never be this slow again.

Podcast episodes are diverse in their content. Ben sat down with Sarah Becker a mum to an energetic young boy, a grazier from a farming family and a chartered accountant operating a practice in Central Queensland. Sarah discusses her experience with operating within a family business and the ups and downs of transitioning family wealth. It’s certainly not an easy process. There will be hard conversations and compromises to be made, but success stories like Sarah’s show it can be done.

An unexpectedly popular episode of the Financial Bloke Podcast came from an off the cuff episode recorded by Ben on the succession life cycle and why things happen when they do. This clearly hit a chord with many of his listeners. Does this strike a chord with you?

You can find the Financial Bloke Podcast on your regular streaming service, online at www. thefinancialbloke.com.au, on Spotify or apple podcasts. Check out the Financial Bloke website for Ben’s upcoming seminar and coaching dates as well as all his published articles. Download the podcast to your phone and listen on the go. If you find something you like, be sure to share it, we bet your farming friends will like it too!

Article by Jessica Rea

Need to store, carry, deliver or dish out feed or fertiliser ?

Enmach has a product that will revolutionise the way you operate in your daily tasks. Our Stakka Bin is a class leading product that is the largest size on the market, a full galvanised steel frame, extendable legs and a stainless-steel no-buckle outlet that will make feed and fertiliser storage and delivery a breeze.

Cubing out at a massive 1.75m3 with a swl capacity of 1.3 tonne the Stakka Bin will take anything you can throw into it, with a fully removable lid as standard and a bag splitter option, dispensing non-returnable bulk bags can now be a safe and simple operation. The poly of the stakka bin is moulded with translucent resin allowing the user to see the level of the product stored to be easily seen from outside the unit.

Enmach has used polyethylene in a smart range of poly silos designed to meet storage needs ranging from one tonne to 46t. Reinventing products usually made of materials such as steel, aluminium and fiberglass extends the life of those everyday items. Enmach’s poly products are lighter, have one of the world’s best UV protection ratings, resist rust and have compounded colour that won’t fade or scratch off.

Ultimately, Enmach has created the poly advantage – unbeatable durability. Enmach’s innovative poly silos’ have revolutionised feed, grain and fertiliser storage. The range of poly silos 4.2m3 Multi Feeder which is a 3.5 tonne silo coupled with a 1800mm diameter round trough and an all-weather shield, perfect for supplement feeding on the land, the poly silos then range from the 1800-millimetre diameter round silos which hold from 3t to 10.5t, the 2700mm diameter round silos which hold from 5t to 25t, and the 3400mm diameter silos which holds from 28t and 46t, all in unbeatable Poly, made to last. Invest in smarter, secure storage today.

Stakka Bin, smarter than your average bin.

SCAN FOR VIDEO

ANIMAL PERFORMANCE UPDATES THAT WILL MAKE MANAGING YOUR LIVESTOCK DATA EASIER THAN EVER

more powerful than ever, providing enhanced tools for producers to manage traceability and animal performance, alongside NLIS compliance obligations.

The continuing evolution of tools within the suite of products and software is indicative of the new name for this category: ‘Animal Performance and Traceability’ replacing the former ‘Weighing and EID’.

The new name ‘Animal Performance and Traceability’ better reflects both what the hardware and software suite can do and the development of future features. This category is aimed at helping producers make easier and better-informed decisions in their livestock operations.

Access to animal performance data is becoming increasingly important as producers face everincreasing demands on their time. Accurate and usable data also allow for better management decisions.

Gallagher have recently released significant updates for their TW/TWR range of weigh scales and Animal Performance cloud-based software that improve the already great offering.

Mike Hemsley, Business Development Manager at Gallagher, said, “the range of updates to our software will provide a variety of new measures, allowing users to more easily manage their animal performance and traceability”.

Mr Hemsley is particularly excited about the benefits of new that bring a new level of flexibility to recording animal data.

Some of the new features in this range include the ability to;

• Edit locked weights

• Record treatments, including batch number and expiry

• Draft by rules and apply that across the session

• Add and edit sessions

• Perform NLIS actions within groups

• View animal histories

The combination of these features makes the range

“Gallagher is committed to supporting our customers with smarter, simpler solutions that make farm life easier and more profitable. We’re working with our reseller partners to solve problems in smarter ways, integrating data, and making an impact for end users.” Mr Hemsley Said.

To view the range of Animal Performance and Traceability options and help your producers make better informed decisions, visit Gallagher at the major field days happening across the country this year, or talk to your local Territory Manager.

Existing users looking for assistance with updating software can also call the Gallagher Customer Support Team on 1800 425 524. This is a dedicated team for providing product and technical support.

Mike Hemsley - Business Development Manager Weighing and EID

NEW

High performance, compact float valve, SAVING PUMP LIFE AND ENERGY

Smooth-Flo Design

Optimises water flow out of the valve, reducing turbulence, minimising float bounce, cutting water spray, and saving your pump.

Opti-Flo Technology

Patent protected Opti-Flo technology, optimises water flow through the valve to help prevent blockages & improve performance in dirty water.

Soft-Close

Patent protected soft closing design for reliable shut-off & preventing damaging water-hammer.

Scan to find out more about OptiPHIL

Full-Flow

Full flow design, providing flows up to 847 L/min and preventing pump short cycling, saving your pump and energy.

High-Vis Float

High-Vis orange float for fast easy identification of water level from a distance.

A LL NEW OPTI-PHIL SAVING PUMP LIFE AND ENERGY ON FARM

The new Philmac OptiPHIL float valve is a high performance, compact, float valve for large and medium troughs with high demand. This full flow float valve provides flow of up to 847 L/min at high pressure and flows of 287 L/min @ 100 kPa, making it very adaptable in a wide variety of applications.

The Research and Development team at Philmac have designed innovative new features into the OptiPHIL float valve that have dramatically improved the function of this style of valve.

Minimising float bounce being one of them, you don’t want your float bouncing in turbulent water in the trough creating false shut-offs that can cause damage to fittings and ruin pumps. The team at Philmac have developed the unique Smooth-Flo outlet design which optimises water flow, reduces turbulence, minimising float bounce. When combined with the patented softclose technology which prevents water hammer and provides a reliable shut-off every time saving wear and tear on your pump and pipe systems.

The valve is also designed with the patented Opti-Flo technology, which optimises water flow through the valve to help prevent blockages and improve performance in dirty water.

So

what’s in the box?

The Philmac OptiPHIL float valve comes pre-assembled with a standard 1” BSP tapered male thread. To cover other common inlet sizes and underwater installations, OptiPHIL is supplied with ¾” and 1-¼” thread adaptors and an underwater kit, which consists of a float cord and anti-tangle tubing. All this means installation is fast and easy. If you do need to adjust the water level in the trough it’s as simple as loosening a screw on the arm that holds the 4” high-vis float and then re-tightening.

For more information on the new OptiPHIL Float Valve go to: www.philmac.com.au/valves/float-valves or speak to your local Pursehouse Rural branch.

14

Wayback Working Dog is a complete, nutritionally balanced feed to keep the hardest worker on your farm fuelled all day long. Produced in a tasty, bite-sized kibble, Wayback Working Dog provides affordable quality in every mouthful.

FIBRE

% 10.5 ENERGY FOR SAFE PERFORMANCE

% 10 FOR GOOD DIGESTION MJ PER KG

Complete Ride is a nutritionally balanced feed for horses in any discipline. Specially formulated with cooked and steam-flaked barley, corn, lupins, oaten chaff and lucerne chaff to create a palatable, muesli-style feed in one handy scoop.

Wayback Feeds were developed with quality at the forefront of our formulations. Wayback Feeds aim to provide optimal nutrition to your livestock, at an affordable price, using only Australian sourced ingredients.

Avaiabl e a ty o u loca lPus e hous e Rua l

14 PROTEIN % 0.4% PHOSPHORUS 3.5 % CALCIUM

Scratch N Lay Chook Feed is an Aussie allrounder. A complete chicken food, specially formulated with a nutritious blend of whole and cracked grains, legumes, vegetable proteins and shell grit, to support adult laying hens.

