A Dad confided in me recently. “Ben, I’m ready to step back. I just wish the kids would start taking on some real responsibility.” The interesting bit? The next generation were telling me almost exactly the opposite. “We’re ready. We Read More...

She'd had enough of waiting. For years she'd watched the same thing go round in circles. The plan that lived in Dad's head and never made it onto paper. The kids who didn't know where they stood. The conversations that Read More...

Just one idea that might change how you show up for your family and your future. I snapped at my daughter last week. Sophie's ten. She'd been waiting all day for me to get home, and she came bounding up Read More...

The first twelve months were awesome! ​ The kids came home. Rolled up their sleeves. Suddenly there's talk of new ideas, a new energy, a real exciting feel about the future. Mum's standing at the kitchen bench with a beaming Read More...

Some farming families go through succession and it just works. No lawyer battles, no sibling resentment, no kid who quietly walked away and never really came back, no family relationships permanently damaged. The generation above steps back, the next generation Read More...

The communication style that built your farm won't pass it on. Succession planning isn't a document — it's the decision to stop using the same tool on the people you love.   I was sitting in the corner of the Read More...

A Mother's Day reflection on the women behind Australia's farming families — and the quiet role they play in farm succession planning. She's going to read this and cringe. Probably ring me and tell me off for making a fuss. Read More...

Years ago I was sitting around a kitchen table with a family about eighteen months into the worst drought their district had seen in living memory. Well below average rainfall for two summers. The subsoil moisture was gone. And the Read More...

When I look back at my twenties, I realise I had the wrong end of the stick. I believed that if I didn’t get things right early — really right — I’d miss my shot. I saw life as having Read More...

I once had an old bloke say something to me that really stuck. He said, “Ben, people reckon the hardest part is surviving the tough years.” The floods. The droughts. The low commodity prices. The high interest rates. The broken Read More...

I love Christmas. Always have. Growing up on the farm, it was the one time of year when all the extended family came home. The town cousins arrived like they’d been released from captivity. Shoes off within minutes. Climbing trees, Read More...

Remember when technology was meant to save us time? Yeah, me too. We were told: “Get this app. Buy that gadget. Automate the boring stuff.” And suddenly you’ll have all this glorious spare time — to rest, connect, think big, Read More...