Podcast delivers trustworthy resource when taking on full-time farming

Life looks different now for Jack and Annabel Hanna, who stepped away from their off-farm careers three years ago to pursue farming full-time, managing Jack’s family property. Taking on a steep learning curve, the pair have taken every opportunity to upskill and build their knowledge.

Running a Merino and small beef operation north of Hay, NSW, Jack said taking on the property is about much more than learning to manage livestock.

“Although we both grew up on farms, it’s been a big change for us to go from turning up to work Monday to Friday and getting paid, to managing a property, a business and a budget,” Jack said.

For the Hannas, finding what areas of improvement to focus on has been part of the challenge.

“It’s hard to know what you don’t know until you come across it. We’re always learning, trying to reach out to other producers, and take part in any course we can.”

In a mission to expand their knowledge base, Jack and Annabel have been tuning into MLA’s Productivity & Profitability podcast series, which draws talent from across the industry to offer their insights on improving southern operations.

Finding what fits

Working tough rangeland country, the Hannas are continuously evaluating if Merinos are best suited to their operation, and keeping an eye open for any opportunities.

As the Hannas continue to find what works best on their property, no content has been too unique or far-fetched.

“Even episodes which aren’t relevant to our business right now are still great – they’re helping us find out about things we might look at doing in the future.

“I’ve taken a lot of practical tips onboard as mental notes that we aim to implement. When we go into confinement feeding, the first thing I’ll do is listen to that to that episode with Jill Kelly to get my head around the basics and how to look at it,” Jack said.

Outside of operations, Jack said the episodes have also been an opportunity to learn what kind of services are available, and how they might be able to utilise that on the property. 

The Hannas are currently working on benchmarking – an idea born from an episode of the series with John Francis from Agrista, who discussed how drawing on benchmarking data is a key element of assessing and managing business risk.

 “It’s all new to us, so we’re getting some data behind us to make informed decisions and work out what we can improve on,” Jack said.

“It’s really good to have a bank of resources to listen to. I like that it’s independent – no one is trying to bring in a client or sell you something, so I can trust the information.”