COMBINATION DRENCHES ARE THE NEW STANDARD IN CATTLE

A recent scientific article in the Australian Cattle Veterinarians (ACV) journal highlights the need to check that your weaner drench is effective. Drench resistance is widespread in Australia. 6-11,13

THE ACV JOURNAL ARTICLE OUTLINES VALUABLE RECENT DATA FROM 2018 - 2021 ON:

• The extent of drench resistance in Australian cattle worms

• How different drenches are working against different worm types

• Productivity responses when more effective drenches are used on-farm

EFFECTIVE DRENCH PROGRAMS ARE ESSENTIAL TO DRIVE GOOD PRODUCTIVITY IN CATTLE. 1,2,3,4

The important worms in Australian cattle are Barber’s Pole Worm, Cooperia and Ostertagia.5 Drench resistance in these worms can lead to a decrease in productivity. 1,2,3,11,13

The ACV article collates 25 trial results to show that the overall mean efficacy of single active drenches in Australian cattle can be estimated at only 72%. Drenches need to be working at 95% or better.

THE IMPACT OF DRENCH RESISTANCE ON CATTLE PRODUCTIVITY

Over eight weeks, the failure to effectively remove worm burdens in growing cattle can mean a loss of 8-12 kg. 1,2 This is a problem because investment in genetics and feed may be undermined by failings in the animal health program.

Virbac senior livestock technical services manager Dr Matt Ball encourages farmers to ensure they choose the most effective cattle drench to fight parasites. “We now recognise that single active drenches can no longer effectively control all key worms or protect productivity.”

COMBINATION DRENCH, CYDECTIN PLATINUM, LED TO INCREASED WEIGHT GAIN

In 2020-21 James Cook University (Townsville, Northern Australia) and NSW DPI (North Coast, NSW) investigated cattle weight gain following treatment of weaners with different drench products. Cydectin Platinum led to increased weight gain (for example, 8 kg more than doramectin pouron over 2 months).

CYDECTIN PLATINUM

• Cydectin Platinum is the next generation pouron drench for cattle containing moxidectin and levamisole and delivers:

• Unrivalled worm control (99-100%), highly effective against single and dual-resistant worms 13

• Short 7 day withholding period

• Only combination drench with persistencyprevents pasture contamination for up to 35 days.

• No known impact on dung beetles

Other key findings include:

• Combination drench, Cydectin Platinum was 99-100% effective against key cattle worms

• All single active drenches were not effective against all worms types

• Productivity responses when more effective drenches are used on-farm.

It also is the first veterinary use of DMI-Sorb™ technology to keep the product concentrated in the areas where it was applied and reduce absorption variability. All in the convenience of an easy to use low volume pour-on.

The use of combination drenches should be the default position when chemicals are needed. Switch to Cydectin Platinum today.

NA means there were no larvae of that genus in the faecal culture for that treatment group.

CATTLE CARE AND HEALTH

Dr Matthew Petersen BVetBiol, BVSc, Livestock Veterinary Operations Manager – Zoetis Australia Pty Ltd.

Worms are growing increasingly resistant to parasiticides. Infected cattle have 7.4% less average daily weight gain 17 and can have 5.4% lower feed intake. 17

Dr Matthew Petersen, Livestock Operations Manager at Zoetis recommends that reseller staff ask their producers six questions before selling a cattle drench:

• Is the drench being used for weaners and young, growing cattle?

• Are they buying cattle in or bringing cattle back from agistment blocks?

• Are cattle being inducted into a backgrounding or feedlot facility?

• Have they been disappointed by previous results from drenching?

• Have they had parasite resistance diagnosed on their farm?

• Do they also need to control ticks and/or lice?

"If a producer answered 'Yes' to any of these questions, the producer should consider using a dual active drench to ensure a high efficacy worm kill and to either prevent parasite resistance developing on your farm or break existing resistance profiles", said Dr Petersen.

DECTOMAX V is ideal for all weaners and young, growing cattle which are most economically impacted by worms. Given its very high treatment efficacy, Dectomax V is ideal as a quarantine/induction drench to prevent resistance worms entering through introduced stock. It can also be used in replacement breeding stock, such as replacement heifers and where necessary can be used in adult cattle. It is an ideal product for use on entry to backgrounding and at induction prior to feedlot entry to ensure resistant worms don’t hinder weight gain.

DECTOMAX V is an evolution from Dectomax which has been trusted and used across Australia for over 20 years. DECTOMAX V combines the trusted performance of doramectin, from Dectomax, with the added strength of levamisole. DECTOMAX V is the first injectable ML/Levamisole combination product registered in Australia and provides a dual active killing power with unsurpassed efficacy against key parasites, including those often resistant to other single active drenches. 1-14

Providing high efficacy, this broad spectrum

administration results in highly reliable dosing. In addition to treating gastrointestinal worms, it also controls cattle tick & sucking lice.

• For the treatment and control of adult and L4 larval (immature) stages of gastrointestinal worms, including both macrocyclic lactone and levamisole resistant strains

• For the treatment and control of Cattle tick –prevents development of viable ticks for 30 days after treatment

• For the treatment and control of Sucking lice – 56 days

• Safe for use in calves from 3 months of age and at all stages of pregnancy

• MEAT WHP & ESI: 35 days

• Refer to product label for registered label claims.

WHEN DEALING WITH RESISTANT PARASITES, DELIVERING THE RIGHT DOSE IS VITAL.

An injectable drench is deposited below the skin and absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Injectable drenches therefore achieve higher peak blood and tissue levels compared to pour-ons. Injectable drenches slow the development of resistance 16 Doramectin when injected achieves higher tissue concentrations than ivermectin and moxidectin.

Dectomax V was also compared to leading drenches in Australia and the results were outstanding with an overall mean efficacy of 99.7% across 21 studies 18 . However, two leading single active ML drenches used for comparison both showed results less than 95%, indicating a growing level of resistance to this drench class.

THE VALLEY OF CHAMPIONS

Widden Stud, in the Upper Hunter Valley of NSW, a sublime valley where the horse has reigned supreme through seven generations of thoroughbred breeders.

Photographs supplied by Widden Stud

Article by Jessica Rea

As you traverse the winding roads through the Upper Hunter Valley, lined by gum trees and vast cliff faces, the remoteness of the surrounding countryside takes you back to a time before the major towns and cities we know today. Your mind wanders to the early pioneers of those valleys and the vastness of the country before them. A threeday ride on horseback to the nearest doctor. Crippling droughts and flooding rains. The Thompson family found their way to the Widden Valley in the 1850s, purchasing land to breed cattle, saddle horses and eventually breed some of the greatest racing bloodstock in Australian history. Seven generations of Thomsons have tended to Widden Stud, thought to be one of the oldest family-owned commercial horse studs in the world. They were honoured in the inaugural inductions into the racing hall of fame in 2001. But this is not a story of purely success, this is the story of endurance, tragedy and sheer determination that sees one farm through seven generations of guardianship.

John Thompson boarded the vessel, Lavinia, along with 130 other emigrants bound for the

colonies. As an assisted emigrant, he was paid a £20 bonus for the emigration of his family. John and his family arrived in Port Jackson on the 6th December 1832. John had dreams of being a wool king but with dingos being an issue in the area, his merino enterprise was short lived. His sons soon turned to breeding short-horn cattle and saddle horses as their sole source of income. It was William Barber Thompson who pioneered the Widden Valley, purchasing a 244ha parcel of land, bearing the varied typography to suit livestock production in the unpredictable seasons presented by the Upper Hunter Valley. The land was blessed with alluvial creek flats and rising hill country, protected by sandstone cliffs. 11 years later in 1867, a further 445ha parcel of land, know as ‘the big flat’, was added. It was here that William built the first homestead of slab timber. The Santa Gertrudis cattle that stand on the 10,000 acre property today hail from the same blood line that travelled with William to the Widden Valley, but it was not cattle that would bring fame to the family run farm. It would be the young racehorses it would produce and the stallions it would stand over the subsequent 156 years.

The Thompson family commenced their thoroughbred breeding operations at Widden in 1867, coincidentally the same year the Inglis family held their inaugural horse sale. In that same year, the Widden brand, JT over lazy 2, was registered. A brand that would be borne proudly on many champion fillies and colts as they flew across the racetrack.

In the early days, it cost considerable time and money to bring livestock by boat to Australia. This meant that the Thompson family had to be far-sighted in the horses they imported and bred. Nowhere on earth were horses in greater demand than in Australia at that time. The forerunner to what we now know as the Australian Studbook was established in 1878, 11 years after breeding commenced at Widden Stud. In that year, the Thompsons registered just three ‘blood’ mares in the Studbook. Before long, more and more horses bearing the Widden brand would fill the pages of the Australian Studbook.

Many of the greatest racing bloodlines today can be traced back to those foundation mares. But of course, there would be no great bloodlines without great sires. And there has been no shortage of famous stallions who made their mark at Widden Stud. As you enter the secure stallion complex, you are watched over by the 16 headstones of some of Widden’s greatest stallions, including Vain, Marscay, Lunchtime, General Nediyim, Salieri and Delta. In the boardroom of the sandstone office building hang portraits of those same stallions, overseeing the business which they propelled into greatness. The sandstone office building mirrors the original Widden Church lost to a bushfire in 1885.

