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G’day everyone,  How often have you heard it said, or perhaps said it yourself, that good people just don’t exist anymore? That they’ve all gone to the mines, or that the younger generation in our area just don’t want to work?  I understand why we feel that way. Recruiting is hard, especially when we’re farming remotely. But a mentor of mine once said something that really challenged me: we get the people we deserve. I truly believe who we attract to our teams comes down to three things: how good we are as employers and leaders; how good our recruitment system is; and how well we select, then onboard.  In this episode I’m joined by two of our own, Michaela Malicki, our FOA Operations Manager, and Sunny Roberts, our People and Culture Manager. Together they’ve helped us welcome more than 30 new team members over the last five years. Sunny has also worked alongside many farming families, helping them find, recruit and settle great people into their businesses. Their professionalism, and their genuine care for every candidate, is something I’m so proud of.  Grab a pen and paper. We unpack:  why recruitment is really a marketing exercise, and who else you’re actually pitching to;  the one addition to your job ad that makes candidates stop scrolling;  the simple closing-date rule that keeps your campaign on track; and  the interview questions that reveal far more than technical skill, and why your farm visit invitation should include one more person.    Michaela also shares how we use DISC profiling, not as a pass or fail, but to understand how each new team member naturally works and how to lead them well. Find out how DISC works here.  Then the bigger question. If we’re bold enough to look beyond our region, and beyond agriculture, how much more could it open up our prospects? We have members with farm managers who were electricians only five or six years ago. There are millions of people who grew up on farms and now hold down city and regional town jobs. Many of them may be ready for a tree change, given the right opportunity.  So, even if your farm is somewhat isolated, could it be the beliefs you’re carrying, more so than your postcode, that are holding you back?  Michaela and Sunny, thank you for the roles you each play in helping us build a high-performing team and a cracking culture. And to every farm owner building a team worth joining: hire on attitude, train on skill, and back yourself. Good people are out there.  Remember: high-performing teams are available to all of us!  In leadership…  Hutch    P.S. I truly believe we get the people we deserve, and that the best teams are built by leaders who are willing to grow first. I’d love to see you at TOP Producers in Perth this February, where we’ll be working alongside farm owners who are backing themselves to build the high-performing farm team they need. Learn more here.

Achieving a successful startup as a first-generation farmer is a tough assignment. On top of that, achieving a ‘direct to consumer, first generation farm’ is even harder. Tens of thousands, as you all know, have tried. Very few have succeeded.  Meet Tim and Hannah and The Food Farm.  Their story is remarkable. Their passion inspiring. Their determination unwavering.  5 years ago, Tim was a sole-operator contractor… surviving on borrowed machinery and blind faith. Hannah an opera singer from inner-Adelaide. Their first $2,000 came from a potato harvest festival that was nearly washed out by floods. It bought their first chicken caravan, towed home to New South Wales from Victoria.  Today, and where they've arrived to is something to be immensely proud of. Tim and Hannah now lead a team of ten, run their own on-farm butchery, and grow pasture-raised chicken that has been awarded at the Sydney Royal Fine Food Show three times. Their organic, quality produce and endeavour even earned them a recent audience with our King!   Every week, 600 to 700 people sit down to beautiful produce grown by Tim, Hannah and their passionate team.  In this episode, Tim, Hannah and I explore:  the mindset shift that saw them focus and scale their revenues;  why direct-to-consumer farmers are really competing with their own self-worth, more so than the supermarkets;  the challenges of hiring (and firing) then building their now dedicated team, and learning to lead as young business owners; and  the personal development work that has underpinned their growth and success.  Entrepreneurship is ‘jumping off a cliff and building the parachute on the way down’. Tim and Hannah do that constantly and as their way of doing business… and now, as Hannah says, "we have built a business that can buy a farm."  So, a question for you: could it be more the internal battle-mindset, self-doubt and self-worth that is holding you back?  Thank you, Tim and Hannah, for sharing it all so openly - the wins, the hardships and challenges. Thank you also for championing for all Aussie farmers and for helping share a positive story for all that we all do on-farm. It has been an honour to be part of your journey.  To more young, brilliant and energetic first-generation farmers backing themselves!  We have your back.  Hutch & Team  P.S. Find out more about Tim and Hannah on The Food Farm website, and read their story here.  P.P.S It’s pretty special to think Tim and Hannah’s journey with us all started at TOP Producers. If you’re wondering what it could open up for you and your farm business, come and join us at the next one. 👉 Start building your Freedom Farm.

