Building Futures in Agriculture with Nancy Crawshaw

This week on the podcast we have Nancy Crawshaw, Extension Manager for Angus Australia and winner of the New Zealand Zanda McDonald Award 2024.
The conversation kicks off with Nancy’s reflections on the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle in her home region of Gisborne. “It brought communities together,” says Nancy. “When you're completely cut off, you've got no outside communication, you can't get anywhere. It's only your neighbours and your community who you've got.” 

 
As for the recovery, Nancy points out that there’s still a long way to go. “With the land being so wet, it's been moving. You can go and fix a fence one day and then it's down the next,” she explains. “There's been a lot of repairs that probably need to be done, but we're just waiting to see if that land sort of holds up or not.” Nancy highlights that it’s important to celebrate the small wins, such as a stock-proof paddock, rather than only looking at the overwhelming task ahead of you. 

Nancy’s role as Extension Manager for Augus Australia takes her across Australia and New Zealand meeting producers and helping them add value to their business, be that through identifying ‘low-hanging fruit’ or education. 

Nancy is also heavily involved in the Angus youth program, GenAngus which is an initiative to help youth in agriculture with their first steps in agriculture. Nancy has been involved in multiple youth initiatives in agriculture and is a firm believer in surrounding yourself with the right people and finding specific mentors within the sector you want to grow in. “You have to ask yourself: who do you actually want to learn from? Who is there in the industry that you want be mentored by and learn from, that's going to actually set you up?” asks Nancy. 

This is a fantastic podcast to inspire any young people in agriculture, so make sure to forward it on to your children or young shepherds! 

Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited, we help livestock farmers get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best - info@nextgenagri.com

Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex, and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand. Please consider them when making product choices, as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Head Shepherd podcast. I'm your host, mark Ferguson, ceo here at NextGen Agri International, where we help livestock managers get the best out of their stock Before we get started. Thank you to our two fantastic sponsors for continuing to sponsor this podcast. Msd Animal Health is perhaps better known as Cooper's Animal Health in Australia and for their Allflex range across the world with a comprehensive suite of animal health and management products. Heinegger is a one-stop shop for wool harvesting and animal fiber removal. The Heinegger team have a deep understanding of livestock agriculture, backed by Swiss engineering and a family business dedicated to manufacturing the best. We are grateful to our sponsors for their support, helping us bring Head Shepherd to you each week. And now it's time to get the show this week, which is a fantastic chat with nancy, who is the new zealand of the Zanna McDonald Award this year in 2024. And a really great chat with Nancy, which we'll cover a bit Before we get underway.

Speaker 1: 1:14

Just wanted to highlight an event I'm speaking at. A couple of events I'm speaking at next week. 19th and 20th of June is the Best Wool, best Lamb and Better Beef conferences in Ballarat, run by Agriculture Victoria, have been great events on the calendar for a number of years now and always put together a great show with really practical advice for farmers and also some high level stuff. I'm looking forward to finalizing both of those events. So there's been the last speaker on each of those days. On the first day, which is the Best Wool, best Land conference on the 19th of June, I'm talking about flocks of the future and the role of artificial intelligence in sheep production going forward, which will be a good opportunity to go looking into the future and talk about the work we're already doing in the current, and then at the Better Beef conference, which is the following day, on the 20th of June, same venue in Ballarat. I'm talking about cattle complexity and change and that really is a deep dive into some of the opportunities coming over the horizon and really I guess a bit of a stop and look about how important it is to be considering innovation in our agriculture industries and the rate of change we're likely to see coming at us and what that means for us. So it could sound a bit scary but we take it in a really positive light and, yeah, really looking forward to both those events and recommend you get along. As far as I know, there's still seats available. So jump on Google and Google those conferences and you'll find the detail, or there'll be detail on our website and socials as well. But yeah, looking forward to getting to those events.

Speaker 1: 2:43

But now we'll get on to chatting with Nancy. Nancy is from a line of Angus breeders up in the North Island. She's had roles with Tees Australia. She's done some study and work overseas and now works for Angus Australia as an extension officer getting around a fairly big region as we'll cover in the show. But, as I said before, nancy's the current winner, or current holder, of the Zanna MacDonald Award, so she'll be doing her mentoring package this year getting around some farms and some businesses across Australia and New Zealand and is a very worthy recipient of that prize. We look forward to bringing you Nancy Crawshaw, kia ora, nancy Crawshaw.

Speaker 2: 3:23

Morning Mark. How are you?

