Hard Ground is a podcast for farmers and rural operators willing to have the difficult conversations around succession, production, politics, all of it. Join us as we pursue honesty and find the common ground we can all stand on.
What if the biggest threat to a family farm isn't drought or debt, but family conflict?
Josh and Steph sit down with family therapist Veronica Peters to explore how resentment, unresolved conflict and generational patterns can affect family relationships, succession planning and the future of a farming family.
A conversation about understanding each other, letting go of resentment and building stronger family connections.
What happens when the ground beneath everything you believe starts to shift?
Andy from Narain Grain joins Josh and Steph for a conversation that starts in the paddock and reaches into loss, identity, and the questions he once thought he’d settled.
Some seeds take years to surface. Andy never expected what would grow from his.
Is Your Bank Really Working for You?
Josh and Steph sit down with Adam Rakowski and Matt Costello from Autos Financial to explore how finance brokers help farming families and business owners secure better deals, manage cash flow, and navigate financial uncertainty.
Highlights:
The importance of trust and honesty in finance.
How brokers can help secure better loan rates.
Managing rising interest rates and cash flow.
Knowing when to review your bank and financial strategy.
The impact of financial stress on families and businesses.
What if the biggest threat to a family farm isn't drought or debt, but family conflict?
Josh and Steph sit down with family therapist Veronica Peters to explore how resentment, unresolved conflict and generational patterns can affect family relationships, succession planning and the future of a farming family.
A conversation about understanding each other, letting go of resentment and building stronger family connections.
What happens when the ground beneath everything you believe starts to shift?
Andy from Narain Grain joins Josh and Steph for a conversation that starts in the paddock and reaches into loss, identity, and the questions he once thought he’d settled.
Some seeds take years to surface. Andy never expected what would grow from his.
Is Your Bank Really Working for You?
Josh and Steph sit down with Adam Rakowski and Matt Costello from Autos Financial to explore how finance brokers help farming families and business owners secure better deals, manage cash flow, and navigate financial uncertainty.
Highlights:
The importance of trust and honesty in finance.
How brokers can help secure better loan rates.
Managing rising interest rates and cash flow.
Knowing when to review your bank and financial strategy.
The impact of financial stress on families and businesses.
What does it take to leave everything behind and find your place in a world completely different from your own?
In this episode of Hard Ground, Josh and Steph sit down with Ellie and Dan to explore rural life, relationships, regenerative farming, and the challenges of belonging. Ellie shares her journey from Oxford, England, to a 12,000-acre cattle property in Queensland, discovering that her greatest strength wasn't fitting in, but embracing what made her different.
They also dive into cell grazing, food transparency, and reconnecting consumers with the people who produce their food.
Highlights:
→ Ellie’s journey from townie to farm life and finding her purpose.
→ Why different interests can strengthen a relationship.
→ Regenerative agriculture, cell grazing, and sustainable land management.
→ Why transparency and storytelling matter for the future of Australian agriculture.
What are you escaping, and what is it costing you?
Content Warning: This episode discusses mental health struggles, isolation, and suicide. Some topics may be distressing for listeners.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in immediate danger, please contact your local emergency services or a suicide crisis helpline for support.
Josh and Steph sit down with Coach Sam Falsafi from Warrior Week for a direct conversation about men, disconnection and taking responsibility for the way we live.
From alcohol and digital distraction to the constant excuse of being “too busy,” Sam challenges the habits men use to avoid difficult conversations, unresolved hurt and the people who need them most.
Together, they explore how relationships with our fathers can shape us, what our daily habits feed into our minds, and how avoidance plays out in marriage, fatherhood and leadership. They also examine what makes a men’s group useful: honest connection, clear standards and accountability that leads to action.
At the heart of this episode is a question: what are you grounded in, and does it hold up when life gets hard?
For any man who feels stuck or knows something needs to change, this conversation offers a challenge to face what you’ve been avoiding and take the next step.
What does it take to build a $70 million family business without destroying the family behind it?
James and Emma Salerno from Ringers Western sit down with Hard Ground to unpack the principles that helped their family build one of Australia’s best-known rural clothing brands while staying united through business pressure, disagreements and extraordinarily difficult seasons.