What if living longer had less to do with finding the perfect diet, supplement or exercise program… and more to do with how we live, what we believe and who we surround ourselves with? In this episode, I’m joined by the incredible Marcus Pearce, a longevity strategist, speaker, author and host of 100 Not Out. Marcus recently joined us at our FOA Deep Dive Workshop, and I was struck again by the way he challenges so many of the assumptions we carry around health, ageing and what it means to live a genuinely exceptional life. We explore: Why purpose, physical activity and social connection are some of the strongest foundations for a long, high-quality life. What decades of interviewing centenarians and “exceptionals” have taught him about living well. The importance of protecting the parts of life that farming can easily crowd out such as health, friendships, family, fun and time away from the business. Marcus’ Exceptional Life Quiz, and why making your lowest-scoring area your highest priority can be a powerful place to start. Take the quiz here One of the biggest reminders from this conversation is that we often assume there will always be more time. More time to get fitter. More time to see our mates. More time to take the trip. More time to slow down and enjoy what we’ve built. But none of us really knows how much time we have. Make the important things urgent. Call that mate you haven’t spoken to for some time. Book that fishing trip. Make small steps to look after your personal health as a priority. Have dinner at the dining table. Tell those you care about you love them. Create something outside the farm that lights you up. And keep building a business that supports the life you want, rather than a life that exists purely to support the business you have. Marcus, thank you. I appreciate you positively re-framing the importance of longevity for us: it’s not about how long we can stay alive… but how strong, connected, purposeful and alive we can be, as we age. Here’s to living and farming well. Keep being incredible! Hutch & The Farm Owners Academy Team P.S. Marcus’ message is a great reminder that living well for longer isn’t just about health. It’s about having the freedom, energy and headspace to enjoy the life you’re building. If you’re running a farm and want more freedom, more control and more space to enjoy life beyond the farm, the TOP Producers Workshop is a great place to start. Find out more here.

Uncertainty Is the Only Certainty: Building Resilience with Psychologist Maria Ruberto Two hundred episodes in, and the thread running through nearly all of them is this: the numbers matter, but what's going on in our heads and hearts is what determines whether we thrive or just survive. So for this milestone, I wanted to talk human emotions properly, starting with the one none of us can avoid. Uncertainty is almost the only certainty we've got as farmers. But it isn't a sign that something's wrong with you. It's a normal state your brain moves into when it can't predict what happens next, and once you understand that, you can move through it with a lot more strength. That's exactly what we dig into today with psychologist Maria Ruberto. Maria Ruberto is a psychologist, certified applied Neuropsychotherapist and Founder of Salutegenics. With more than 30 years of experience across education, clinical practice, leadership and workplace wellbeing, Maria delivers science-backed training programs that help individuals, teams and organisations build resilience and strengthen their ability to support the wellbeing of others. Her approach focuses on understanding the powerful connection between biology, psychology and behaviour. In this Learning from Legends episode, we reconnect with Maria, who has previously presented to our FOA alumni and joined us on the podcast before, to unpack a topic every farmer knows intimately: uncertainty, and how we manage our exposure to it. We explore: Why uncertainty is a normal, biological state rather than a personal failing, and what happens in the brain the moment it can't predict what's coming next The truth about stress: why it's not the enemy, how it enables us to perform, and the point where sustained pressure tips into burnout Simple, science-backed ways to reset in under two minutes, including a slow out-breath technique and a head-turn technique that calms the nervous system Why connection with others isn't a nice-to-have but a biological imperative, and how the right people around us create real protection during hard times Five practical strategies for building our tolerance to uncertainty and distress, including agency mapping (what we can control, influence, and must let go of).   To connect with Maria, reach out directly at [email protected]. Maria, thank you for the generosity of your time and for the clarity you bring to something so many of us feel but rarely have the language for. It was wonderful reflecting on how the mind works under pressure, and even better knowing there are real, practical tools we can put to work on-farm. Until next time, keep being incredible. Hutch & The Farm Owners Academy Team P.S. Scaling well takes energy, and burnout has a way of undoing all of it. If you're feeling the weight of workload, weather, or finances lately, grab our free Low Stress Farmer's Handbook to check where you sit on the burnout scale and pick up some practical strategies for building resilience. Download here.