Speaker 1: 3:25

Good, Nancy, Great to have you along. If you could just give us a quick mehi and then we'll get into it.

Speaker 2: 3:29

Righto Ko Mamokai te maunga, ko Nyuhaka te awa, ko Rangitata te waka, ko Croshaw tuku whanau and ko Nancy taku ingoa.

Speaker 1: 3:39

So for those that don't speak Te Reo, can you run through what you've just told us?

Speaker 2: 3:44

Yes, so Momokai, our maunga, so that's like your mountain, like your nearest landmark. Nuhaka is your awa, so awa means river, so that's your nearest water system near you Ngitata.

Speaker 1: 3:57

Te Waka.

Speaker 2: 3:57

So that's the vessel my ancestors came to New Zealand on. Then Krosha is my family and my name is Nancy. So it's sort of the opposite of doing hi, my name's Nancy, I'm from New Harker. When you introduce yourself in Māori, it's sort of the reverse of where you're from, and then who you are.

Speaker 1: 4:14

Excellent, yeah, so identified by your closest water course and mountain. So obviously, yeah, you're up there in the sort of northern Hawke's Bay and been an area that's been absolutely smashed by by cycling gabrielle it's I was sort of doing a bit of research last night and obviously a pretty serious uh event for for that area. How's recovery going and what's that meant for your community up there?

Speaker 2: 4:36

the biggest one for the communities is actually brought communities together? Like actually when you're completely cut off I was in australia when it happened, but when you're completely cut off, that was in Australia when it happened but when you're cut off you've got no outside communication in terms of road, you can't get anywhere. It's only your neighbours and your community who you've got. So actually seeing how much those communities pull together and actually how strong the communities are coming out the other side of it, like I know for our local area they're now at the moment in the process of setting up a new for our local area. They're now at the moment in the process of setting up a new harker sports and rec club and we're also in the process of creating our own catchment group as well. So it's just all these things that have sort of happened, like there are sort of positives that can come out of it in terms of the actual recovery. Actually, my trip to beef was the only time I was able to get to gisborne with one stop on the road. So that was the first time I actually got a bit closer to how long it normally takes. But like the roading is obviously quite a long process, that Napier side of things around Devils Alba, we can see that's going to take a bit longer but it is improving.

Speaker 2: 5:37

I think on farm is probably where it's a bit more difficult, because last year, like, we had the cyclone back in February but it was still having quite significant rain events throughout the year. So it wasn't until early this year where things actually dried up enough that you could actually get out on farm a bit further than where you've been able to. But the hardest thing is actually being able to get those diggers and contractors in so you can actually clear some of these tracks. And all of that because they're being well and truly booked up for months and they're still booked up for a long time yet. And the other one that's interesting that happens is when you go out mustering and with the land being so wet that it's been moving is you can go and fix a fence one day and then it's down the next. So the perfect example is actually on Monday I had to go and shift him off a stock and then turned out there was a giant hole in the fence I had no idea about, so I thought my father had stitched me up. So obviously I gave him a quick phone call and be like you could have told me. That would have been a bit more convenient, but he didn't know about it at all. So it's just sort of that constant land movement that's happening.

Speaker 2: 6:39

It'll be quite interesting to see how this winter goes, because we know it's going to be. Obviously we get a bit of rain over winter, but there's also a lot of cracks sort of those pre-slip sort of cracks happening in different places and there's been a lot of repairs that probably need to be done. But we're just waiting to see if that land sort of holds up or not, so we don't go and fix it to have to go back and do the same job. So it's a slow process but it is happening and it is one that's just piece by piece, like the big one is. We've got to celebrate those little wins so that you actually feel when you get that one more stock-proof paddock, that's actually something to be celebrated rather than looking at the work you've got ahead of you.

Speaker 1: 7:16

Yeah, because I'm sure when waking up or as people got to realise, just the scale of the impact makes it, it's pretty easy to just stare at all that effort and just go well, we're never going to get this done. But obviously people, and Kiwis in particular, are pretty good at just getting into it and getting the work done and it's been awesome to see the communities that have come together as a result. And it's always, unfortunately, hardship does bring us closer together. But yeah, I'm sure it's been pretty tough out there for lots of people. We yeah, I'm sure it's been pretty tough out there for lots of people. We'll move on from the cyclone and start to hammer you with a few questions. The first one is one which I like to ask everyone these days in the last few episodes, and will hopefully stay, is what have you last changed your mind about?

