In this story, RCS graduate Ben Simpson of Thistlebank, QLD shares his journey of transformation. It begins when taking over a 22,830 HA cattle enterprise in 2014.
Matt is a fifth-generation farmer in central NSW, who began working with RCS in a part time role in 2007. At University he studied accounting and finance, completing his Bachelor of Financial Administration in 1987. He worked in the financial markets in Sydney and held the role of Corporate Treasurer for a mid-level miner before returning to agriculture in the mid 1990’s. While in Sydney he completed a post-graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and his professional accounting qualifications.
On returning to agriculture one of Matt’s first endeavours was to re-educate himself on industry best practice and there his partnership with RCS began. After completing GrazingforProfit® in 1996 and as part of ExecutiveLink®, Matt implemented strategic changes to his business and became involved in the early adoption of pasture cropping. He used pasture cropping for both cash cropping and ecological regeneration, incorporating sheep and cattle in the off season. In conjunction with RCS, Matt developed Farming & GrazingforProfit in 2007.
Matt is part of the RCS team as a teacher, advisor and facilitator. He brings a number of attributes to the RCS team, from experience in the corporate and investment sectors of our economy through to sheep, cattle, farming and pasture cropping operations. As an advisor, Matt is able to engage and advise at the operational level and investor/corporate level. Matt’s time in agriculture and RCS involvement has added cropping into the RCS framework. His on-ground understanding of the economic and ecological pressures facing cropping and mixed farming add an important dimension to the RCS team.
Matt’s specialties include:
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In this story, RCS graduate Ben Simpson of Thistlebank, QLD shares his journey of transformation. It begins when taking over a 22,830 HA cattle enterprise in 2014.
Dennis Donohoe, farm manager with Aminya Pastoral, is a seasoned producer with decades of experience, and his story is a testament to how even minor changes in farming practices can lead to significant improvements in productivity and land health.
Once you have ownership as to why planning is important, the next ingredient is to work out where and how you will do your planning. When you write something down you change your relationship with the content. I cannot emphasise enough the power of getting your thoughts and plans out of your head onto paper or the computer.
The season in SA and Tassie is particularly tight right now with little or no useful rain since early January and a generally failed 2023 spring prior to that. Right now, across southern Australia and much of the eastern NSW, you won’t need to drive far out into the countryside to see cattle and sheep grazing (and lying on) hay and silage trails lined across paddocks.
Martha Lindstad and partner Robert James are farm managers on ‘Karalee’, Enngonia NSW. Both have travelled different paths to being where they are. Martha is originally from Norway, growing up on a three hectare farm before travelling to New Zealand and eventually the Pilbara in Western Australia. It was here that she saw the benefits of sustainable farming for the country and livestock.
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