Raised on a million-acre cattle station in the Kimberley, James and Emma share how their family went from making clothing for themselves to building Ringers Western into a business with around 20 stores, more than 300 employees and roughly $70 million in annual revenue. But this conversation goes far beyond business growth. It’s about family business, succession, conflict resolution, leadership, rural Australia, resilience, workplace culture and staying together when life gets hard.
They explain the family philosophy of “sticking together,” why no disagreement is considered too small to address, and the practical conflict-resolution process they call Team Technology. They also discuss walking through intense public scrutiny, protecting their family relationships and why adversity ultimately strengthened their commitment to one another.
If you run a family farm, agricultural business, rural business or multigenerational company, this conversation offers a very different way to think about success.
Highlights:
→ James and Emma explain why successful family businesses need to treat the health of the family as seriously as the health of the company, including their belief that unresolved small disagreements can eventually become major problems.
→ You’ll hear how their Team Technology framework works, including the idea of verbal “sparring,” bringing a third-party “Wisdom Bank” into disagreements and beginning difficult conversations with the commitment that everyone will work toward agreement.
→ They share how Ringers Western grew from clothing made for their own use into a major Australian rural br...
Why are so many rural Australians putting their own health last, and what actually gets them to finally make a change?
In this episode, we sit down with Richard Sheppy to unpack how Fat Farmers and Active Farmers are changing rural health, fitness and mental wellbeing across Australian farming communities. From taking health screenings directly to field days to creating local fitness groups where farmers can exercise alongside their mates, the mission is simple: break down the barriers that stop country people from looking after themselves.
We talk about rural men’s health, farmer mental health, exercise, alcohol, anxiety, social connection and the enormous power of simply taking the first step. Richard also shares his own transformation from heavy drinking and smoking to running, cycling, training and living alcohol-free. We explore why you don’t need a fancy gym to improve your fitness, why consistency beats going from zero to hero, and why being kind to yourself matters when you’re starting again.
If you’re a farmer, live in a rural community, struggle to prioritise your health or know someone who does, this conversation is for you.
What You’ll Learn:
→ Why taking health services directly into rural communities can reach farmers who might otherwise never book a doctor’s appointment.
→ How starting with a 20-minute walk, exercising with mates and focusing on consistency can create sustainable improvements in fitness and wellbeing.
→ What Richard discovered after giving up alcohol, including changes around hangovers, anxiety, time, energy and his relationship with drinking culture.
→ Why physical health, mental health, social connection, mindfulness, breathwork, fitness and community all belong in the same rural wellbeing toolkit.
Music licensed through Soundstripe.
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How do you pass down a family farm, business, property or inheritance without tearing the family apart?
In this episode of Hard Ground, Josh and Steph sit down with Karen Gale, founder of Forever Told, Australia’s first intentional ethical will service, to explore one of the most overlooked parts of succession planning: explaining the WHY behind your decisions. A legal will explains what happens to your assets. An intentional ethical will explains why you made those choices. And for farming families, family businesses and parents preparing for succession, that difference could prevent years of confusion, resentment and conflict.
Karen shares powerful real-life succession stories, including a $12 million farming business, three very different children, an inheritance that appeared unequal but made complete sense once the family understood the intention behind it, and the extraordinary story of a neighbour whose help saved a family farm. We also explore family legacy, stewardship, estate planning, difficult conversations, intergenerational wealth, preserving family stories and why some of the hardest conversations need to happen while everyone is still around the kitchen table.
What You’ll Learn:
→ Why a legal will tells your family what you decided, while an intentional ethical will can explain the reasoning, values and family history behind those decisions.
→ How unequal inheritance can sometimes represent thoughtful succession planning rather than favouritism, particularly when one child is best positioned to become the steward of a family farm or business.
→ Why avoiding difficult family conversations can create resentment, fear and assumptions that become far harder to resolve after someone dies.
→ How storytelling, family history and intentional communication can preserve a legacy that goes far beyond land, businesses, property or money.
Why are so many men and boys struggling with purpose, identity, relationships, fatherlessness, mental health, and belonging?
In this episode, we explore what happens when boys grow up without strong male role models, when healthy masculinity is treated as something dangerous, and when men feel increasingly disconnected from family, brotherhood, responsibility, and purpose. This episode examines the boy crisis, fatherless families, male suicide, domestic violence against men, Australia’s family court, masculinity, relationships, parenting, cultural change, and the importance of fathers in raising boys.
We also discuss why men need accountability and brotherhood, how fathers can teach boys boundaries and responsibility, why male victims of abuse often remain silent, and what family breakdown can mean for children.