Only the sandstone blocks survived and were used to build a stable housing the great stallions at Widden including Vain and Todman before him.

Of all the accolades bestowed on Widden Stud, it is Golden Slipper winners that the valley is most famed for producing. Stallion, Todman, was winner of the Inaugural Golden Slipper in 1957. From the start Widden bred horses have been unbeatable in the race and in over 60 years of the race’s history, the journey to success on the track has started at Widden more than anywhere else in the world.

But what makes the Widden Valley such a prolific producer of champions?

The valley is made up of alluvial creek flats, irrigated lucerne paddocks and rolling hill country thick with feed, all framed by impressive sandstone cliffs and watched over by the cats’ ears, twin hills at the southern end of the valley. A lush paradise with typography and ground to suit any season. During a good season, Widden will produce enough hay for three years’ supply, comfortably nursing them through a dry spell. In a wetter season stock are moved into the foothills, where limestone pokes through the red dirt, primed to give growing youngstock exceptional bone structure. Improved pasture has ensured bountiful feed for mares and foals, and ongoing fencing projects expand paddocks into the hill country to protect from flooding in the area. All of which is a constant battle against the unpredictable seasons experienced over the past six years.

Sandstone stallion barn built with bricks saved from the Widden church lost to a bushfire in 1885

Champion sire Todman, winner of the inaugural Golden Slipper in 1957.

The encompassing typography of the country at Widden is primed for rearing youngstock with soils so rich that they step forward from their pasture almost ready for the salering. In a time not so long ago, herds of yearlings were mustered like mobs of cattle and driven by stockmen across creeks and down dusty tracks to market. Later, they would lead them over 60km to Denman, a yearling on either side of a trusted hack pony. Resting at a satellite property, the yearlings would embark on the rest of their journey to Newmarket via rail, an entire two-months before a sale. Today, their eight week sale preparation is intricate and detailed. No mosquito bite is welcome on their skin, their coats are not to be sun-bleached, avoided by limiting their turnout to the early hours of the morning. Though their preparation is almost all encompassing, youngsters at Widden are sheltered in their valley paradise, secluded from the outside world. No noise above a passing squark from a cheeky cockatoo or a tractor rumbling down the lane. This tranquillity is far removed from the hustle and bustle of the sales complexes to which they are headed, the first test they will face before the only test that matters; the racetrack.

Almost 160 years of carefully selected genetics lead to 18 months of feeding to just 8 weeks of intensive preparation before around 140 Widden graduates leave the farm for yearling sales each year. An impressive combination of genetics for speed and stamina, blood, bone, and muscle join expertly advised diets to ensure that once a yearling leaves the property, they are the image of racing perfection. A tour of the farm in the lead up to the sales season will almost certainly contain a viewing of yearlings being hand walked, the only possible preparation for the hours of

parading they will come to at any given sale. But how to pick a winner? This is a mystery buyers have been trying to crack since that very first Inglis sale back in 1867, and a secret that owner Antony Thompson will not give up easily. They are born to run, bred to have the will to win, but which one will have the heart? The try to prevail in first place on the track.

The heart to try is something found not only in the livestock at Widden, but also part of the people who have been custodians of the land for seven generations. This succession of generations of Thompson family has not been without its own trials and tribulations. Tragedy seems to have struck the past two generations of Thompson family. James Webster ‘Bim’ Thompson, father to Antony and his four older sisters, was known to be an outstanding horseman in a family that had no shortage of equestrian talent. His hopes of attending the 1964 Olympics for show jumping were dashed when news broke that his Father, Frank Thompson, had been critically injured in a car accident and it was time for him to return to Widden. It is recounted that Bim demonstrated his passion for his four-legged athletes with enthusiasm and fun, demonstrated perfectly in a story fit for the movies. During one Muswellbrook race meet in 1971, a jockey mounted runner, Crispian, in the Widden colours; orange with a purple cap. This jockey was larger than most, 84kgs to be precise, and against all odds Crispian and his pilot went on to win the open-class sprint at Muswellbrook that day. Upon closer inspection, racegoers spotted that the jockey was non-other than Bim himself who had found a way to ride his own horse when the regular jockey did not show up on time.

Cats' Ears, twin hills at the southern end of the valley.

Yearlings mustered to market by Widden Stockmen. James ‘Bim’ Thompson with champion sire Vain.

Tragedy struck once again in 1980, when Bim was killed in an accident before Antony’s eighth birthday, leaving behind his wife Merilyn, four daughters and a young Antony. At the time, Antony was still schooling at the Widden schoolhouse and would do so for a further two years before the school was closed after serving the Thompson family, their staff and their children from more than 60 years. From there he would move to boarding at the Kings School in Parramatta as his father and grandfather had done before him. Widden Stud was held in trust from Bim’s death by a board consisting of his widow, Merilyn, Stud Accountant Andy Noble and long-time family friend and Scone Real Estate Agent, Bill Rose. A handful of past employees returned to the stud to lend a hand where they could. These included Englishman, Henry Plumptre, who returned as manager, assisted by Bob Tranter, Adrian Priest and George Asimus. A much leaner team than the one we find at Widden today. A 1981 article from the Sydney Morning Herald returns to Widden a year after Bim’s passing. In this article Henry Plumptre finds inspiration in a young Antony’s passion for the farm and his stallions even at such a young age. ‘Antony is a chip off the old block. Bim will never be dead while his son is alive. My biggest battle is to get him away from the property. He wants to be among the horses all the time.’ ‘He is a strong-willed and independent little fellow. My job is to keep the stud going until Antony is old enough to know what he wants to do.’

Upon completing his schooling aged 17, Antony took three years apprenticeship in the industry beginning as a Jackeroo at Glen Rock Station, a cattle station situated high in the Barrington Tops of the Hunter Valley. Here Antony rode and shod rough horses picked from mobs of 100 or more. After six months he moved on the Ra Ora stud in New Zealand, then to Sydney trainer John Morish, all the while honing the skills that would bring him back to Widden. He moved on to work for Patrick Hogan at the famous Cambridge stud

before working at a London bloodstock agent and Kentucky horse farm. In 1993, aged 21, Antony took stewardship of Widden, seeing clearly what needed to be done to keep the stud competitive with corporate international breeders taking over other studs across Australia. He borrowed to invest in stallions and broodmares and a list of improvements on the farm formed, to bring the stud back to life in his vision.

It is this passion, grit and determination that permeates through our conversation with Antony as he drives around the farm, pointing out a paddock that has not quite recovered from the recent wet weather or a yearling that catches his eye. It reaches down through the ranks of employees who call Widden their home today and drives them forward through every dawn feed run or late foaling watch.

Each member of the equine team draws on skills from across the industry. From the priming and turnout of the hack ring to veterinary skills learned over years of working with horses. Widden operate their own vet clinic to assist with the foaling and breeding seasons. With 150 mares owned or part owned by Widden, a further 300 mares from outside owners and additional short stay mares for the breeding season, there is no shortage or work for the veterinary team. Every aspect of the farm is catered to by a dedicated team of professionals who reside on site, and who live and breathe the racing industry. They know in minute detail the idiosyncrasies of each mare, foal, or stallion, knowing when something is out of place simply from a glance. The farming and maintenance crews work tirelessly to maintain paddocks and fencing, ensuring lucerne is planted, spraying is tackled, stock is moved, all in time for their equine residents. There is also an extensive office team in residence at Widden, taking on all manner of jobs for the stud including accounts, marketing, and sales.

Left to right Katie Thompson, Sam Thompson, Amy Thompson, Antony Thompson at The Everest Raceday 2022.

Zoustar x Solar Charged filly, top priced filly at the Magic Millions Sale 2023.

It is labour intensive work for everyone involved but the reward is unrivaled. 2023 got off to an exceptional start for the Widden team, producing the top priced filly for the Magic Millions sale as their Zoustar x Solar Charged filly lit up the salering reaching an impressive $2.6million. Not a length off her brother who soared to $3million in the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale a year prior, becoming the most expensive colt sold in Australia in 2022. Zoustar, Widden’s headline stallion in recent years, continues to produce champions alongside nine other stallions housed in the Stallion complex at the New South Wales property. A further ten stallions stand at the Widden property in Victoria, attracting some of Australia’s greatest mares to stud. With every passing race-day, the stocks of each stallion fluctuate based on the results of their progeny. Savvy breeders keep their fingers on the pulse of which stallions are proving their worth out on the track. And for Zoustar his stats never fail, a champion 1st, 2nd and 3rd season sire with over $56million in prize money from five seasons. Sire to 45 stakes performers including Group One winners Sunlight, Zoutori and Mizzy, and to 19 stakes performing two year-olds.