AI is moving fast — incredibly fast — and whether we like it or not, the game has changed.  In this week’s episode, I sit down with Sam Johnsson, CEO of Farm Owners Academy. Sam, along with Michaela, Greg, and the broader FOA team, has been doing outstanding work in this space, not just exploring what AI can do, but figuring out how we can use it practically to build better businesses and better outcomes for farm owners.  We unpack what AI really means for agriculture and why I believe the opportunity in front of us is enormous.  From using ChatGPT or Claude as a smarter research partner, through to analysing data, improving decision-making, building systems, automating repetitive work and even capturing 40 years of knowledge from inside a farmer’s head, the capability is extraordinary.  But we also talk about the other side of it: security, accuracy, the risk of AI being “confidently wrong”, and why good judgement, trusted advisers and knowing what good looks like still matter enormously.  Sam also shares a really useful framework for understanding where you are on the AI journey, and, more importantly, how to take the next step without feeling like you need to become a technology expert overnight.  My encouragement is simple: don’t sit on the sidelines.  Get curious. Have a play. Start small. Because this technology is going to touch almost every part of business and life, and I think those who learn to use it well will have an extraordinary advantage.  I really enjoyed this conversation with Sam, and I hope it gives you the confidence and a few practical ideas to start putting AI to work in your business.  Keep winning!  Hutch & The Farm Owners Academy Team  P.S. If this episode has you thinking it's time to get more out of AI in your farm business, Sam is running a 90-minute live workshop on 21 & 22 October. You’ll learn how to spot the work where AI can create genuine leverage, then set it up with the context, standards and guardrails it needs to do that work properly in your operation. See the workshop and register here.

There is a question every farming family should be able to answer with confidence: How well is our farm business actually performing — and what is it truly capable of? Not just whether there’s cash in the bank. Not whether we’ve had a good season. And not whether we’re doing things a bit better than they’ve always been done. I mean really understanding the strength of the business model underneath it all. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been lucky enough to spend time on-farm with a number of our members, sitting around kitchen tables, driving around properties and getting deep into the numbers behind their businesses. And one exercise in particular has created some incredibly valuable conversations. It’s about reverse engineering the potential of the farm. In this episode, I want to take you through that same exercise, and I unpack some of the key numbers I use to stress test a farm business: Return on assets managed Net Profit as a percentage of income Appropriate levels of gearing Labour investment Interest cover I then use these to ask a much bigger question: Given the assets you have access to today, what level of income and profit should your business be capable of producing? Because for many farming families, the opportunity isn’t necessarily about buying the farm next door. It may be about getting far more from the farm you already have. I uncover why scale should be measured in revenue, not hectares, and the three ways you can build it: through simplification, intensification and, only then, expansion. I also consider the idea of getting a balance between business model, scale and gearing — and why getting those three things working together can completely change the financial strength of your farming business. This isn’t about chasing numbers for the sake of numbers. And it certainly isn’t about suggesting there’s one perfect enterprise or one perfect way to farm. It’s about knowing what good looks like. It’s about giving yourself and your family a clear set of targets, understanding the gap between where you are today and where the business could be, and then asking better questions about how you close that gap. So grab a pen and a piece of paper for this one. Work through the numbers for your own farm as we go, challenge a few assumptions, and perhaps uncover some of the latent income and profit sitting inside the business you already have - and if you'd like to go a bit deeper with your numbers & analysis, head to our website and grab your free copy of "The Profitable Farming Playbook" which will help you track the key targets that lead to stronger decisions, better profit, and long-term success. Because sometimes the greatest opportunity isn’t more land. It’s a stronger business model on the land you’re already farming. Keep winning! Hutch & The FOA Team   P.S. Knowing your numbers gives you a much clearer picture of what your farm business is capable of. If you want to go deeper, you can access our CFO Program for just $97 using promotional code PODCFO97 at checkout (usually $197) or book a Complimentary Coaching Call with our team to talk through your business and where you can improve performance.