This conversation challenges several popular assumptions about gender and asks a bigger question: Are we creating a culture that gives young men the guidance they need to become strong, responsible and compassionate adults?
Whether you're a parent raising boys, a man searching for greater purpose, a woman concerned about the men in her life, or someone interested in men’s mental health, fatherhood, masculinity, family breakdown and modern relationships, this discussion is designed to start a conversation we believe society needs to have.
Highlights:
→ You’ll hear why brotherhood, accountability and male mentorship may be essential for men who feel directionless, and why strong communities can give men a clearer sense of responsibility and purpose.
→ We explore the importance of fathers and positive male role models in raising boys, including how mothers and fathers can contribute differently to a child's development and why boys need healthy examples of masculine boundaries, discipline and protection.
→ The conversation also examines male victims of domestic violence and psychological abuse, why some men may be reluctant to report abuse, and the speakers’ c...
Why do so many men struggle in silence, and why do some traditional approaches to men’s mental health fail to reach the blokes who need support most?
In this episode of Hard Ground, Mary O’Brien, founder of Are You Bogged Mate?, joins rural shearer and sheep farmer Tom to unpack the reality of rural men’s mental health, suicide prevention, male loneliness, vulnerability, brotherhood, and asking for help. Mary explains why she believes men aren’t incapable of opening up, they often need a different environment, different language, and people they can genuinely relate to.
Tom shares the deeply personal impact of losing his father to suicide, recognising his own mental health struggles years later, and eventually attending one of Are You Bogged Mate?’s Bog Breaks. What he found wasn’t simply another conversation about feelings. He found a network of men who understood what it meant to be struggling and were willing to stand beside each other after the weekend ended.
This conversation explores why connection, purpose, community, practical mental health support, mateship, male identity and peer support could be critical pieces of the men’s mental health conversation—particularly in regional, rural and remote Australia.
Highlights
→ Why men may communicate differently about mental health. Mary explains why sitting face-to-face and demanding vulnerability may not work for every bloke, and why conversations while driving, walking or working shoulder-to-shoulder can sometimes feel more natural.
→ What makes Bog Breaks different? You’ll hear how Are You Bogged Mate? brings struggling men together for several days, removes the financial barriers to attending, and intentionally builds a support network that continues long after they return home.
→ What struggling looked like for Tom. Tom describes poor sleep, constant stress, increased drinking and a growing sense that life felt pointless—and why losing his father to suicide made him realise he needed to address what was happen...
Passing on a family farm should protect the legacy, not destroy the family. But when rising land values, sibling buyouts, retirement security, old promises, and unclear expectations collide, farm succession planning can quickly become a costly family dispute.
In this episode of Hard Ground, farmer and commercial property lawyer Tim Flynn explains how farming families can approach succession before the lawyers are called in to fight. This conversation is for parents preparing to step back, on-farm children hoping to continue the business, off-farm siblings wondering what is fair, and rural families trying to protect both relationships and assets.
Tim breaks down the difference between fair and equal, the risks of forcing one sibling to buy out the others, and the three main succession paths: sell, divide, or integrate. He also explains why the land asset and trading business may need to be treated separately, how clawback clauses can protect the wider family, and why a profitable, viable farm business is essential before ownership changes hands.
Most importantly, this episode shows why successful family farm succession needs the right team: a facilitator, accountant, lawyer, banker, financial planner, and sometimes a business coach. Plan early, communicate clearly, and avoid turning a farming legacy into an expensive legal war.
What You’ll Learn:
→ Fair versus equal: How farming families can decide where they sit between dividing everything equally and protecting the farm as a working family asset.
→ Sibling buyouts: Why forcing the on-farm child to purchase every sibling’s share can cripple cash flow, and what alternative succession structures may be considered.
→ Three succession paths: The practical differences between selling the farm, dividing the assets, or integrating the next generation into the family business.
→ Building the right team: When families may need a facilitator, accountant, succession lawyer, banker, financial planner, or business coach, and why...
Farm succession planning is not simply about deciding who receives the land. It is about protecting the family farm, preserving relationships, managing debt, creating opportunities for every child, and helping the next generation build a future of their own.