It fell to Yearling Manager Liam Attwood to lead the Zoustar x Solar Charged filly through the salering on the Gold Coast this January. There was a sense that she was special from the start. Liam and his team did an outstanding job in her preparation. Not one hair was out of place, hooves blackened and coat glossy. Liam himself

is testament to the passion and dedication of every employee within the Widden team. He joined the stud without previous equine experience but with a passion for the racing industry. Armed with a willingness to learn and a strong work ethic, within six years Liam has risen to Yearling Manager. Widden is founded on hard work and tenacity, passed down through the generations who have watched over the stud with the same values as the generation before. But this could not have been achieved without an equally passionate and dedicated team behind the scenes driving every aspect of the stud forward to achieve greatness.

Through 156 years of horse breeding the Thompson family have maintained a level of success unmatched by any other horse stud in the world. The past two years have been record breaking with multi million dollar yearling sales forever inked into the pages of history books. Undoubtedly the next generation of the Thompson family will continue the legacy and legend of the Widden story, carving their own successes and writing their own pages into the history of the Valley of Champions.

This article covers just part of the Widden Story. In it's entirety it is a story that could be the stuff of movies. If you would like to read more, Turf Historian Douglas Barrie published a comprehensive history of Widden titled, ‘Valley of Champions: The Story of the Widden Stud’, to mark the stud’s centenary in 1967.

Liam Attwood with Zoustar x Solar Charged filly at the 2023 Magic Millions Yearling Sale.

Photo Credit: Sharon Lee Chapman, Fast Track Photography

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A LEGACY OF SUCCESS: VAN EYK FAMILY FARMING

New England farmers, the van Eyk family, are preparing for success with investment into sustainability practices and succession planning to ensure their historic property, Yarrowyck Station, remains in the family for generations to come.

Article by Andrew Maughan Photography by Jessica Rea

Running a family farm as a successful commercial enterprise requires talents and skills that only come from experience gained over many years. This experience often stretches into decades that become linked by generational transitions as a family farm changes hands from one generation to the next. These successions can be complicated and difficult, they sometimes fail to deliver for all stakeholders, often because a robust succession plan was not in place.

Whilst one family may run a farm over many generations, farming practices are forced to change. The forces of change come from many directions, from an ever-changing landscape of regulations, to breakthroughs in science, technology and innovation, to changes in consumer demand, seasonal variations and the unpredictable cycles of the environment. As farms evolve, many old practices and old mindsets that may have been the bedrock of success for past generations are let go. Acknowledging the importance of the continual refreshing of ideas and practices in this ever-evolving landscape of farming can help ensure a farms success continues for generations to come.

For the van Eyk family, their farming experience stretches back at least four generations in the Southern Hemisphere to the aftermath of ww2, when the family of Hein van Eyk, carrying the physical and emotional scars of living in the Netherlands and working with the Dutch

resistance during German occupation of their homeland, immigrated to New Zealand in search of a new life in a land less scarred by the recent war in Europe.

The Netherlands had declared neutrality at the outbreak of WW2 and had been occupied by Germany early in the war. The Allies along with the Dutch resistance forces subsequently cut and held a path of allied controlled territory through the Netherlands until the end of the conflict. The post war disputes of reparations and resettlements went on for years, and in the uncertainty, many families of both Dutch and German origins chose to leave, often with only the belongings they could carry. Australia and New Zealand were favoured destinations.

Farming in New Zealand was good to Hein and his family, which grew to eight children (seven boys and one girl).

They worked in partnership together as dairy farmers in the Thames region of New Zealand where the van Eyk family still operate a number of farms to this day. Brothers Charles and John branched out to Australia in the early 1980’s, buying a cropping farm at Nyngan as well as Wirchilleba at Gilgunya. They had some difficulty running such a different enterprise and their brother Marius, his wife Faye and toddler Joe moved to Australia so Marius could help.

Marius, who was also known as Maurice, was the father of Joe, who today is the head of the family operations of van Eyk Family Farms.

Upon Marius’ arrival, brother John returned to New Zealand and Marius stayed at Wirchelleba – a 42,400 acre property that used to run about 15,000 Merinos and crop between 5000 and 7000 acres of wheat, depending on the season. Tragically his wife Faye died only months after being in Australia, leaving Marius to raise fouryear-old son Joe and run a large farm. Charles sold the property at Nyngan and went back to dairy farming, relocating to southern NSW at Berrigan.

It was a bit of an adjustment moving from a high rainfall, relatively small but intensive dairy farm to a large, dry, broad-acre farm where all the Merinos needed to be anthrax vaccinated and the 450mm annual average rainfall meant it wasn’t a particularly secure cropping area. Joe remembers spending nights asleep on the floor of the Massey Ferguson 1135 tractor as Marius would sow or harvest all day and night.

In April 1988 Marius married Alison Blanch and Marius and Joe moved to Shalimar at Wollun –a 1400 acre property. The sale of Wirchilleba, including the plant and stock, funded the expansion of Shalimar, as the couple purchased a number of neighbouring properties to increase that block to 5,000 acres.

Joe joined the partnership when he left school and started working on the farm in 1994, which was also the year Marius and Alison bought Tarrilli, 1500 acres near Blue Mountain, Uralla.

Merinos had been the backbone of both Wirchilleba and Shalimar and, despite the wool market crash in the nineties, the van Eyks stuck with the commercial Merinos until about 2005 when they decreased sheep numbers and started building their cattle herd.

Despite the dramatic reduction in commercial sheep numbers, they maintained the Shalimar Park Merino Stud and Joe and Alison worked closely together to improve the superfine stud –they were thrilled to win the supreme exhibit at the 2012 Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Yarrowyck

In 2001, Marius and Alison purchased Yarrowyck Station, a 7000 acre farm located in Uralla NSW.

The history of Yarrowyck is quite interesting. Yarrowyck Station had been held by the Dangar family from 1850 to the 1880s. Henry Dangar amassed over 300,000 acres by the 1850’s and held many prime properties in the region, including 48,000 acres at Gostwyck Station. By 1884 Yarrowyck changed hands to the Manuel brothers, who were originally selectors. The term ‘selector’ refers to farmers who arrived many years after squatters had opened up the country and were legally able to ‘select’ parcels of land previously controlled by squatters. It was this family who, in the early 1870s, established a boarding house at the northern end of the station around which the township of Yarrowyck grew. In the 1884 Act more than 10,000 acres of Yarrowyck was resumed and open to selection. A selector, Josias Moffatt, who, in the 1870s, had already taken land at Saumarez Ponds and Boorolong, then began to take up a series of selection blocks on Yarrowyck. By 1890 he held over 5,000 acres and by 1900 he had 14,000 acres of the original run with 420 cattle and 16,200 sheep stocked on it. Yarrowyck was held by the Moffatt family up to the 1970s.

In 2015 the farm was extended to 10,000 acres with the purchase of the neighbouring property Cherry Hill. Yarrowyck was a big step forward for Marius and the van Eyk family. This acquisition more than doubled the family’s holdings and allowed the expansion of their beef enterprise. The property was mainly used as breeding country with weaners and young stock taken to Walcha to be finished on grain or crops. The property was run by the partnership until 2019, some time after Marius’s death in 2017.

Splitting the family business after Marius died was a difficult time – made worse by the terrible drought conditions in 2018 and 2019. By the end of negotiations, Joe and Steph van Eyk became the owners of Yarrowyck and Tarrilli, with other family holdings allocated to other family beneficiaries.

Mt. Yarrowyck, Yarrowyck Station

Joe and Steph van Eyk

Joe was born at home on the dairy farm at Oronga Road, Turua, in New Zealand and then raised on a sheep and cropping farm, before moving to the grazing property near Walcha when he was 10.

Steph grew up on a hobby farm at Arding, between Armidale and Uralla, with only enough room for a few horses and a couple of poddies that ended up in the freezer. When she married Joe in 2000, she worked as a rural journalist with Fairfax Media while helping on the farm around her work commitments.

