<p>A place to call home podcast is a guide to agricultural land ownership.<br><br>During the podcast we share first hand stories from our guest to help guide you onto life on the land. We will also talk to industry experts who may be able to help you along your own journey. <br><br>Copyright: A Place to Call Home Group 2023</p>
G’day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast, a podcast sharing the stories of people building a life in agriculture across rural Australia.
In this episode, I sit down with Amanda Buchmann from JAB Agri Solutions, based in Southeast Queensland.
Amanda is a passionate advocate for the red meat and broader agricultural industry, focused on bridging the gap between industry knowledge and new entrants coming into agriculture. From growing up around livestock with her grandparents to building a career outside the industry in pharmacy and law, Amanda has taken a unique path back into ag — now combining her life experience with a mission to educate and support producers.
This conversation dives deep into the realities of entering agriculture today, the importance of education and compliance, and the role every producer plays in strengthening the future of the industry.
In this episode, we chat about:
🏡 Growing up in Warwick and early exposure to livestock through family
🚛 Lessons learned from time spent in livestock transport with her dad
📚 Building skills outside agriculture in pharmacy, law, and conveyancing
🐄 Returning to ag and starting a small cattle operation with her family
⚠️ The challenges new entrants face when buying land and livestock
📉 Common mistakes producers make when starting out
📊 Why record keeping, traceability, and compliance are critical
🛑 The risks of poor biosecurity and lack of education in the industry
🧠 Breaking down barriers between industry knowledge and new producers
🤝 Building JAB Agri Solutions to educate and support small-scale producers
🌱 Understanding ESG, natural capital, and telling your story as a producer
📈 How good management and record keeping can improve profitability
🌏 The importance of advocacy and strengthening the agricultural supply chain
Resources mentioned
📊 Integrity Systems (NLIS & LPA)
🌱 Australian Rural Leadership Program
📖 Stolen Focus by Johann Hari
If you enjoyed this episode
Please share it with a friend or leave a review — it really helps these stories reach more people across rural Australia and the agriculture industry.
Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
📘 Facebook: A Place to Call Home
📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au
🎙️ This episode is brought to you by SkyKelpie.
You can learn more at: SkyKelpie - Drone Mustering & Aerial Stockmanship
G’day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast, a podcast sharing the stories of people building a life in agriculture across rural Australia.
In this episode, I sit down with Lindsay Barlow from Triple B Brangus, based in Dingo, Central Queensland.
Lindsay and his family have built a highly regarded Brangus stud from the ground up, producing bulls for both southern and northern markets, while navigating one of the most important and often challenging parts of agriculture — succession.
Lindsay’s story starts far from where he is today, growing up on a pineapple farm on the Capricorn Coast before eventually finding his way back to cattle after a period of uncertainty post-school. What followed was decades of building, learning, and working through a long and complex succession journey within a family business.
This conversation dives deep into what it really takes to build a seedstock operation, the realities of succession, and the mindset required to create a sustainable future in agriculture.
In this episode, we chat about:
🏡 Growing up on a pineapple farm and early exposure to agriculture
🐄 How a Brahman bull over Angus cows sparked a lifelong Brangus journey
📈 Building the Triple B Brangus stud from a foundation herd
🤝 The realities of succession in a family business over decades
🧠 Why communication, trust, and patience are critical in succession
📉 The risks of wills being contested and planning ahead
🌱 Gradually taking on responsibility vs being thrown in the deep end
🐂 Expanding into northern Australia with a Charters Towers bull sale
📊 Using data, Breedplan, and DNA to create a point of difference
🚜 The workload and pressure behind running a seedstock operation
👨👩👦 The importance of having the right partner and support system
🌏 Why knowledge, education, and networks are key for the next generation
Resources mentioned
📊 Breedplan (performance recording and genetic evaluation) BREEDPLAN
🌱 Young Beef Producers Forum (Roma) Young Beef Producer's Forum - Australia
If you enjoyed this episode
Please share it with a friend or leave a review — it really helps these stories reach more people across rural Australia and the agriculture industry.
Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
📘 Facebook: A Place to Call Home
📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au
🎙️ Podcast Partner — JobSafe Pro
This episode is proudly brought to you by JobSafe Pro.
Built by farmers, for farmers — JobSafe Pro helps you simplify safety and compliance by keeping everything in one place, from inductions and chemical registers to machinery logs, incident reporting, timesheets and payroll.
Job Safe Pro Pty Ltd - An app to simplify workplace safety and compliance
G’day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast, a podcast sharing the stories of people building a life in agriculture across rural Australia.
In this episode, I sit down with Seamus O’Connor from O’Connor Agriculture, based across the Calliope and Boyne Valley regions west of Gladstone in Queensland.
Seamus and his wife Hannah are building a diversified farming business running breeders, backgrounding cattle, producing hay, and more recently selling beef direct to their local community.
But their journey into farming hasn’t been straightforward.
Seamus grew up in agriculture southwest of Goondiwindi before heading away to boarding school, studying engineering at the University of Queensland, and building a career in the resource sector during the LNG boom.
Like many people who grow up in the bush though, agriculture has a way of pulling you back.
What started with buying a small block of land and agisting cattle eventually turned into building a farming business from the ground up — navigating drought, market crashes, financial challenges and plenty of lessons along the way.
This is a conversation about first-generation farming, enterprise stacking, resilience, and the mindset required to build a life on the land from scratch.
In this episode, we chat about:
🏡 Using property investing as a stepping stone into farming
🐄 Buying their first block of land and starting with agistment cattle
📉 The lessons from drought, market downturns and early mistakes
🌾 Shifting towards regenerative grazing principles
📊 Enterprise stacking and building multiple income streams
🚜 Starting a hay production enterprise
🥩 Selling beef direct to consumers through boxed beef
📱 The power of social media in connecting farmers and customers
👨👩👦 Building a farm business while raising a young family
🌱 Why mindset and curiosity are key to building a future in agriculture
Resources mentioned
📘 Dirt to Soil — Gabe Brown
📘 A Bold Return to Giving a Damn — Will Harris
📘 Nourishment — Fred Provenza
Courses mentioned:
Follow Seamus
📸 Instagram: O’Connor Agriculture
📘Facebook: O’Connor Agriculture
If you enjoyed this episode
Please share it with a friend or leave a review — it really helps these stories reach more people across rural Australia and the agriculture industry.
Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
📘 Facebook: A Place to Call Home
📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au
🎙️ Podcast Partner — Halter
This episode is proudly partnered with Halter.
Halter® | Virtual Fencing and Pasture Management
Halter is the app and smart collar helping producers run more productive cattle properties. It provi
G’day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast, a podcast sharing the stories of people building a life in agriculture across rural Australia.
In this episode, I sit down with Mark Vass, a fifth-generation cane farmer from the Burdekin in North Queensland.
Mark’s journey into agriculture hasn’t been a straight line.
Starting out as a boilermaker, Mark spent time working across the country before jumping into running a music festival with his brother in his early 20s — an experience that taught him plenty about risk, business, and resilience.
Like many people who grow up in the bush though, agriculture has a way of pulling you back.
What started with a simple conversation with his dad eventually turned into leasing country, stepping into the family operation, and building his own farming business — all while continuing to grow and expand through diversification and business outside of agriculture.
This is a conversation about taking risks, learning through failure, building from the ground up, and the importance of integrity, community, and backing yourself.