Pat Barrett has spent nearly twenty years at Walsh & Blair, and before that he was playing regional rugby for the Wagga Waratahs, learning lessons about mateship, discipline, and common goals that he still leans on today when he sits across the table from farming families trying to navigate succession. In this episode, I sit down with Pat, director at Walsh & Blair and one of the most respected rural lawyers in the Riverina, to talk about what actually makes succession work. And what quietly wrecks it. We started with rugby, and the idea that not knowing the rules can get you hurt. So often we throw the next generation into farming with no rules, no structure, and no shared understanding of what success even looks like. Pat's seen that play out again and again, and had some really practical thinking on how to fix it. Here's what we got into: What happens when everyone in a family business is carrying a different version of the common goal, and why that's the difference between touch footy on the beach and playing for real The three stages of a proper transition: management, business, and land, and why trying to do all three at once is where things get messy and emotional Why bringing your accountant, banker, consultant, and lawyer into the same room beats passing messages between them like a game of Chinese whispers Why paying family members a market wage builds accountability instead of entitlement Pat's a straight shooter, and what got me thinking was his point about timing. He reckons the older generation has a window early on, while it's still exciting and before any history's built up, to get things agreed on properly. His advice to the next generation was the mirror image of that. It might feel awkward going in, but as Pat says it's "a lot more awkward later on down the track" if you don't. If you're the older generation holding on a bit too long, or the next generation wondering what you've actually agreed to, this one's worth your full attention. 👉 You can learn more about Pat and the team at Walsh & Blair at www.walshblair.com.au A huge thanks to Pat for his time and his candour, and for the impact he and his firm have had on hundreds of farming families across the Riverina and beyond. Here's to getting the agreements right, before you need them. Hutch & The Farm Owners Academy Team

If a plan only lives in your head, no one else can help you make it happen.  That's the line that sits at the heart of this conversation. Because so often on a family farm, there isn't one plan. There are two, or three, or four, each one living quietly inside a different family member's head, each one slightly different, and none of them written down anywhere everyone can see.  In this episode, I'm joined by two of our senior FOA coaches, Elle Webb and Kerrie Smith. Both started, in their own words, at a zero out of ten when it came to having a clear, documented, common plan for their farm businesses. Both now run their businesses off a simple two-page, Clarity Action Plan that keeps the whole family and team pointed at the same goal.  We explore:  What life actually looks like without a shared plan: reactive decisions, disorganisation, and family members quietly filling the information gap with their own version of the story  Why a BHAG (a big, hairy, audacious goal) needs to stretch 30, 50, even 80 years out, and how to break that down into 10-year, 3-year, and 1-year goals without getting stuck on the how  What a Brick List is (anything left undone, sitting in your head and weighing you down) and why simply writing it down and prioritising it is one of the fastest ways to free up headspace and get moving again  When and how to bring your employed team into the annual, quarterly, and weekly planning rhythm, and why that alignment is what turns individual effort into real momentum  What it means to have a coach as your "unreasonable friend," asking the questions you can't ask yourself or your own family, and why that discomfort is so often where the growth happens  It took Elle around 35 to 40 versions of her plan over three years before it finally clicked. And what came through clearly for both of them is that the ten-year goal was never just about a bigger business. It was about a business that could fund real holidays, hand genuine ownership to their kids, and give the whole family the freedom to build the life they actually wanted, not just the one the farm demanded of them.  If you'd like a copy of our Clarity Action Plan template or the five questions every strategic plan needs to answer, email us at [email protected] and we'll send it straight through.  Elle and Kerrie, thank you both for your honesty about where you started and for the wisdom and care you bring to our members every single day. You make an extraordinary team.  Till next time,   Jeremy Hutchings & the Farm Owners Academy Team

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

Some friendships change your life. This one changed Australia.  When Tracy Bevan met Jane McGrath at an airport café in 1996, they were simply two British women far from home, trying to find their place in a new country while their husbands travelled the world playing cricket.  What neither of them knew was that a friendship forged over cups of tea, loneliness, laughter and life's challenges would go on to impact hundreds of thousands of Australian families.  Tracy co-founded the McGrath Foundation with Jane in 2005. Two cricket wives, a kitchen table, no roadmap. Before Jane passed away in June 2008, Tracy made her a promise: to keep going, to honour what they had started together and to ensure no family would ever face cancer alone. She has spent nearly two decades since keeping that promise.  Today, 367 McGrath Cancer Care Nurses, 174,000+ families supported, and a mission that has changed what a cancer diagnosis looks like in Australia.  In this episode, Tracy shares the story behind one of Australia’s most loved charities - not from a corporate lens, but from the heart of a best friend who has spent nearly two decades honouring Jane’s legacy.  We explore:  How a difficult childhood taught Tracy resilience and the powerful lesson that helped her break free from the past  Jane McGrath’s breast cancer diagnosis that changed everything and how one moment between two best friends sparked a national movement  How one extraordinary nurse helped Jane navigate her darkest days and inspired a mission to ensure no family faces cancer alone  What it really takes to build a lasting organisation from scratch, growing from a kitchen-table idea to one of Australia's most trusted charities  Today, one in two Australians will face a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. You may already know someone who has.  It's a sobering reminder that the work of the McGrath Foundation is far from finished. Behind every diagnosis is a family navigating uncertainty, fear, and change and that's why the Foundation's support is needed now more than ever. To learn more, seek support, or contribute to this incredible mission, visit the McGrath Foundation website.  Tracy, thank you for keeping your promise to Jane and reminding us that one act of care can become a ripple that reaches families we may never meet, in places we may never see.  Sincerely,     Jeremy Hutchings & the Farm Owners Academy Team

