Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Once upon a time........

Those magical first few words we heard as a small child. We new that what ever story came next was a world of excitement, wonderment, mystery and a tale of fulfilment. Those amazing "Fairy Tales" left us feeling as though the world was full of magic,that we can do anything and be a part of our own fairy tale. It gave us insight,scope and took us along a pathway of complete happiness and left us with confidence and feeling that all things were going to be "happy ever after".

As we grew up, our childhood fairy tales became shattered. The reality of the big wide world set's in. We are always feeling that we are pulled down a peg or two. Our dreams and goals drift away from us. We feel anxious, lose confidence, we wonder if there will ever be a, happy ever after.

This is what modern day society and business drives into us. It makes us think that, yes you can have your dreams and your fairy tales,in your mind, but in reality, corporates will drive you into the ground at every opportunity for their own gain, and at your ultimate detriment. We are left feeling, whats the point of continuing.

Well friends I want to tell you a story, and you guessed it, it starts with......

Once upon a time, a few years ago, I was sitting in front of my computer reading some blogs and forums on sustainable and productive farming solutions.
I started to read this particular farmer's insight on some things he had learnt and started to implement on his own program.
What he was putting into words in this forum, was an insight to this farmer's ultimate and achievable goals.
Then Mrs farmer popped up in the same forum, complementing her husband's insights, but from a different angle, yet again ultimately with the same ideas and the same set pathways.

The more they wrote, the more I read and researched some of this amazing tale of learning and practical knowledge building. After a while their time on the forum dwindled. I kept searching, and in my travels kept learning and passing on some of this information I had picked up from these guys.

Twelve months or so went by and as I do, I attend many field days and seminars to improve my knowledge. We were in a hall with about 40 or 50 people, where we all stood up and introduced ourselves and told every one a little about who we are and what we are there for.
Bingo. My forum fairys were there.

At the first break of the day, with cuppa and cake in hand I made a fast-track approach, shoved out my hand, introduced myself and told them how fantastic they were to be sharing and passing on their knowledge. Because you see, they are like-minded people, cut from the same stone as myself. Let's build knowledge and learning, and pass it on to the masses. That's what makes a difference.

Over the next year or two we would occasionally catch up the odd phone call, a farm visit here and there, no pressure, no sales just friends helping friends.

Earlier this year, pretty close to seeding, Mrs farmer rings me up. Andrew can you come and visit, we need to talk. No worries, is tomorrow ok?
The next day on the two hour drive to their farm I was wondering, why all of a sudden the quick cry for help or guidance.

As we sat around the kitchen table, Mr and Mrs farmer unloaded on me that things were not all good. They had lost confidence, they were anxious, had been screwed by corporates, and in their own way were feeling, is there going to be a happy ever after?

Then something amazing happened. A spark. They started to tell me about a project they had undertaken. Something from completely left field. But they believed in it. They had a passion about making it work. Because you see for them, This had to work. It was the last straw. It was the last throw of the dice. Everything came down to this.

In confidence they showed me their project. I was amazed. I had read briefly about this idea before, I had not dismissed it, I just had not followed it very closely.

After a couple of hours, I drove out of their farm knowing that,
  1. They had a passion.
  2. They had drive.
  3. Yes, they were going into some relatively uncharted waters, but they believed.
  4. They needed to share with a like minded person, and really for them, get a show of confidence from me to know that, what they were doing potentially had merit.
  5. They were giving it everything, totally.
Now here we are 6 weeks post seeding. Crops are up. Looking pretty good. We have had a variable season so far, thinks going ok.

Recently I had the privilege of being with Mr and Mrs farmer on their farm with about a dozen or so fellow primary producers to share these insights.
What we discussed and discovered during the afternoon, made many people really stand up and think about their current farming practice. What we saw was not just some healthy crops, we saw a healthy farm.

This is driven by passion and commitment. To achieve what Mr and Mrs farmer are doing is about the thinking. To undertake this pathway, first you must create the paradigm shift.

If you do what you have always done,
you will always get what you have always gotten.

You must change your thinking pattern first before making ultimate change.

We have all heard of the book The Secret and the term, The Law of Attraction. Now some of you may initially dismiss this, but please don't underestimate the power we ultimately have our self, and the power of the universe.
You ask Mr and Mrs farmer here about their law of attraction. This program for them was never going to fail. For others it might, you see, you need to have belief.

After driving out their drive way that evening, I knew that Mr and Mrs farmer and their little farmers are going to live "happily ever after".

Sweet Dreams.

Now That's Smart Thinking Smart Farming.


Keep your green light on.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Your Biggest Asset.