In this episode, we chat about:
🏡 Growing up in the Burdekin and life on a cane farm
🔧 Starting out as a boilermaker and working away
🎶 Running a music festival in his early 20s — and what it taught him
📉 Losing money in business and the lessons that come with it
🌱 The decision to return to agriculture and lease family country
🚜 Building a farming business from the ground up
🌾 Diversifying beyond sugarcane and exploring alternative crops
📊 Why relying on one commodity can limit growth
🏗️ Building a business outside of agriculture alongside farming
💰 The realities of getting started in farming today
👨👩👧👦 Succession, family, and thinking long-term
🔥 Dealing with naysayers and focusing on your own path
🌱 Why integrity and community matter in business and life
Resources mentioned:
🤝 How to Win Friends and Influence People | Dale Carnegie
Follow Mark and Next Gen Building co
🌏 Website: Next Gen Building Co
If you enjoyed this episode
Please share it with a friend or leave a review — it really helps these stories reach more people across rural Australia and the agriculture industry.
Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
📘 Facebook: A Place to Call Home
📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au
🎙️ Podcast Partner — The Cathedral School
This episode is proudly partnered with The Cathedral School of St Anne and St James in Townsville.
If you’re a family in regional or remote Australia thinking about schooling options, Cathedral offers a strong boarding experience designed to support students both in and out of the classroom.
They’re hosting a Boarding Experience Weekend on the 9th and 10th of May, giving families the opportunity to explore the school, meet staff and students, and experience boarding life firsthand.
It’s completely free to attend, but places are limited.
G’day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast, a podcast sharing the stories of people building a life in agriculture across rural Australia.
In this episode, I sit down with Nick Holliday from Belvedere Farm.
Nick and his wife Brydie are building a diversified farming business producing grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork and eggs, selling their products direct to consumers.
But Nick’s pathway back into agriculture hasn’t been the typical one.
Coming from generations of agricultural families where each generation has had to start again, Nick spent time building a career in law, union organising and advocacy before eventually finding his way back to the land.
What started with buying a small parcel of land has gradually grown into a farming business built around direct-to-consumer sales, regenerative thinking, and creating a farm that could support the next generation.
This is a conversation about starting small, learning new enterprises from scratch, and building a resilient farm business over time.
In this episode, we chat about:
🌱 Growing up in agricultural families and the challenge of starting again
⚖️ Nick’s career in law, union organising and advocacy
🏡 Buying their first 20 acres and beginning their farming journey
🐄 Producing grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork and eggs
📦 Building a direct-to-consumer farm business
🌾 Soil health and regenerative agriculture principles
📱 Using social media and storytelling to connect farmers and consumers
👨👩👦 Creating a farm business that could support the next generation
🧠 The importance of personal development and leadership in agriculture
Courses mentioned:
🌱 Holistic Management Training
🤝 Red Earth Community Foundation Leadership Program
Follow Nick and Belvedere Farm
📘 Facebook: Belvedere Farm
📸 Instagram: Belvedere Farm
🌏 Website: Shop | Eat from a Thriving Ecosystem — Belvedere Farm
If you enjoyed this episode
Please share it with a friend or leave a review — it really helps these stories reach more people across rural Australia and the agriculture industry.
Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
📘 Facebook: A Place to Call Home
📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au
🎙️ Podcast Partner
This episode is proudly partnered with Speed Tagger and their Tough Tags range.
Tough Tags are Australian owned and operated in regional Queensland and designed for real grazing environments.
They feature permanent laser printing that won’t rub off, fast turnaround ordering direct from the tag company, free shipping Australia-wide, and a four-year warranty.
Plus, 10 cents from every tag sold goes towards supporting rural charities, giving back to the c
G’day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast, a podcast sharing the stories of people building a life in agriculture across rural Australia.
In this episode, I sit down with Teek Carmichael, based around Condamine in Queensland, who somehow manages to wear a few different hats across agriculture, business, fitness, and community.
Teek works in finance with Business and Rural Solutions, helps run the family cattle and feedlot operation with her husband Ben, and is also a personal trainer building community through fitness in the bush.
From growing up outside Injune as a bush kid…
To heading to Brisbane for university and elite-level netball…
To finding her way back into the Australian beef industry and helping build a family feedlot enterprise from the ground up…
This is a conversation about life in rural Australia, agriculture, feedlots, community, resilience, and building your own path in the ag industry.