There’s an old saying that uncertainty creates opportunity.  But if you're a grain grower right now, uncertainty can also create confusion, hesitation, and some pretty costly decisions.  Over the past few years, we've seen massive swings in commodity prices, input costs, weather patterns, and global politics. For many farm businesses, it feels like the rules keep changing. One minute we're talking about record production and oversupply. The next, global conflict, fund money, and drought concerns are driving volatility back into the market.  In this episode, I'm joined by Market Check’s Managing Director and Founder, Brett Stevenson and CEO, Nick Crundall to unpack what has changed in global grain markets over the past nine months and what Australian grain growers need to be thinking about right now.  More importantly, we explore the mindset and disciplines that separate consistently successful grain marketers from everyone else.  We cover:  How global conflict, rising fertiliser costs, and speculative investment are influencing grain prices and market volatility.  Why global wheat stocks are tightening after record production years and what that means for the outlook for Australian growers.  Insights around hedging, forward selling and grain storage, including why many growers continue to leave money on the table despite producing excellent crops.   The common mistake of allowing tax planning and cash flow pressures to drive grain marketing decisions instead of following a clear strategy   Nick shares some compelling analysis comparing hedging versus traditional forward selling and the long-term performance difference between growers who actively manage risk and those who don't. You can access Market Check's analysis here.  This conversation also reinforces themes I explored with Jeff McDonald around financial clarity, proactive planning, and leading your business with confidence rather than reacting to circumstances. If you haven't listened to that episode yet, I'd encourage you to do so here.  Nick and Brett, thank you both for your time, your honesty, and your willingness to share what you've learned over many years working alongside growers.  Here's to a great season ahead,  Sincerely,  Jeremy Hutchings and the Farm Owners Academy Team.

In Part 1, John Fargher took us back to the beginning, exploring the early days of AgriWebb and the farming families who backed a young ag tech company long before the rest of the industry could see what it would become. If you haven't listened to that one yet, we recommend starting there.  In Part 2, the story gets bigger.  Because beneath the global partnerships and the rapid growth, this episode is really about how farming families move from recording the past to actually getting ahead of it.  At the centre of it all is still the farm business itself. The producer who knows their country better than anyone but is making critical decisions without the right information in front of them. The family navigating rising expectations around data, sustainability, succession, and performance, often without the tools or support to do it confidently.   John talks openly about the gap between what is possible and what most farming families are actually doing, and how AgriWebb's direct to farm model is closing that gap every day. Their collaboration with Figured takes it even further, finally connecting the operational and financial picture of a farm business in one place, so that the decisions being made on the ground are backed by the numbers that matter.  In this episode, we explore:  How AgriWebb's two-part business model works and why the enterprise model is unlocking value for farmers in ways the industry has never seen before  The Sainsbury's and ABP partnership, six years in, 500+ farms, and results th