In this episode of Hard Ground, succession planner and farmer James Hamilton explains why equal inheritance is not always fair, and why dividing a farm equally can make it impossible for the business to survive. Drawing on professional experience and his own successful family succession, James reveals how farming families can discuss ownership, debt, off-farm siblings, retirement, management transfer, and intergenerational wealth without allowing resentment to control the outcome.
This conversation is for farmers, parents, adult children, farming couples, and rural families who know succession needs to happen but are struggling to begin. You will hear why an independent facilitator can ask questions that family members cannot, how transferring debt can improve the succession outcome, why delaying the process often makes it harder, and how regular family stewardship meetings can normalise difficult conversations.
A successful farm succession plan should give every family member a clear opportunity, not necessarily an equal collection of assets, and create a path that allows everyone to return to the family table with gratitude.
What You’ll Learn:
→ Why financial, emotional, physical, and symbolic needs must all be considered during farm succession planning.
→ How an independent succession facilitator helps families reach an in-principle agreement before accountants, lawyers, and financial planners become involved.
→ Why transferring farm debt alongside land can create a fairer and more sustainable outcome for farming and off-farm children.
→ How family stewardship meetings, clear sale conditions, and early management transfer can protect both the farm business and long-term family relationships.
Chapters
00:00 In...
Why do so many farmers stay silent when they are struggling with depression, hopelessness, or suicidal thoughts? In this episode of Hard Ground, we examine the hidden mental health crisis affecting farmers, rural men, agricultural families, and multigenerational family farms.
Farm succession is not simply a financial or legal process. When the future of a farm becomes uncertain, a farmer can feel trapped, powerless, ashamed, or unable to move the family business forward. That pressure can affect his identity, marriage, decision-making, self-worth, and belief that he is providing value to his family. In the darkest moments, he may begin to see himself as a burden and believe the people around him would be better off without him.
This conversation explores why pride, public humiliation, family conflict, masculine expectations, and fear of judgment can stop farmers from asking for mental health support. It also examines a unique barrier in rural communities: some farmers fear that admitting they are experiencing suicidal thoughts could result in their firearms being removed. For people who use firearms as everyday farming tools, that fear can create another reason to remain silent.
This episode is for farmers, farming families, rural communities, succession planners, agricultural professionals, and anyone concerned about farmer suicide prevention.
You’ll learn how unresolved farm succession disputes can create hopelessness and emotional isolation, why some men connect their personal value to leadership and financial performance, how shame and fear of public humiliation discourage honest conversations, and why mental-health campaigns can fail when practical support does not reach people inside rural communities.
The discussion also examines how family members absorb the pressure when a farmer is no longer coping, why women may feel forced to carry additional responsibility, how pride allows problems to fester behind closed doors, and why removing barriers to confidentia...
What would happen to your family’s income if illness, injury, or an unexpected crisis stopped you from working tomorrow?After being diagnosed with stage four endometriosis, Amy faced emergency surgery, weeks away from her literacy clinic, a major medical bill, and the frightening realization that no work meant no income. That moment pushed her to explore online income, affiliate marketing, digital marketing, investing, cryptocurrency, and multiple income streams. Later, while recovering in a hospital bed, one of those income streams generated $1,500 without her being physically present.In this conversation, Amy explains how income diversification transformed her family’s options in just three years. We discuss financial resilience, trading time for money, building backup income, overcoming fear and skepticism, understanding risk, and learning to think beyond traditional jobs and investments.The conversation also explores financial sovereignty, centralized and decentralized finance, alternative education, AI’s impact on future careers, raising entrepreneurial children, and creating a life with greater flexibility. This episode is for parents, business owners, farmers, sole traders, employees, and anyone who wants more control over how they earn, live, and prepare for an uncertain future.You’ll learn:→ Why depending on one income source can leave a family financially vulnerable when illness, injury, business disruption, or another unexpected event occurs.→ How Amy began building online income beside her existing clinic before eventually creating several different income streams.→ Why diversification is not only about earning more money—it can provide breathing room, flexibility, mobility, and the ability to make less emotional decisions during a crisis.→ How open-mindedness, calculated risk, failure, emerging technology, AI, financial education, and alternative ways of learning could shape the next generation.CHAPTERS00:00 Meet Amy02:15 From primary teacher to literac...
Family farm succession is not just about land, money, wills, or who gets what. It is about communication, trust, family dynamics, hard conversations, emotional safety, and whether the people around the table feel heard. In this episode of Hard Ground, we sit down with Katie Godden to talk about why farming families avoid the conversations that matter most, and what happens when those conversations are left too long.