Talking to Joe and Steph for this article was an education in best practice for a modern farming family. They talked easily across a wide range of topics that these days a family farm is required to master to ensure success. Topics such as sustainability and their responsibility to both animal welfare and the environment, to infrastructure improvements required to maximise profit. These go hand in hand with their stewardship responsibilities on the land and to also increase on farm safety, to embracing innovation and technology and the importance

of understanding both consumer demand and managing key relationships on and off farm, including the critical skill of relationship management with key customers, suppliers and staff. Of course, a steady eye on the budget, profitability and forecasting are paramount, a role which Steph has taken on as a core responsibility for the management of the farms’ operations.

In 2007 Joe and Steph purchased their first farm together, ‘Parmly’, which was a 1500-acre farm to the South East of Uralla.

Parmly neigbours Tarrilli, which was a property acquired by Marius, and the two farms make a 3000 acre block. In addition, they lease another adjacent property ‘Eastlake’ from Gordon and Wendy Williams.

In 2019 they took ownership of Yarrowyck and in 2020 they acquired Windee, a prime 348 acre hilltop farm with sweeping views of Uralla that sits between their primary farm holdings. Windee is the location of the family residence and also of their boutique sheep stud operations Windee Poll Merinos and Shalimar White Suffolks.

Above from left to right: Joe van Eyk, Hain van Eyk, Steph van Eyk, Abigail van Eyk, Wendy Williams, Gordon Williams Below left: Joe van Eyk and Hain van Eyk

The Business of Farming

Joe and Steph have purposely taken a strong position in the premium end of the supply market as their passion for farming is driven by a desire to achieve high standards. Concentrating on the premium end has allowed them to develop product which is in demand by consumers.

In turn, this has created an opportunity to reinvest profits back into the farm in areas such as sustainability, infrastructure and the environment. These are also increasingly areas of high importance to consumers and suppliers at the premium end of the marketplace.

Joe and Steph’s view, that farming is best done to meet consumer demand, acknowledges that consumers increasingly want to know that the product they are buying is developed sustainably and ethically. There is an increasing interest by consumers to understand an animal's welfare, and this is starting to include areas such as animal health, even including areas such as pain management.

Documenting the 'paddock to plate' traceability of each animal will become increasingly important, and new technology such as blockchain, will likely be a future end point

This cycle has set up a positive feedback loop, which by design, reinforces the continual focus on developing a premium farm that produces premium product.

Of course, not all of the sheep and cattle that are produced meet the high standards of the premium end of the market. By necessity these are sold into their respective market supply categories, but the overall objective of operations is premium supply, with a keen eye on the consumers increasing interest in paddock to plate transparency.

for the transparency of these records. Today, customers and suppliers are already asking for compliance and documentation for practices such as a documented euthanasia program.

Joe and Steph are supported in the daily operations of the farms with a total of seven employees, including son Hain. They also work very closely with the owners of ‘Eastlake’ Gordon and Wendy Williams in their lease operations on that property.

From left to right: Employees Brooke Prior and Travis Salmon

Uralla views from Windee

Hard Lessons from Drought

The unprecedented drought of 2018-19 hit the farming community of Uralla harder than they could have imagined. The previous years of developing allocated infrastructure and setting aside enough feed and water to straddle the next inevitable drought that was sure to come, had always been based on previous droughts in the region. By 2018/19 Everyone had run out of feed and water.

Joe and Steph have embarked on an ambitious infrastructure development program across all farm holdings to ensure that they are not only prepared for the next drought to come, but that they can farm more safely and sustainability today and long into the future, despite variability in the climate.

The emphasis on safety is for the wellbeing of both livestock and staff. Getting people out of the danger zone when handling livestock is a priority as is the desire to decrease stress on the animals at the same time.

Pasture improvement, fencing and water infrastructure are large projects currently underway, and the next project will be the cattle yards, where amongst other jobs, they are Investing in a hydraulic cattle crush, which is both quieter and safer.

All cropping on farm is solely for feed production to meet the needs of the farm’s operations. The goal is to store 12 months worth of feed on farm at all times. The current capacity allows storage of 1000 square bales on farm but there are plans in place to increase this significantly, with four new silos on the drawing board, along with additional storage.

The operation is still rebuilding the herd coming out of the last drought, but currently run 1800 breeding cows, with a plan in place to increase this 2500 in the next 5 years, subject to favourable conditions. The objective with cattle is to turn them off as young as possible to reduce carbon footprint and increase carrying size of the operation.

Normally spring calves are weaned coming into winter but this year they were weaned a month early and this seemed to show overall benefit. Next summer a selection of these cattle will go off to market and the remaining herd will be finished on oats and rye to get to 520kg prior to slaughter. The cattle breeding cycle is run annually to the above cycle and the farm also carries an average of 100 bulls.

In addition to the cattle is the sheep operation.

The farms are currently carrying 2000 merino wethers as trade stock, that have been shorn this season. Merinos are very good for pasture and weed control, they help reduce bloat in cattle on clover rich pasture and are also good for blackberry control.

Joe started the Shalimar White Suffolk Stud in 2016 as the White Suffolks are a good terminal sire for Merinos that produce high-yielding carcasses that provide excellent eating quality. When seasons are good, as they have been in 2022 and 2023, the stud ewes are joined twice a year to boost lambing percentages far higher than a single joining allows.

Windee Poll Merinos was registered last year to indulge the van Eyk family’s passion for Merinos, even though it only makes a tiny proportion of their business as beef production is the main focus and makes up the largest portion of the enterprise.

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Joe and Steph’s children are particularly keen on Merinos and both enjoy showing them and participating in junior judging events. The first drop of stud lambs looks promising and there might be a couple that make it to shows in 2024.

Cross bred lambs are traded depending on the season and can account for up to 5000 head seasonally traded. This year they were grazed ahead of the young cattle to help with bloating from clover, which was a much more effective strategy than using bloat oil and blocks.

Optimising carry capacity requires a pragmatic approach to pasture development that is a balance of economic cost and return. The van Eyks engaged the services of Pursehouse Rural Agronomist, Lucy Powell, to achieve their objectives.

In Lucy's words, "their overall pragmatic approach to decisions has made the implementation of agronomy services not only simple but effective, allowing us to achieve high levels of productivity and sustainability. Through providing them with farm plans and recommendations for a range of areas within the business, we have been able to increase

the productiveness of their land today and ensure we are able to meet their requirements moving into the future."

'Viable Succession': Working today for the next Generation

Joe and Steph have a son, Hain (19), named in honour of his great grandfather, and a daughter, Abigail (15). Whilst both have shown interest in the family farm, Hain is currently the most eager of the two. He currently works full time on the farm and next year will be going to Marcus Oldham for a three-year degree.

Abigail is currently doing accelerated agriculture for the HSC. She loves junior judging and is very academically minded.

Whilst Joe and Steph hope that both children want to take a hand in running the future operations, neither are obligated to. However, the passion is clearly there and they talk regularly of “ viable succession” – developing the farm to a level where both Hain and Abigail can comfortably return to and develop careers working on the van Eyk family farms.

Abigail van Eyk

Hain van Eyk

FIBRE TO FASHION

What’s in your clothes? Fashion designer Emma Bond brought her sustainably produced garments to the Liverpool Plains, for a lunch celebrating the women of the cotton industry.

Article and photography by Jessica Rea

Today we make a conscious decision in what we eat or often how we exercise. As farmers we take great care in what we plant, what chemicals we spray and what impacts these decision have on our land. We consider the very best inputs for our livestock. But when was the last time we stopped to think, what’s in our clothes?

A 2022 Global Scan Report, conducted by the Australian Fashion Council and led by the Queensland University of Technology, found that Australians, on average, purchase an estimated 15kg of clothing1 or approximately 56 garments each year. Data collected for the same report found that Australia imports an estimated 373,000 tonnes of clothing each year, with an FOB (Free On Board) value of $9.27 billion.1

Most of the clothing purchased in Australia is made from non-sustainable, non-durable materials. We have no systems in place for the collection of unwearable clothing other than landfill. Add to that, re-use and re-sale sectors which are overwhelmed with unwearable donations, all of this culminates in 200,000 tonnes of clothing making it’s way to landfill each year. This is compared to just 17,000 tonnes which are recycled or 41,000 tonnes of clothing which are reused. Clothing waste has become one of the largest contributors to Australia’s waste crisis, yet we continue to be bombarded by fast fashion at an unprecedented rate.

Of further concern, it is estimated by the same AFC report that less than 3% of Australia’s clothing retailers sell clothing produced within Australia2. Despite Australia being one of the world’s largest producers of cotton, we retain just 10% of that product domestically, with the majority of the raw product making its way to overseas spinning mills.