John Fargher grew up on a remote family station in the Northern Flinders Ranges, where distance, drought, hard work and innovation were simply part of life.  He saw first-hand how quickly farming can change. A station that once needed 40 people could later run with four or five. Horses gave way to motorbikes. Water runs that once took days could be done in hours by plane. Each shift changed what was possible, and left John asking one question: what is the next step change in livestock agriculture?  That question became AgriWebb.  In this episode, John Fargher, co-founder of AgriWebb, shares the story behind one of Australia’s great ag tech businesses, from a floppy disk sitting unused in a station office to a global platform now used across 28 countries, tracking more than 20 million head of livestock.  He talks openly about the early days, the failed hardware ideas, the farmer who almost said no but then chose to back them, and why that moment still gets him emotional more than a decade later.  We explore:  What AgriWebb is seeing across global agriculture and why Australian agribusiness may be slower to invest than other markets   How AI is shifting livestock management from recording what happened to forecasting what is coming  Why the future of farm data is about planning ahead, not just tracking the past  How AgriWebb now supports farmers across Australia, the UK, the US, Brazil and beyond   For farmers, this is more than a technology story. It is a reminder that progress rarely comes from one big leap. It comes from practical people backing better ways of working before the rest of the industry catches up.  This is Part 1 of the AgriWebb story, with more to come in the next episode.  Thank you John, for sharing the story so openly, and for the work you and the AgriWebb team continue to do in helping move agriculture forward.  Keep winning,  Jeremy Hutchings & the Farm Owners Academy Team

A good season can hide a lot. So can a strong balance sheet. But performing well on the surface does not always mean the business is built on the right foundation.  Risk builds quietly. Options narrow over time. And by the time most farm owners recognise it, they have less room to move than they thought.  In this episode, Jeremy sits down with Andy Fenton, Managing Director of Fenton Financial, who brings more than 20 years of experience across financial planning, funds management and investment banking, to unpack a confronting but important idea:  It can be our business structures that kill our farm businesses.  Not all at once. Not dramatically. But over time, through outdated structures, poor protection, limited leverage, unnecessary tax inefficiency, and too much control sitting with the bank.   Andy explains why so many farming businesses are still operating in structures that were inherited, kept because they were simple, or never reviewed as the business grew. He talks through what can go wrong when land, machinery and trading operations are tied together in the wrong way, and why that can leave farming families more exposed than they realise.   We cover:  why outdated structures can quietly hold a farm business back   the risks of having land and trading activities sitting together   how tax averaging and poor structuring can limit flexibility   why banks can gain too much control when security is not set up well   how better structures can improve protection, succession and wealth creation   We often see farming families operating in structures that no longer fit the business. That’s why conversations with specialists such as Andy matter. While Farm Owners Academy is not an accounting firm, we help members ask better questions, think more strategically, and strengthen the business behind the farm through the deeper support available in our 3-year comprehensive Platinum Mastermind program.     If this episode has raised questions about how your business is structured, you can learn more about Andy and his work at https://fentonfinancial.com.au/    Andy, thank you for bringing a clear and commercially grounded perspective to how structure, tax and leverage can shape the level of risk, control and succession in a farm business.    Till next time,  Jeremy Hutchings & The Farm Owners Academy Team

Are you concerned by the uncertainty surrounding increased fuel prices?     Is the current global turmoil challenging your view on how to best navigate this season?    The biggest risk right now is not fuel, fertiliser, interest rates, or global instability. It's panic.   Uncertainty has a way of hijacking clear thinking. It pulls people into worst-case scenarios and pushes reactive decisions before the facts are fully in.   That is where the real damage starts. Not in the disruption itself, but in the response to it.  Because when something shifts, whether it is a headline, a price rise, or a disruption, the natural human response is not calm, measured thinking. It is alarm. It is projection. It is the tendency to ask, “What if this gets worse?” rather than, “What is actually true right now?”.  In this conversation, Sam Johnsson, Tracy Secombe and I unpack what it really looks like to lead through uncertainty, not just from a business perspective, but from a mindset and leadership standpoint.  We cover:  how to check your state first and move from angst and panic back to composure and optimism   why stepping away from drama, media, and negativity helps you come back to facts and make logical, informed decisions   how to use forecasting to assess worst case, average case, and best case, and adapt your approach accordingly   how practices like gratitude, exercise, and self-regulation help lift your mindset so you can lead your family and team more strongly  You do not need to pretend uncertainty is not there. You do need to lead yourself well enough that it does not make your decisions for you.  Sam and Tracy, thank you for the practical insight and steady perspective you’ve brought to this conversation on how to lead through uncertainty.  Navigating the financial side of the business in times like this can feel overwhelming, and you’re not alone. Many farm owners have felt that same pressure and have used the Cash Flow Optimiser to turn uncertainty into clearer thinking and more confident decisions. If that’s where you’re at right now, you can find out more here.    Keep winning,    Jeremy Hutchings & the Farm Owners Academy Team