If you are part of a family farm, rural business, or agricultural family trying to navigate succession planning, conflict, resentment, generational pressure, or difficult family communication, this conversation is for you. Katie brings years of experience in communication, behavioural profiling, NLP, teaching, and family farm facilitation to help unpack why people shut down, blow up, avoid, defend, or misread each other when the stakes are high.
This episode matters because the cost of silence is rarely immediate. It builds slowly. Trust erodes. Resentment grows. Families drift. And by the time succession arrives, the real issue is often not the farm plan, but the years of conversations nobody knew how to have.
You’ll learn why different people receive communication differently, and how understanding someone’s “map of the world” can change the way a conversation lands.
You’ll hear why trust needs to be built before the hard conversation, not during the crisis, especially in family farm succession and rural family businesses.
Katie explains how to prepare yourself before a difficult conversation by knowing the outcome you need, without trying to control the other person’s response.
You’ll also learn practical ways to regulate your body, pause, listen, repair, and help others feel heard when emotions run high.
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As a former teacher with 16 years of classroom experience and someone living with Type 1 Diabetes for over three decades, l've experienced firsthand how words can either build trust or break it.
I was also raised on a family farm, so I know what i...
Farm succession can either protect your family legacy or tear it apart. In this episode, succession lawyer Theresa Dowling explains what really happens when farming families avoid the hard conversations about ownership, inheritance, wills, unpaid labour, in-laws, family trusts, debt, retirement, and who gets control of the farm.
If you are part of a family farming business, planning to return to the farm, married into a farming family, or trying to work out what happens when Mum and Dad step back, this conversation is for you. Thersa shares real stories of farm succession disputes, court cases, broken family relationships, and the massive legal costs that can come when families do not put clear plans in place.
We talk about why farms are not just normal businesses, why emotions run so high, how communication breaks down, and why promises like “this will all be yours” can become dangerous when nothing is written down. This episode is a must-watch for anyone wanting to avoid a family farm succession disaster, protect the next generation, and keep both the farm and the family intact.
You’ll learn:
→ Why family farm succession disputes often start years before anyone goes to court.
→ How informal promises can create major legal and financial risk.
→ Why daughter-in-laws and son-in-laws should often be included in succession conversations.
→ How early planning with lawyers, accountants, financial planners, and mediators can help farming families avoid devastating conflict.
→ How succession disputes can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
→ Why communication breaks down between generations.
→ What proprietary estoppel means in plain English.
→ When legal action may become necessary.
→ How asking better questions can help families move from resentment and fear toward clarity, structure, and protection.
00:00 Intro: Why succession plans need to handle things going wrong
00:45 Meet Theresa Dowling, succession lawyer
01:12 Why farming families end up in legal disputes
03:0...
Farm succession planning can feel impossible when family conflict, old wounds, fear, resentment, and unspoken expectations are sitting under the surface. In this conversation, Josh and Steph talk honestly about what happens when the family farm, marriage, parenting, in-laws, succession planners, and father-son relationships all collide.
This episode is for farming families who know they need to talk about succession, farm transition, inheritance, business structure, communication, and the future of the farm, but feel stuck, overwhelmed, or afraid to rock the boat. If you have ever come home carrying the stress of the farm into your marriage, felt alone in the fight with your parents, or wondered whether outside help could actually make things worse or better, this conversation is for you.
Josh and Steph unpack the emotional reality behind succession planning: why good intentions can still hurt, why the first attempt might not work, why a husband and wife need to become a team, and why healing the relationships often matters before solving the business structure.
Why farm succession planning is rarely just about land, money, inheritance, or business structure, and why communication, fear, loyalty, and family history often drive the conflict.
How unresolved farm stress can follow a farmer home and quietly affect marriage, parenting, emotional health, and the feeling of safety inside the family.
Why bringing in a third party, succession planner, mediator, coach, or trusted outside voice can help families stop the cycle of frustration and start clearer conversations.
How Josh’s journey from anger, resentment, and pressure toward faith, peace, and responsibility changed the way he carried the weight of the family farm.
00:00 Intro and why this conversation matters
01:40 Stories from farming families behind the scenes
02:16 Why succession planning can tear families apart
04:33 Reflecting on their own family farm situation
05:01 Values, communication, fear, and rocking the...