Fashion designer Emma Bond is working hard to re-humanise the story of how our clothes are made. Hailing from a cotton farm in the Central West, Emma is acutely aware of the trials and tribulations faced by cotton producers. Her brand name, Madi & Pip is inspired by

her grandmother; Philomena Simmons, and mother, Madi Simmons. Emma recounts her mother’s ability to create any wild costume she could summon through her young imagination, in awe of her ability to create these pieces on the regional property with limited resources. Emma’s dressmaking talent stems from her great grandmother, Madeleine Jondeau; a Parisian couture seamstress. In her adult years

Emma could not ignore the rapid increase in consumption of fashion and lack of great design. She was excited to use her experience and the stories of others across the supply chain to rewrite the fashion trajectory. And so, Madi & Pip the label was born.

Emma’s label of luxury, made to order womenswear, is designed with usability and sustainability at the forefront; considering the garments’ complete lifecycle. Crafted from Australian cotton, with some of the cottons never even leaving Australian shores for processing, as well as recycled cotton and deadstock fabrics which would otherwise be discarded by other fashion brands.

Emma’s background in education, fine art and experience from life on the land inspired her to push forward with an advocacy to bring awareness to the people who make our clothes, which starts at the fibre. Her work in conjunction with the Australian Cotton Industry saw her awarded the Australian Future Cotton Leaders Award and her garments showcased alongside major brands Country Road, Sussan and Bonds at the 2022 Cotton Conference runway.

And it was this advocacy coupled with her social media presence that captured the attention of a group of women on the Liverpool Plains planning their own event to celebrate and bring awareness to the cotton industry that is major a part of their lives.

1 National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme, AFC NCPSS Global Scan Report, pg. 35, Dr Alice Payne, with Paige Street, Anastasia Bousgas and Caitlin Hopper

2 National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme, AFC NCPSS Global Scan Report, pg. 32, Dr Alice Payne, with Paige Street, Anastasia Bousgas and Caitlin Hopper

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The Fibre to Fashion Ladies Lunch

On Saturday 18th March, 100 women from across the Liverpool Plains gathered at the Spring Ridge Country Club for the Fibre to Fashion Women’s Lunch. Greeted by a cotton picker at the entrance to the event, a fitting welcome for the women who more than likely see the crop from planting to picking each year. What they may be less aware of is the documented life cycle of their cotton, that they have lovingly tended to, is largely lost to the textile industry once it leaves the cotton gin. In many cases the cotton is untraceable once it leaves Australian soil for a spinning mill overseas. So even though fashion designers may wish to use locally produced cotton, this is oftentimes hard to track down when the textile returns to Australia.

The event was the brainchild of Liverpool Plains resident and small business owner Carmen Ronald. With help from friends and fellow committee members and the Spring Ridge Country Club the event welcomed key speaker Emma Bond and a fashion parade of her works alongside a lunch by Relish, Narrabri. The runway was aptly made of pink Tama wrap more commonly seen in the paddocks securely holding cotton bales together. MC and writer for Graziher Magazine, Emily Herbert, ensured the day went without a hitch and even managed to command a room of 100 chattering women, eagerly catching

up with friends from far and wide.

Emma led discussions of her findings and experiences within the textile industry, explaining the often hidden costs of fashion; costs to environment and the communities working and living within proximity to manufacturing and garment waste. A fashion parade of Emma’s works showcasing Australian cotton then ushered down the pink Tama wrap catwalk, modeled by a committee who more than embraced this additional role. A raffle of 470 tickets and auction of a fashion illustration by Emma raised a grand total of $2830 for the charity Thread Together, another motivator of the event.

Thread Together collects end-of-line stock from fashion retailers across the country and is operated with the support of volunteers to deliver clothing to people in need. It is a little known fact that one in eight adults and one in six children do not have access to essential clothing in Australia. Thread Together works with over 1000 retailers and 700 partner charities in Australia. To date it has saved 5,503,497 items from landfill and helps an average of 2,500 people in need each week. Thread together also supplied the fabrics to the circular cotton project, on which Emma spoke at the Fibre to Fashion lunch and is a project she is clearly passionate about.

Carmen Ronald (CRON Creations)

Pip Ewing, Gunnedah Business Owner Pip's Pastry

The Circular Cotton Project

The first trial of the Circular Cotton Project took place on a Goondiwindi property. The trial looks at re-carbonating the soil by spreading shredded end of line cotton garments over cotton crops. It was expected to improve soil health and increase carbon sequestration, saving 2,250kgs of carbon and closing the loop in textiles waste. The project only uses pure cotton garments in the creation of the spreadable materials. At this time all stitching and fastenings must be removed to reduce the risk of plastics pollution through the soil on farm. Early indicators show the trial product has had a positive impact on carbon levels in the soil, raising them by around 1%.

Following on from the Fibre to Fashion Lunch, Emma embarked on a tour of cotton businesses across the Liverpool Plains including Breeza Station, Kensall Green (Gunnedah) and Carroll Cotton Gin. A range of business experiences from across the cotton industry were shared with Emma throughout the tour which kicked off at Breeza Station, where cotton has successfully been grown since the 1980’s. Extensive irrigation infrastructure has supported a cotton and grains growing operation for years.

At Kensall Green, Emma had the opportunity to touch and feel, quite literally, the complete life cycle of cotton. The property is part of the circular cotton project and to this effect some of the paddocks are top dressed with the cotton garment scraps, producing a snapshot of the complete life cycle of cotton in one paddock.

Finally, the day wrapped up at the Carroll Cotton Gin, filling in the gap between farms and textile industry. It is here that the cotton is bailed into

a product acceptable for textile production. Carroll Cotton has recently undergone extensive development, replacing their original gin, built in 1995, with a brand new purpose-built complex. Undertaken in the midst of the pandemic, the project was not without it’s difficulties. But now completed and operational, the new gin has helped the family business increase their processing capacities to 198,000 bales last year, proving to be their biggest year to date.

Business owners, Trudy and Scott Davies, are acutely aware of their business and their relationship with the growers which they support. The responsibility of processing locally grown cotton, and the payment which comes at that point for growers permeates our conversation with Trudy in light of tricky operational conditions due to flooding, fires and pandemic lock downs. The old gin is not to be stood empty for long. In a forward thinking business move, the Davies family have put the old gin to good use, bailing hemp from a local Tamworth producer, a first for the Liverpool Plains.

What is evident from a weekend spent immersed in events focused on the cotton industry, the Fibre to Fashion lunch, Emma’s educational discussions and the events that surrounded the weekend, is the responsibility of the cotton and textile industry to be aware of and invest in sustainability practices. But that responsibility does not lie with ‘the industry’, it starts with you and me. It starts with a responsible and a sustainable approach to fashion. This is of the utmost importance to our region, to agriculture and to cotton production. So the next time you’re shopping stop and think, what is in my clothes?

Left to right: Trudy Davies (Carroll Cotton), Emma Bond (Madi and Pip), Carmen Ronald (CRON Creations) in front of mote bales, waste cotton product used in textile production.

Shredded cotton garments used to improve soil carbon levels.

THE SKY'S THE LIMIT

With the brand new DJI T40 Agras Agricultural Drone

In the early 1940s, IBM's president at the time, Thomas J Watson, reputedly said: "I think there is a world market for about five computers." 50 years later, in 1981 IBM launched the IBM personal computer, selling up to 40,000 units a month. The growth of the Personal Computer since that time needs no further explanation.

This often quoted example demonstrates that people closest to an industry often can't predict the trajectory of technological innovation and the resultant consumer adoption, particularly if they are only looking at things through a traditional mindset of where the technology is at a fixed point in time.

The study of the diffusion of innovation looks at how adoption of a new idea, behaviour, or product (i.e. 'innovation') does not happen to everyone

simultaneously; rather it is a process whereby some people are more open to adopting the innovation than others. . There are five established adopter categories of people.

1. Innovators - These are people who want to be the first to try the innovation

2. Early Adopters - These are people who represent opinion leaders. They enjoy leadership roles, and embrace change opportunities

3. Early Majority - These people are rarely leaders, but they do adopt new ideas before the average person

4. Late Majority - These people are skeptical of change, and will only adopt an innovation after it has been tried by the majority.

5. Laggards - These people are bound by tradition and very conservative. They are very skeptical of change and are the hardest group to bring on board.

Article by Andrew Maughan

Photography by Jessica Rea and D1 Store Australia

Most people are either early or late majority, but its interesting to note how you react to new technology as it informs you as to the lens you view the world, particularly in regards to the adoption of new technology.

What we also know is that the advancement of technology is happening at an exponential rate. On average, computer power is doubling every two years. The markets of IoT (internet connected devices) is growing at a rate that is hard to comprehend - hundreds of new IoT devices are connecting to the internet every second. It’s estimated that there will be 40 billion Internet of Things-connected devices around the world by 2025. The AI (artificial intelligence) industry is doubling in size every four years.