In my very early travels through the Western Australian Wheatbelt some years ago, I sometimes asked the farmers I was dealing with was,"Whats your biggest and most important Asset?" A couple of times, though I must admit, not very often, the answer was, this new tractor, or the big header with the 30 foot front. Unfortunately some guys could not see the bigger picture, that in fact the biggest and by far the most important asset we as primary producers have is our soil.

Now I am glad to say that every one I now deal with, and with all honesty, most primary producers know the importance of our soil, and understands the management principles we need to implement. There has been a huge shift in the thinking about how we farm in current economic and more importantly, changing environmental conditions.


But it all starts with the basics. Understanding soils. Our Greatest Asset. This unfortunately where a lot of us get lost in the system. There are and have been many "opinions" about what to do or what products to use, but before that we need to start from the bottom and work up.

So what I will introduce to you in the coming blogs are in fact the basics;

  • Where to start.


  • What do we do.


  • How do we do it.

This will revolve around the physical, chemical and biological traits of the soil, This can be quite expansive, so we will keep it as simple as possible with plenty of links to a lot of very informative information on the web.

My goal to you is to bring you a one stop shop if you like, where information can be presented and shared amongst us all.

No matter what your producing, the principles remain the same for the soil, and with that in mind mirror what we need for a healthy body ourselves.

Keep your green light on.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Smart Online Business.

Now this may not be directly related to your Smart Farm Business. But I have recently attended a Small Business Online Workshop.


As part of my role as Field Manager with Western Mineral Fertilisers, this information supplied by Seven Independent Business owners to strengthen your online presence was absolutely outstanding.
I encourage any of you who either have an online web business, are blogging or are even active with social media. Facebook, Twitter and the like. You must attend this interactive seminar.


If you have been skirting around the outside of getting involved in an online business or presence, please go the their website and register your interest.
There you will also see testimonials of those who have attened and how it has helped them.

I believe they will be conducting another round in WA in August and September.


What you can expect to take home from this seminar;

Website Development,

Content Management,

Graphic Design,

Imagery and Photos,

Search Engine Optimisation

and much more that can be tailored to suit your individual business.

While on the web subject, stay tuned for some new information and directions I will be soon involved in online, that again will keep you in a Smart Thinking Smart Farming situation.




Keep Your Green Light On.

Monday, June 7, 2010

The Leader Who Had No Title







To be inspired you got to watch this short video on Robin Sharma's Book, The Leader Who Had No Title.

You can do anything you wish. Stand up and lead.

Keep your green light on.





Thursday, May 27, 2010

Lights, Camera, ............Action.

"Ideas are ultimately worthless unless you activate them with focused and consistent action. The best leaders never leave the site of a good idea without doing something, no matter how small, to breath some light into it. Lots of people have good ideas. But the masters became masters because they had the courage and conviction to act on ideas."

A powerful idea is absolutely fascinating and utterly useless until we choose to act on it.

The above extract taken from a fantastic book I am currently reading by Robin Sharma, The Leader Who Had No Title.


Earlier this year I was involved in holding a seminar here in Perth, with over 120 primary producers attending. Our Living Soils Conference covered many aspects of sustainable broad acre farming systems. The most important aspect we promoted during the day was to act on something from the day. It could have been a soil test to know exactly what you are dealing with, or an on farm visit from me to discuss your current management practices and make subtle changes initially to take the first step. Again, it doesn't matter how small a first step, just take that step.

It can be very difficult in the current farming economic climate to change what we know, or what we do.

You have to have the courage and belief to change. But believe me, once you make that first smart step, the rest becomes easier. And as I have said previously the more you move forward, the more you learn. You are taking action and, bingo you are getting results.


So next time you hear of a good idea or system, don't talk it up then do nothing, act upon that idea. Follow through, learn more and implement a system.

Now that's Smart Thinking, Smart Farming.


Keep your green light on.

Building Knowlegde.

I look forward to be able to share with you my practices and principles relating to smart farming.

I have been building my knowledge for many years in relation to, What can I do better on my farm to increase our overall production? The more important question then became, How can I do it better?


There is a sea of alternative practices in modern day farming out in the big world. Believe me, I have seen plenty of them, and used many "products" guaranteed to improve this or increase that. Well, no surprise, some of them didn't live up to expectations.

But not all was lost. All the time I was using these products or principles, I was forever learning and increasing my knowledge base. This my friends is what it is all about. Building Knowledge.

With knowledge comes direction, the direction needed to increase your production.


Keep your green light on.

Lets set the scene.




A couple of quick seasonal photos from growth to seed set.
There is nothing better than the opportunity to feed the world quality produce.

My little bit aint much, but hey, its pretty dam important to someone somewhere.
We can all take pride in knowing that whatever we produce, we know the quality is what counts.
Let me give you the opportunities to create an excellent farming life.


Keep your green light on.