Farm succession planning is one of the hardest conversations a farming family will ever have — but avoiding it can cost more than money. It can cost relationships, clarity, trust, and the future of the family farm.
In this episode of Hard Ground, Jess Cavanagh from Proactive Succession joins the conversation to unpack why farm succession, family business transition, inheritance, estate planning, and generational change are so emotionally loaded in agriculture. This is for farming families, next-generation farmers, parents on the land, sons and daughters waiting for clarity, off-farm siblings, daughter-in-laws, son-in-laws, and anyone trying to protect both the farm business and the family table.
Jess shares why many farmers see outside help as weakness, why “it’ll all be yours one day” is not a real plan, why starting early gives families more options, and why legacy is about more than who gets the land. If your family has avoided the succession conversation, struggled with control, fairness, entitlement, in-laws, or the fear of conflict, this episode gives language, perspective, and hope for a better way forward.
You’ll learn why farming families often avoid succession planning, and how the culture of independence in agriculture can make asking for help feel like failure.
Jess explains why the patriarch is often the hardest person to bring into the succession process, especially when control, vulnerability, retirement, and responsibility all feel tied together.
The episode explores why “fair” and “equal” are not always the same thing when it comes to farm inheritance, off-farm children, business viability, and keeping the farm in the family.
You’ll also hear why in-laws should not be shut out of succession conversations, and how including daughter-in-laws and son-in-laws can reveal either valuable insight or real risk early enough to plan properly.
00:00 Legacy, transparency, and family decisions
00:18 Welcome to Hard Ground
00:35 Introducing Jess Cavanagh from...
Mick is an accomplished poet, author and song writer. He writes for and has been published many times in National magazines including R M Williams “Outback” magazine. He frequently presents his poetry on ABC radio. His poem “Mates at the gate” has been picked up by Country singer, Ashley Cook and is looking like a good chance for a Golden Guitar in Tamworth.
Mick has been either a compere or feature poet at Monagaribli Care flight charity show, Boondooma Spirit of the bush, The Queensland outback Golf spectacular in Winton, NQ’s Rockin Queensland in Mackay, a series of Brisbane shows with “The Vixens of Fall”, the RNA (Brisbane Ekka) as a judge and as a feature performer. Mick runs workshops for adults and students. He judges poetry competitions all around the Country.
Mick is a harmonica player in a small musical group called “Three legged onion” He is a busy, busy chap and says “If you’re not living life on the edge you are probably taking up too much room”
Mick started and runs a rural family support charity called Mates at the Gate
Mick says “I have written and memorised many poems based on my time in the bush, on our farm as well as in fire service. He loves the dry humour and gutsy determination of people who work the land. Poems like “mates at the gate” and “All but Barton” come from real life experience. His shows are often described as comedy shows but they are much more than that.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:42 Meet Mick Martin
01:03 What Is Mates at the Gate?
02:23 How the Charity Started During the Drought
04:39 The First Farmer Trip to Fraser Island
06:57 The Generosity of Everyday Australians
08:15 Volunteer Tradies Helping Rural Families
10:26 Why Retreats Matter for Farmers
12:14 Ladies Retreats and Mental Health Support
13:01 The Media, Hope, and Aussie Culture
16:45 Why People Still Want to Help
19:28 Community, Assimilation, and Australian Identity
25:16 One Flag, One Nation, One Direction
28:22 The Mission Statement for Mates at the Gate
31:01 How to...
Matt and Brad are brothers who farm in North West NSW with their brother Phil and father Peter. They run a YouTube channel “The Jackson Brothers” where they showcase day to day farming life as well as some earthmoving content with two D11 bulldozers. They recently worked through the hard task of succession planning and offer a different insight into how faith, family and farming all come together.
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This insightful interview explores the values of family, faith, and humility in farming life. The brothers share their journey, challenges, and the importance of a biblical worldview in maintaining unity and purpose.
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Key Topics
* Family and faith in farming
* Succession planning and family unity
* The role of humility and biblical values in leadership
Matt and Brad are brothers who farm in North West NSW with their brother Phil and father Peter. They run a YouTube channel “The Jackson Brothers” where they showcase day to day farming life as well as some earthmoving content with two D11 bulldozers. They recently worked through the hard task of succession planning and offer a different insight into how faith, family and farming all come together.
