PRESENTATION 1 – DANIEL SIH

Daniel is an award-winning author and productivity expert, with 15 years experience working in senior leadership and strategic consulting roles across Australia and the UK.

His first book, “Spacemaker” won the American Axiom Business Book Award in 2023 for Work-Life Balance / Time Prioritisation.

At the conference, Daniel shared with us five strategies that business leaders use to boost productivity.

PRESENTATION 2 – A CONVERSATION WITH…JAKE WOLKI

Jake is an entrepreneur, businessman, and first generation regenerative farmer located in Albury, NSW. He farms cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens on 300 acres of leased land and runs his own butchery.

In a recorded Zoom session, titled ‘A Conversation With…’, Ollie sat down to ask Jake about his life before farming, how he became a farmer, why he set up a 24/7 staff-less butchery, his thoughts on capital, debt and scaling, and whether regenerative farming can be profitable.

PRESENTATION 3 – LAUREN BYRNE

Lauren is one half of Felds Farm, a market garden that’s split across two properties – one in North Lilydale and the other in the Coal River Valley.

In this presentation, Lauren looks at what growth means to her and husband Michael, and how their attitudes to scaling have changed since they started farming in 2017. She examined if growth is actually bad, the pros and cons of scaling up and what scaling might actually look like, and the ways they’ve changed their approaches to market gardening to become more financially viable.

PRESENTATION 4 – DARE TO ASK

We invited four farmers to take part in a panel discussion called Dare To Ask, where we asked them questions submitted by the audience, all related to the financial viability of their businesses.

The farmers involved were:

Kate Field. Kate and her husband Iain run Leap Farm. They farm Swiss Toggenburg dairy goats and produce Tongola Cheese on farm, in addition to beef and goat meat.

Paul Hallier. Paul and Bec are the people behind Lone Goose Farm, producing pasture raised Muscovy duck. They no prior farming experience before establishing Lone Goose, yet last year were Tassie’s winners in the From the Paddock category of the Delicious Awards.

Coral Warren. Coral and husband Nick own Rise & Shine Farm a mixed enterprise farm near Copping. They run a market garden selling vegetables to restaurants and at their local Farmers Market, breed Alpacas for fibre, and produce pastured eggs and pork.

Matt Tack. Matt is one half of Our Mate’s Farm, an organic apple orchard. Matt and partner Coreen grow a range of apple varieties, specialising in heritage and cider fruit. They also farm pigs, sheep and cattle for meat.

PRESENTATION 5 – A CONVERSATION WITH…MIKEY DENSHAM

Mikey is a respected market gardener, podcast host and Nuffield Scholar. Having previously run Mossy Willow Farm, he and his partner now run Five Tales Farm on leased land in Victoria.

Last year, for his Nuffield Scholarship, Mikey travelled to Europe, Japan, North America and Israel investigating how the design of intensive production systems can drive increased productivity and profitability of small-scale farming operations.

In the second ‘A Conversation With…’ Ollie spoke to Mikey over Zoom and a beer to discuss his Nuffield research, the uses of technology in small-scale farming, and the concept of ‘enoughness’ in techniques to produce food.

presentation 6 – GRACE GAMAGE AND DYLAN LEHMANN

Grace and Dylan run Broom & Brine, a 1/4 acre market garden in southern lutriwuta. They grow a diverse range of vegetables for their CSA with excess being sold to restaurants.

Having started off selling to 35 CSA members they reached 50 members in January, which had begun take it’s toil physically and mentally. The solution? They increased their work to reduce the work!

Grace and Dylan discussed their recent efforts on process improvements that has helped them increase the number of customers they sell to. They shared what this means, what it looks like, and how you can implement similar practices in your business and lives.

presentation 7 – DR SIMON SPAIN

Dr Simon Spain is a visual and socially engaged artist, leader of arts initiatives, fund raiser and innovator. He is co-Director of all that we are which provides residency and capacity building opportunities for artists, and a Australia Council Fellow for Arts Community and Cultural Development. On top of all that, he is also a Tate International associate, and Chair of Regional Arts Australia.

Simon’s presentation touched on the importance of connecting the arts with industries such as health, education and agriculture, demonstrating through his research that collaboration with artists can produce increased productivity and success within small businesses.

presentation 8 – BRIONY PATTERSON

Briony Patterson is one half of Fat Carrot Farm, a market garden set within 3 hectares of alluvial soils in putalina/ oyster cove, (Tasmania). They sell their veggies direct-to-restaurant and via CSA shares.

Briony spoke about a project she has recently worked on, collaborating with other small-scale Tasmanian growers to help understand the best ways to price their products.

presentation 9 – a conversation with…dan miller

Dan is founder & CEO of Steward, a US based company transforming agriculture by equipping regenerative farms with the capital they need to grow.

Steward provides access to flexible financing and expert support services for agricultural businesses looking to scale their operations, improve the health of their lands, and bolster local food systems.

In the last of the ‘A Conversation With…’ recordings, Dan spoke with Jen and Ollie about the lending platform he has created that brings together a community of values-driven individuals to participate in loans that help regenerative farms.

presentation 10 – the sprout producer program