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, agriculture is right in the cross hairs of the application of all of this technological advancement. Sitting right in between all of this technological innovation in AI and IoT, we find the emergence of drones.

The origins of Drones, or UAV’s (unmanned autonomous vehicles) have a military origin that go back to the 1930s, although it was not until the 1970s that the Israeli’s perfected the technology as a proven force multiplier in battle.

The Consumer Drone market began in the early 2000s and DJI emerged as a revolutionary innovator in the space in 2013 with the introduction of the first camera equipped consumer drone, the Phantom. This success led DJI to hold a commanding 80% of the consumer drone marketplace.

Agricultural drone applications were first developed in the year 2000 by Yamaha, and DJI entered the agricultural drone space in 2015 with the launch of the Agras MG-1. The Agras MG-1 could carry a 10kg payload and could cover 7-10 acres per hour.

DJI have continued the innovation trend that they are known for and in 2022 the latest DJI Agras T-40 has a payload of 40kg and a spray rate of 21 hectares per hour, making it 5 times more efficient than its predecessor.

Pursehouse Rural have been early adopters of agricultural technology for decades, dating back to the 1960s and 1970s with the introduction of aerial spraying by manned aircraft. In recent years we have invested in a number of aerial drone spraying and mapping opportunities with varying success. We know from first-hand experience that pioneering innovation can be a tough road.

We also know that there is a huge amount of interest from farmers in regards to ag tech in general, and in regards to mapping and spray drones specifically.

For this reason we recently ran an informative workshop and display of the DJI T-40 spray drone. Over 50 customers attended the event at Breeza Station to see and hear first-hand the operational stats and to get up close to the technology.

The event was presented by Jim Dula, head of agriculture drones for D1 Drones Australia. Donald Barwick, a local farmer and drone contractor was also in attendance to give his account of how well these drones operate in the field.

Several customers who attended the event have already purchased spray and mapping drones and many more have invested in camera drones out of general interest in the technology. Some are using drones to check water troughs, fences or surveying flood damage etc.

There is no doubt that there are very practical use cases for the T40 spray drones in gullies or culverts and marginal country unsuitable for, or inaccessible to boom spray operators and for the application of fertiliser, pesticides and herbicides. These drones are also applicable for small holdings for the

additional application of seed.

There are also increasing environmental regulations that are making it impossible for aerial spray or fertiliser applications by plane due to the risk of overspray to adjoining properties. In these cases drones are proving highly effective and cost comparative on an hourly hire rate.

Whilst these drones can be set to run a map program over orchards or crops, they are unmatched in their ability to spot spray over woody weeds such as blackberry and all varieties of weeds that require management and are typically located in hard to access areas.

It is clear that drones are here to stay in the ag sector and we can expect more innovation, greater application and lower costs as the technology matures.

DRIVING PROFIT WITH P URSEHOUSE RURAL AGRONOMY

Pursehouse Rural understands that every rural business is unique and has individual requirements. Our Crop Advisory Program is a proactive crop and pasture management service focused on increasing the performance of your rural enterprise.

Our long term thinking leads to successful agronomy partnerships that endure for many years, often decades, and in some cases across generational changes as farms pass to new owners.

Offering more than just advice

Offering more than just input advice, the Pursehouse Rural Agronomy team are focused on increasing you farm profitability. With a core focus on building strong, long-standing relationships with our grower customers, who we work closely with throughout each season.

With Pursehouse Rural, great agronomic advice starts with the relationship. This includes

regular conversations and farm visits to ensure that appropriate management practices and technologies are included in each season's cropping or pasture program. This professional contact forms the basis for sound agronomic decisions year after year, with timely application of required fertilisers and agricultural chemical products with a view to maximising your profit.

A variety of agronomy programs to suit your needs

Pursehouse Rural offers a variety of agronomy programs to suit the needs of our grower customers. From comprehensive broadacre crop management to pasture consultancy, dryland and irrigated cotton production and everything in between. If you’re interested in maximising the profitability and sustainability of your cropping or pasture operation with a tailored agronomy package, contact a Pursehouse Rural Agronomist for an obligation free conversation today.

Professionals who specialise in soil management and crop production

Our Pursehouse Rural Agronomists are professionals who specialise in maximising profit for our grower customers through the application of pragmatic and professional soil management and crop production strategies.

Here are some of the benefits of using a Pursehouse Rural agronomist on your farm:

Improved Profitability: Our Agronomists have extensive knowledge of soil science, plant nutrition, and other factors that can impact crop profitability. By working with an Agronomist, you can develop a customised plan for your farm that takes into account your specific soil conditions, crop choices, and other factors, which can help improve your overall profit.

Increased efficiency: Our Agronomists can help you

identify areas where you can be more efficient in your farming operations. This might include things like optimising irrigation systems, identifying the most appropriate fertilisers and pest control methods, or developing more effective planting and harvesting strategies.

Cost savings: By working with our Agronomists, you can potentially save money on things like fertilisers, pesticides, and other inputs by using the most appropriate and cost-effective products for your farm.

Improved sustainability: Our Agronomists can help you implement practices that are more sustainable for your farm.

Expertise: Pursehouse Rural Agronomists have a deep understanding of soil science, plant nutrition, and other factors that can impact crop production. By working with an Agronomist, you can tap into their expertise and knowledge to make informed decisions about your farm.

KEEPING QUIRINDI ALIVE THROUGH AGRITOURISM

How the Northern New South Wales town of Quirindi is striding forward thanks to community driven agritourism projects.

Article by Jessica Rea Photography by Sally Alden

Progress is a word we hear often. But what does it take to keep a rural town moving forward, to keep up with the rapid pace of development in larger towns and cities? The peril of a small, rural town is that they are at risk of aging, shrinking and eventually dying out altogether. But in the Northern New South Wales town of Quirindi there is a group of hardworking local residents dedicated to driving the town forward.

One of those people is Liverpool Plains grain grower, Ian Carter. Ian, and wife Marilyn, own and operate two properties on the Liverpool Plains, Connamara and Romney Vale, both located close to the small Northern New South Wales village of Pine Ridge. It was on a family trip to Adelaide in 2019 that Ian and Marilyn first took note of the Silo Art Trail popping up in towns across Western Victoria. Their own local town of Quirindi was experiencing an economic downturn whilst in the grips of the drought. The town was tired from tackling years of drought, the ground was dry and burnt, all less than inspiring to most community members.

Quirindi is built on Kamilaroi land with the name of the town taken from the Kamilaroi language. Though the meaning is largely unknown a few translations have been attributed to the town name including ‘dead tree on the mountain’,

‘place where fish spawn’ and ‘a nest in the hills’. A nest in the hills was widely adopted by the town in recent years and is etched into the welcome sign as you approach Quirindi off the New England Highway via Willow Tree. In 1830 George Loder established the property, Quirindi Station, at the junction of Quirindi Creek and the Jacob and Joseph Creek. Before long, one of his stockmen built a slab hut and an inn opened for business in the 1840s, welcoming passing travelers.

The town was formally gazetted in 1856 but land sales in the following year were slow. The 1861 the Lands Act opened the district up to smaller settlers but it was not until the arrival of the railway in 1877 that the town began to thrive. It quickly became a major service center taking advantage of the railway and the population of the town increased to 1139 by 1891. That same year two inns, a public school and a police residence were all completed. Over the years the town drew prosperity from the rich black soils surrounding it, producing sheep and cattle on stations across the district. Today, broadacre cropping has taken preference with growers planting cotton, sorghum, canola, corn, oats, chickpeas, wheat, barley and sunflowers, in conjunction with cattle and sheep operations.

In 2019 the town had been battered by years of drought. The bright colours of the art trail sparked a thought with Ian, could this be a good fit for Quirindi? Could this kick-start agritourism in the town? Located to the northern end of the main street of Quirindi, feeding from George Street and becoming Station Street, are two Graincorp silos, built in the 1930s, with easy access to the train line and main road. Today they are not in use, but with main road frontage and the rarity of being almost in the center of town, they seemed like the perfect fit for an art installation.

With support from friends in the area, Ian created a committee of nine members to oversee the project. They would face some hurdles along the way, taking almost four years to complete the Silo Art project, but Ian insists that no matter what was thrown their way, a better outcome for the town was always reached.

