Farmers Get Opportunity To Tune In To Top Minds

This month farmers have the opportunity to access the knowledge of some of their industry’s leading thinkers, in a new podcast series covering everything from grazing to governance.

“The Tune Up” is produced by farm reporting software company, Trev. Formed in 2018, Trev is designed to help better collate, organise, and report on critical farm KPIs to provide owners, staff, rural professionals, and shareholders with actionable farm business information and insights for decision making.

CEO Scott Townshend says the podcast series has provided an opportunity for Trev to tap into its deep network of respected industry leaders, happy to share their knowledge.

“I’m sure everybody will recognise some or even all of the podcast guests. But for many of us, having access or the time off-farm to chat with these people is difficult so it’s great to be able to share their wisdom and insights with a wider audience.”

The series is hosted by Trev director and self-proclaimed rural urbanite Will Burrett. He engages with the variety of guests during six episodes spread over the next six weeks.

“As farmers we wear many different hats and are increasingly expected to wear more. We are food producers, people leaders, vets, biologists, soil scientists and electricians. But what’s important at the end of the day we are passionate about what we do,” he says.

“Which is where The Tune Up comes in. We’re talking to passionate industry people at different stages of their careers about their experience and insights, inside and outside the farm gate with the aim to transfer some knowledge and hopefully help to support farmers’ decision making.”

Episode one kicks off this week with a conversation between industry analyst Julia Jones and respected Marlborough district farmer Murray King, discussing consumers’ demand for greater transparency in their food supply chain.

The challenge for farmers to reconcile farm practices with consumer expectations is only one of many faced as social media attention and scrutiny grows on farming systems.

The following weeks include discussions examining how sustainable practices translate into less waste and more value, price and productivity levers, grass’s dominance regardless of farm system, having the right clarity to attract the right people on farm, and the role reporting plays in good farm systems today.

“We have been lucky to engage with people from across the industry spectrum, not only within and beyond the farm gate, but also in terms of sheer years of experience,” says Scott Townshend.

“We have the likes of DairyNZ chair and respected dairy figure Jim van der Poel talking about how grass will always be king in any Kiwi dairy system, through to farmer and Farm 4 Life entrepreneur Tangaroa Walker.

Tangaroa brings a great perspective on decision making that many young farmers kicking off their careers will appreciate.”

While largely focused on the dairy sector, the podcast series aims to provide insights that will be useful to farmers from all parts of the industry.

Will Burrett says the podcast series reinforced to him how fortunate New Zealand farmers are to be in an industry where people are so willing to share their time and knowledge to help the wider community grow.

“For me there have been a lot of pearlers come out of the series,” he says.

These include some on-farm messages about the need to record data for future decision making and focusing on what you can control.

At a broader level, the podcast series reiterates the need to respect the environment, and to value the people on the land, without whom no farm system is successful.

“To quote Canterbury farmer Cameron Henderson who features on episode four, we want Kiwis to be proud of what we do. We’re a big part of New Zealand's economy and a big part of New Zealand's future and we really need to look after our brand just as much as looking after our own businesses,” says Will Burrett.

“The Tune Up” podcast series is accessible either as a video or audio podcast available from the usual platforms. You can also head to www.mytrev.com to watch and listen and get access to exclusive info from guests.

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