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This insightful interview explores the values of family, faith, and humility in farming life. The brothers share their journey, challenges, and the importance of a biblical worldview in maintaining unity and purpose.
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Key Topics
* Family and faith in farming
* Succession planning and family unity
* The role of humility and biblical values in leadership
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Chapters
00:00 The Victim Mentality and Growth Mindset
02:30 The Jackson Family Journey in Farming
06:50 The Challenges of Organic Farming
10:52 Family Dynamics and Expectations
14:53 Faith and Family Values in Farming
19:44 Transitioning Leadership and Trust in Family Business
25:07 Navigating Life's Challenges
30:49 The Importance of Humility and Gratitude
35:29 Family Dynamics in Farming
40:57 Conflict Resolution and Communication
44:11 Mental Health and Emotional Burdens
Rebecca Fing is the Founder and Managing Director of House Paddock Training and Consulting, based in Goondiwindi. A wife, mum, country girl and self-described "susie-homemaker-wanna-be-gardener," Bec has spent nearly two decades helping businesses and individuals better manage their people, projects, safety and operations through practical training, coaching and consulting.
Known for her no-frills, down-to-earth approach, Bec specialises in WHS and HR management, focusing on real-world solutions, engagement and sustainable processes over paperwork.
Farm safety, WHS, OH&S, contractor risk, fatigue management, farm inductions, and safety paperwork can feel overwhelming for family farms, but this conversation makes it practical. If you run a farm, employ staff, use contractors, have family helping, host visitors, or worry about what happens if something goes wrong, this episode is for you.
In this Hard Ground conversation, Beck from House Paddock Consulting explains why farm safety is not just a compliance issue. It is a people issue, a family issue, and a business survival issue. She breaks down the difference between safety culture and paperwork, why “doing the right thing” matters more than ticking a box, and why simple steps like inductions, emergency plans, training evidence, and honest conversations can put your farm in a much stronger position.
This episode is for farmers who feel frustrated by safety rules, scared of liability, or unsure where to start. You will hear practical examples around fatigue at harvest, contractors on farm, recreational use of farm vehicles, shooters, visitors, SOPs, high-risk machinery, and the grey areas that make WHS feel confusing.
You’ll learn how to start with a simple farm induction, why emergency preparedness matters, what to ask your team when you want honest safety feedback, and why your documents must reflect what actually happens on your farm. You’ll also hear how contractor responsibility works, why shared responsibility m...
The proposed Australian budget tax changes have left many farmers, landholders, and rural families asking the same question: what does this mean for our farm, our trust, our capital gains tax, and our succession plan?
In this discussion, accountant George Morrice from Prime Partners Accounting breaks down the biggest proposed changes affecting Australian farmers, including CGT changes, family trusts, negative gearing, farm succession, company structures, SMSFs, fuel tax credits, biosecurity cuts, and off-farm investments. If you own farmland, operate through a trust, lease agricultural land, hold investment property, or are planning to transfer the farm to the next generation, this conversation will help you understand the risks, questions, and planning points you need to consider.This is especially important for rural families trying to protect intergenerational wealth, manage tax exposure, understand proposed trust rules, and avoid rushed financial decisions before legislation is finalised. The key message: these changes are not yet law, but they could have major consequences if passed.You’ll learn how proposed capital gains tax changes could affect farms, investment properties, and pre-CGT assets. George explains why trusts may face new tax pressure, how negative gearing may change for residential property, and why some farmers may need to reconsider company structures, SMSFs, succession planning, and off-farm income strategies. The discussion also covers fuel excise changes, farm management deposits, leasing income, biodiversity payments, and why farmers should avoid knee-jerk restructuring until the rules are clearer.Chapters00:00 Intro and welcome02:40 Meet George Morris from Prime Partners Accounting03:20 Why the budget has farmers worried04:20 Proposed changes are not law yet04:54 Leasing farmland, trusts, and CGT concerns06:00 Small business CGT concessions explained08:30 How capital gains tax could change after budget night09:40 Why the budget may create t...
When farming gets tough - financially, personally or strategically - the Rural Financial Counselling Service Northern Region is there to help producers work through what comes next. From drought and debt to succession planning and big business decisions, we walk alongside farmers and fishers with practical, free and impartial support. Trusted and experienced in holding the conversations to help navigate change with more clarity and confidence.Most farm families face their toughest challenges in silence—until now.