Selecting the artwork was perhaps the most exciting time of all. An expression of interest was put forward to 100 artists with 26 returning their portfolio for consideration. From these, six artists were selected to create a concept piece. It was a tall order to encapsulate the heart and soul of the Liverpool Plains in one image. They were sure it shouldn’t be an individual person but rather a piece that emulated the heart of the region in a story-like fashion. With assistance from Archibald Prize Entrant David Darcy and Nicky Parshall, Art Conservator at the NSW State Library, the committee selected one artist who

they thought put forward the best concept to represent the region. That artist could not have come from further away. Western Australian artist, Peter Ryan, captured the heart and soul of the region in his piece, with magnificent use of a burnt orange, yellow and red palette, juxtaposed by his use of blues in the figures depicted in the piece, encapsulating Quirindi in the Silo Artwork.

It took two years to move from concept to completion, with Peter working tirelessly and in tricky conditions to complete the project. A viewing area was constructed to accommodate passing tourists. But the committee would not stop there. The thought was raised that tourists should stay for longer than snapping a quick selfie with the art and moving on. But how to get them to do that? A light show was installed as part of the art installation. Commencing at 8.15pm AEDT and 6.45pm AEST, each evening with a countdown complete with a cuckoo clock, the show gets underway at 8.30pm AEDT or 7.00pm AEST. Sound is currently connected via radio but plans are in place to install a weatherproof sound system. The light show moves the art installation across the silos under the cover of the night sky. This means tourists are more inclined to spend a day or maybe even two in the town, to see the light show in the evening and perhaps check out other tourism attractions in the area. The light show can also be modified and updated, maintaining interest from tourists and locals alike.

Artist Peter Ryan

A survey was conducted to assess the impact of the art project on businesses in the main street of Quirindi. It showed that on average, businesses saw a 20% increase in turnover post artwork installation. With the project in its infancy this is a magnificent accomplishment. The artwork has drawn tourists off the nearby New England Highway and the Kamilaroi Highway into the town. They may browse in the shops scattered down the main street, grab a bite to eat at a local café or pub and check out other local tourist attractions such as the heritage village and railway, Windy Woolshed or complete one of the tourist drives in the area.

Upon his final return to the town for the grand opening ceremony of the Quirindi Silo Art, artist Peter Ryan was accompanied by his family on the trip from Western Australia to Sydney and on his drive four hour north to Quirindi. Passing through regional towns along the Hunter Valley Expressway and onto the New England Highway, Peter’s children frequently asked, "is this town like Quirindi?" To which Peter always replied, "no, Quirindi is better." The Silo art project is

one instance of the immense effort the town has gone to in the years during and since the drought, investing in their businesses and other agritourism projects to pick the town up and drive it forward.

Opening night welcomed 1500 local people to celebrate the achievement for the town and district. Despite an intimidating thunderstorm brewing on the horizon, the first official viewing of the nighttime light show went ahead to the amazement of those in attendance. The first of many more shows to come. An air of celebration has lifted the town, all centered on the Silo Art Project.

Today the Australia-wide Silo Art Project stretches 8500kms across five states including New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. The Silo Art movement is said to be ‘infusing Australians with newfound energy and enthusiasm’. And this impact can certainly be demonstrated by the pride Quirindi has for its new tourism attraction in their Silos on Station Street.

Silo Art Committee Member Ian Carter

Alongside the art project the district has undertaken a number of agritourism drives to keep the town alive. The business group The Plains Inc. encourages business and tourism amongst groups across the Liverpool Plains. A highlight of their events calendar is the Sunflower Trail, also supported by Ian and Marilyn at their Romney Vale property. The Sunflower Trail began three years ago, as the world was beginning to move between waves of the Covid-19 virus. Ian planted a small 1-acre plot of sunflowers after some pressure from his friend Nikki Robertson. As Sunflowers are not usually a commercially viable crop in the area, due to no crush in the northern region of the state and the bird seed market being so small, Ian was initially hesitant. But a small 1-acre plot by the road, with easy access for visitors, had little impact on the daily operations of the farm, so he thought why not? The sunflowers grew so tall that if you were brave enough to venture to the center of the plot, you could have been in 1000 acres not just one.

In that first year, the small plot welcomed 5500 visitors to Romney Vale. It was something we see very rarely, a farmer welcoming visitors to

their land and into the paddock. Visitors were welcome to pick the sunflowers and take them home with them for a memento of their visit to the Pine Ridge property.

Last year, flooding in the area meant the Carters were unable to plant cotton or sorghum. But on Australia Day 2022, around 200ha of sunflowers were planted, making it a commercial crop in that year. Once again, visitors were welcome and a viewing platform was constructed under a shady tree to encourage visitors to stop and take in the breathtaking scene of the sunnies in full bloom on the Liverpool Plains.

Three years later the sunflower trail in the region continues. However the project is not immune to the usual ailments of farming. Wet weather prevented several willing farmers getting their sunflowers planted this year. Coupled with poor germination in some seed, just three plots were successful this plant. Planting conditions were less than ideal at Romney Vale also, so a much smaller plot was planted this year and from the perspective of a farmer, Ian thought the crop was a little poorer than previous years but they were loved by visitors nonetheless. Photographer Sally Alden loved the varying heights of this year’s sunflowers which made for much better photos than the ones that had come before them.

The hard work and tenacity of Ian Carter and his community has not gone unnoticed. Earlier this year Ian was awarded the Liverpool Plains Citizen of the Year Award in recognition of his dedication to the region and agritourism on the Liverpool Plains.

Ian’s work in the area has inspired other local people to once again be proud of Quirindi, the little town still reliant on agriculture but now a town that celebrates it and all it has to offer, showing it off to tourists from far and wide. It is thanks to the dedication of people like Ian, all those involved in the Silo Art Committee and the Plains Inc. that Quirindi and the surrounding towns of Spring Ridge, Pine Ridge, Willow Tree, Werris Creek and Wallabadah will continue to grow and thrive despite the trying conditions endured in recent years.

Ian and Marilyn Carter

BRANCH PROFILE: QUIRINDI

Pursehouse Rural Quirindi was first opened in 1979, quickly becoming the company Head Office, as it still is today, and the second operational branch for the Pursehouse Rural business. The new branch was established to support the first Werris Creek branch location and growers in the area. With the rise of land transportation, the need to move grain and goods by train was in a steady decline and by 1986 the Werris Creek branch was closed with all customers to be serviced by the Quirindi branch just 20kms south.

Today, Pursehouse Rural Quirindi remains the Company Head Office as well as a large merchandise store and linked to the Fertiliser plant just a few hundred meters up the road from the branch location on the corner of Lennox and Loder Streets. The branch has grown substantially over the years as farming has continued to go from strength to strength on the Liverpool Plains.

Spearheaded by Branch Manager, Bruce Nixon,

the Quirindi branch and Head Office is also the operational base for Managing Director Malcolm Pursehouse, Chief Executive Officer, Scott Pursehouse and Head of Operations, Mark Roseby. Alongside this executive team operating from Quirindi are members of the accounts payable team, the inventory team, Agronomists, a full team of customers service representatives and merchandise manager for Quirindi, Davin Goodwin, to ensure everything is in top working order for Pursehouse Rural Quirindi customers.

The Pursehouse Rural Quirindi business continues to support growers across the Liverpool Plains, with major cropping inputs in the area comprising of sorghum, wheat, barley, canola, oats and sunflowers as well as cattle and sheep production. The fertiliser plant is an asset to the Pursehouse Rural Quirindi business, with the ability to store large amounts of fertiliser on site as well as curate custom fertiliser blends recommended by Pursehouse Rural Agronomists.

In 1981 Pursehouse Rural established Quirindi Ground Spray. For some time the Pursehouse family had provided aerial spraying services, importing planes from America to do the job and utilising UHF radio from the who’d a thought it look out for communications. They were early adopters of ground spray rigs with Clive Pursehouse recalling an instance of his father, Fred, taking a trip to Sydney to get his ground spray truck registered as it was the first in the district of its kind.

Today, customers have access to complete support from the Pursehouse Rural Agronomy team, Fertiliser plant and in branch support to ensure your cropping inputs have the best possible pathway to success.

The branch also stocks a full range of stock feed, animal health supplies and accessories, fixtures and fittings and much more.

"It is a privilege to be part of the wheel in such a productive agricultural community like the Liverpool plains. Without our farming families we would not be here today. Which is why we strive to assist our producers to be successful, so that by working together we can continue our relationship for generations to come."

- Pursehouse Rural Quirindi Branch Manager, Bruce Nixon.

From left to right: Bruce Nixon, Lachlan Cottee, Olivia Meier, Scott Jenkins, Davin Goodwin, Heath Forsstrom

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