Farmers don't downsize

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By Dwain Duxson.

Farmers don't downsize - Our game-changing ideas can come from anywhere, any idea, for that matter. That's been the case for Sheep industry boundary pusher Tim Leeming, who spoke on Mark Ferguson's Head Shepherd podcast the other day. Take a listen here. 

Tim, along with a few other Sheep breeders, have revolutionised the combination of reproduction and Grazing management within the Sheep Industry. His lightbulb moment on the Grazing side came from a Dairy Farmer he heard speak at a conference years ago. It just goes to prove that business ideas can come from outside the sector we operate in.

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The Grazing and reproduction techniques that Tim has implemented are very interesting but it's another subject he covered which pricked my ears. 10 years ago, Tim and his family expanded their operation (and extended themselves) by two-thirds and got down to 45 per cent equity. After building that up over the low-interest rates/high Land price era they decided to do the opposite and sell off the stuff they bought and concentrate on their home block. I'm sure they did very well, and they have invested money off Farm and would return the the market if the opportunity and desire arose again.

As Tim said, with 2 daughters not showing that they want to take over the Farm and with 20 or more years of going flat out and pushing boundaries, it was time to slow down a little. As Farmers, it's not in our nature to downsize voluntarily, so this decision is quite a unique one. Good on them. We spoke about Dave Heinjus yesterday. Both he and Tim will be speaking at our FarmTender2025 - Entrepreneurs in Farming event next year. Have you ever downsized anything within your Farming business? Reply to dwaind@farmtender.com.au

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