It’s about navigating life between two family farming businesses.
It’s about learning new enterprises from scratch.
And it’s about remembering that looking after yourself matters just as much as looking after the business.
📘 Business and Rural Solutions
📘 Beef Central – Week in Beef Podcast
📸 Instagram: @teekcarmichael
Please share it with a friend or leave a review — it really helps these stories reach more people across rural Australia and the agriculture industry.
Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
📘 Facebook: A Place to Call Home
📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au
This episode is proudly partnered with Halter.
Halter® | Virtual Fencing and Pasture Management
Halter is the app and smart collar helping producers run more productive cattle properties. It provides virtual fencing and remote shifting, allowing you to move and manage mobs straight from your phone — no shifting breaks, no extra fencing, and no chasing labour.
With 24/7 location tracking and pasture insights, you can see exactly where your cattle are at any time and make better decisions around grazing management.
Hal
G’day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast.
In this episode, I sit down with Brecken Curtis — rural finance specialist, business owner, investor, and long-time Longreach local.
Brecken originally moved west for what was meant to be a two-year stint in banking… and more than 20 years later, he’s still there — having built a career in agricultural finance and stepped out to create his own brokerage, Season Finance.
This is a conversation about rural lending, risk, vision, and what it actually takes to build assets in agriculture.
From understanding how banks assess deals…
To why rural finance is completely different to city lending…
To the small financial decisions that quietly impact your long-term borrowing power…
It’s honest, practical insight from someone who’s seen it from both sides of the desk.
It’s about backing yourself.
It’s about having a clear plan.
And it’s about starting somewhere — even if it’s small.
In this episode, we chat about:
Resources mentioned:
🎙️ Brecken’s podcast: Dollars In The Dirt - YouTube
📘The Compound Effect Resources
📘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life : Manson, Mark: Amazon.com.au: Books
Follow Brecken and Seasoned Finance
📘 Facebook: Seasoned Finance
📘 Linkedin: Seasoned Finance: Overview | LinkedIn
🌏 Website: Home - Your Trusted Regional Finance Brokerage
Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
📘 Facebook: A Place to Call Home
📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au
This episode is proudly supported by Walkabout Brangus & Ultrablacks
Walkabout Brangus & Ultrablacks is a northern-focused bull breeding enterprise established in 2023, shaped by real experience in Northern Australian agriculture.
Their cow herd has been built from the north, for the north — with every breeding decision grounded in tough seasons, heat, and country that demands cattle earn their keep.
Their program focuses on fertility, structure, temperament and adapta
G’day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast.
In this episode, I sit down with Ross Newman — pasture agronomist, problem solver, decision-making coach, and lifelong learner based in Rockhampton.
Ross works with beef producers across Queensland helping them solve the problems consuming their pasture systems — and more importantly, coaching them to make smarter decisions in their business.
From growing up on a potato farm that’s been in the family since 1897…
To stepping away to build skills and experience…
To travelling internationally and working across pasture systems around the world…
And ultimately finding his way back home.
This is a conversation about grass, mindset, resilience, and clarity.
It’s about understanding that you can’t produce beef without leaf.
It’s about challenging “this is how we’ve always done it.”
And it’s about building prosperity — not just financially, but in soil, systems, and self.
In this episode, we chat about:
Resources mentioned:
📘 The Advancing Beef Leaders program
📚 Zero Limits – Joe Vitale
📚 Not a Life Coach - James Smith
Follow Ross and Pasture to Prosperity
📘 Facebook: Pastures To Prosperity
📸 Instagram: @PasturesToProsperity
🌏 Website: Pastures To Prosperity | Beef Production Agronomy
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends and leave a review — it really helps us keep these conversations going.
Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
📘 Facebook: A Place to Call Home
📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au
🎙️ This episode is proudly brought to you by JobSafe Pro.