Emma Wallace, a seasoned financial counsellor and community advocate, uncovers the essential messaging farming populations need to hear: timely, honest conversations about money and succession are the key to long-term sustainability.In this eye-opening episode, Emma shares how communication breakdowns in farming families lead to crises—whether it’s intergenerational conflicts, financial distress, or isolation—and why starting the conversation early can transform tension into teamwork. She reveals the red flags of financial abuse and family discord, including the danger of overlooked mental health triggers and the impact of taboo topics like debt and asset transfer. Emma emphasizes that, amidst the unpredictability of industry and nature, proactive dialogue and transparency are your best tools for resilience.
You’ll discover: how to recognize the subtle signs of crisis before they escalate, why early planning can prevent costly conflicts, and practical tips for fostering honest family conversations—even in the most difficult moments.
Emma also breaks down the invaluable free services available to farmers—like the Rural Financial Counselling Service—and explains how institutions are working to destigmatize tough topics such as succession, mental health, elder abuse, and financial literacy.Why does all this matter? Because farm success isn’t just about land or machinery—it’s about people. Ignoring the warning signs and delaying conversations can threaten fam...
Farm succession planning is one of the hardest conversations a farming family can have — but avoiding it can cost far more than money. In this episode, accountant George Morris unpacks why family farms fall apart when succession, inheritance, ownership, debt, and family expectations are left unclear.--George grew up on a cattle farm near Coolah, NSW, and was appointed CFO of an Australian premium meat company at just 21. He went on to work in procurement and logistics for a global shipping company, based in Dubai with responsibilities extending into Africa, before transitioning into public practice with what was then the seventh-largest accounting firm in the world. Fourteen years ago, George moved to Sydney to build his own accounting firm, Prime Partners, from the ground up. Today, Prime Partners is recognized as one of the highest-quality advisory businesses in NSW and has since opened a second office in Orange, allowing George to divide his time between Sydney and his farm nearby.George is focused on helping business owners maximize their returns, plan for retirement, and ensure wealth transitions smoothly and thoughtfully across generations--If you are part of a family farm, married into a farming family, working in an agricultural business, or wondering how to protect the farm without losing the family, this conversation is for you. George explains why succession planning is not a one-time meeting, why fear often drives the older generation’s decisions, and why the next generation must approach the conversation with humility instead of entitlement. We talk about farm inheritance, family conflict, asset protection, fair versus equal succession, the role of accountants and succession planners, and how professional support can keep hard conversations from becoming lifelong damage.This episode matters because the cost of poor succession planning can be devastating: broken relationships, legal battles, lost farmland, damaged mental health, and the collapse of a fam...
1. Ben’s podcast link
https://thefinancialbloke.com.au/podcast/
2. Link for roadmap workshop
https://agricoach.com.au/takeaction-2/
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Ben works with ambitious multigenerational farming families across Australia to make sure they don’t lose the farm or each other, when succession comes around.
Most families spend a lifetime building something incredible, only to watch it slowly unravel in the years before transition. Not because they didn’t work hard enough, but because nobody prepared the family for how to do it together.
Ben works with both generations, the ones handing over and the ones stepping up, getting them aligned, running like a business, and making sure the next generation has actually earned the keys. By the time the lawyers and financial advisers arrive for the handover, the hard work is already done.
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Farm succession can either protect a family’s future or tear the whole family apart. In this episode, Ben Law, also known as The Financial Bloke, explains why succession planning on family farms often goes wrong, why waiting until retirement is too late, and how rural families can start building clarity, trust, leadership, and alignment years before assets ever change hands.If you are part of a family farming business, working on the land, married into a farming family, or wondering how to pass down the family farm without destroying relationships, this conversation is for you. Ben shares practical insight on farm succession planning, fair versus equal inheritance, preparing the next generation, involving daughters and daughters-in-law, managing family meetings, and avoiding the resentment that can build when no one knows what the future looks like. This is a must-listen for Australian farming families, rural business owners, parents, sons, daughters, and anyone trying to protect both the farm and the family behind it.You’ll learn why succession should start long before transition, how clarity and alignment can reduce family conflict, why the next genera...
We welcome you to Hard Ground, a podcast dedicated to people who live and work on the land. We discuss how farming extends beyond just stock and crops to encompass people, families, and the partnerships that are built on the land. We invite you to listen, laugh, and share in the emotional journey as we explore ways to build stronger families, better businesses, and find common ground together.
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