Built by farmers, for farmers — JobSafe Pro helps you simplify safety and compliance by keeping everything in one place, from inductions and chemical registers to machinery logs, incident reporting, timesheets and payroll.
Job Safe Pro Pty Ltd - An app to simplify workplace safety and compliance
G’day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast.
In this episode, I sit down with Mia Ryan — founder of Howdy, a community-focused app designed to help young people connect in regional Australia.
While studying at university, Mia stepped into the world of tech and entrepreneurship, building an app in an industry she’d never worked in before.
This is a conversation about courage, backing yourself, and building something from scratch without a roadmap.
It’s about taking the values you grew up with and applying them in a completely different arena.
In this episode, we chat about:
Follow Mia and Howdy
📘 Facebook: Howdy Global
📸 Instagram: @howdy.dating
🌏 Website: Rural Dating Service | Howdy Global | AUS
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends and leave a review — it really helps us keep these conversations going.
Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
📘 Facebook: A Place to Call Home
📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au
🎙️ This episode is brought to you by SkyKelpie.
You can learn more at: SkyKelpie - Drone Mustering & Aerial Stockmanship
G’day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast.
In this episode, I’m joined by Charlie Thurgate, a 24-year-old cattle producer based in Tamworth, New South Wales — and someone who genuinely wears a lot of hats.
Charlie’s story is one of resilience, responsibility, and having a crack. From stepping into management at a young age, to building his own trucking business, surviving a serious accident, and rebuilding from the ground up — Charlie has packed a lot into his early twenties.
Today, he’s building Kamilaroi Cattle Company, a paddock-to-plate beef business grounded in regenerative principles, while also growing Element Agri, a mineral business supplying livestock and soil health products across Australia — all while continuing to learn, trial, and refine his systems.
What stood out most in this conversation is Charlie’s level of perspective and wisdom for someone his age. He’s thoughtful, open about mistakes, and deeply committed to building systems that work with the land, not against it.
This is a practical, honest conversation about regenerative agriculture, genetics, business, and what it really takes to build something from scratch in agriculture.
In this episode, we chat about:
Resources Mentioned
Follow Charlie
📘 Facebook: Kamilaroi Cattle Company
📸 Instagram: @kamilaroicattlecompany @elementagri
🌏 Website:Kamilaroi Cattle Company
If you enjoyed the episode, please share it with your friends and leave a review—it really helps us keep these conversations going.
Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
📘 Facebook: A Place to Call Home
📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au
🎙️ This episode is brought to you by, Speed Tagger
You can learn more at Speed Tagger Website
G’day and welcome to Episode 1 of Season 7 of the A Place to Call Home Podcast.
To kick off Season 7, I’m joined by Tim Lee.
I first heard Tim speak at the Young Beef Producers Forum in Roma, and you honestly could’ve heard a pin drop in the room. The way he shared his story stuck with me, and I knew it was a conversation I wanted to bring to the podcast.
Tim’s journey has taken him from the army back into agriculture, stepping into the responsibility of taking over his family’s property. Along the way, he’s had to navigate transition from the army, identity, and the realities that come with life on the land.
In this episode, we spend a lot of time unpacking regenerative agriculture, and we also have some really open conversations around mental health and the realities of life in agriculture. Tim also shares how his involvement with the Lachlan Hughes Foundation helped create real change for him personally, as well as on his family property.
This is an honest conversation about land, purpose, community, and the role regenerative thinking can play not just in improving country — but in rebuilding people as well.
In this episode, we chat about:
Resources Mentioned
If you enjoyed the episode, please share it with your friends and leave a review—it really helps us keep these conversations going.
Stay connected with A Place to Call Home:
📘 Facebook: A Place to Call Home
📸 Instagram: @aplacetocallhomepodcast
🔗 LinkedIn: A Place to Call Home Podcast
🌏 Website: www.aplacetocallhome.com.au
🎙️ This episode is brought to you by, KneeDeep Apparel
You can learn more at KneeDeep Apparel Website