Speaker 2: 8:00

Me. I get quite a few people that are starting out in ag work who give me a phone call asking me what should they do, where to go? And I think for a lot of the time when you're leaving uni you think you need to set yourself up for your career, sort of what that first job is, sort of that's going to channel you in the direction you need to go. But I think we actually sort of change that narrative a bit around who do you actually want to learn from, like who is there in the ag industry that you want to be mentored by and learn from? That's going to actually set you up, because I think everyone in ag has probably been down slightly different career paths than what they thought. But if you can find those right mentors, those right people to sort of get beside and learn from starting out even if it's not what your true interests are I think that's actually one where it's a lot more beneficial than worrying about what the job title is.

Speaker 1: 8:44

Yeah, no, no good answer. The we always, yeah, stress about what you should do at uni or you know what that first job should be or what subjects you should choose at high school or whatever. But I guess once you get a few more gray hairs, like me, you sort of realize that all that really doesn't matter. It's the people you get around you and and, yeah, the experiences you can create and the knowledge you can gather from other people is will outweigh anything in terms of where you study, what you studied and what you first made a few dollars doing. And yeah, it's awesome to see people, I guess these days changing relatively from quite different jobs and into ag and vice versa, if you're leaving ag, but hopefully more coming this way than the other way. But, yeah, no good answer. Yeah, just back from beef, it's. It's probably the biggest thing in agriculture in the southern hemisphere, maybe, I don't know. There's a lot of people get up there and a lot of everyone makes sure they're there for that one in three year event. What was your highlight at rocky?

Speaker 2: 9:35

for me, it was actually like I was over at beef back in 2015, so it was actually this time going across, you actually knew a lot more people, you actually had a lot better understanding of what you're walking into. But the one thing that really stood out for me is actually the opportunities for young people in agriculture and the amount of industry leaders that are so willing to give up their time to help make introductions or get around you if you've got ideas, how can they actually help excel?

Speaker 2: 10:01

like get those young people ahead, because that was one where sort of through the Zander Award as well. But actually seeing all your different awards that are now out there, like through the Graham Actons Programme, and then just actually how excited people are when there's youth there that are really involved in ag, that are passionate about ag, and you even look at that ag tech space, like the amount of opportunities that are there, the growth in agriculture and what's to come, it actually is quite an exciting time to be involved for young people in agriculture, with the different options that are available.

Speaker 1: 10:31

Yeah, awesome and yeah, I think it's an amazing event with so many different seminars and, yeah, so many celebrations of of young people and, in a few of us, oldies as well, it's uh, yeah, it's a fantastic, fantastic event.

Speaker 2: 10:42

I guess it's a good event to go. That's right, I mean our sheep cockies. It's a good event to go to.

Speaker 1: 10:45

That's right. I mean our sheep cockies wishing they were beef cockies, maybe trying to get a bigger hat. You've been involved with, and a big fan of, the youth programs across beef and I think there's lots of value in those programs for often bringing people into ag. I know that we've got Phoebe Ackerman who basically entered ag through Heifer judging competitions. What role have things like junior judging and those junior events played in your development, do you reckon?

Speaker 2: 11:13

I think without those youth programs and all the volunteers that have put their time into the youth programs, I actually wouldn't be where I am today. Like the junior judging, I think that's a great example because you've got to do public speaking. I'll never forget the first time I used to do public speaking. I was told I was going to do stock judging, didn't know public speaking was a part of it, so I was like, all right, I'll get stuck in. Then they told me I had to speak, so I thought that was the worst idea in the world.

Speaker 1: 11:39

Tried to get out of it.

Speaker 2: 11:44

My mum put her foot down and didn't let me get out of it and the first time I did it, I was literally standing there with the microphone. I'd wrote my whole thing out and I just stood there, shaking, reading word for word off this piece of paper, handed the mic over, then was done and, like you, look at where we've come and, like a lot of people talk about that public speaking side. But that stop judging is actually such a good way to help improve those skills, because you've got that nice clear structure you've got to follow and actually doing it off the cuff rather than having to speak from now actually sets you up for success as well. So that stop judging has been a huge side in public speaking and gaining the confidence that if you know what you're talking about, it's actually your opinion that matters, because as a judge on the day, you're actually right. It's your opinion and it's how you can express your opinion and that's how well you can express your opinion and that's where you translate those skills to other sort of speaking options and other things you do in your career. That's actually such a good way to look at it, because a lot of the time when you are speaking you're actually the matter expert on that subject, so it's your opinion on the subject you're discussing which is most important, and those skills you get from stock judging are really important.

Speaker 2: 12:46

But the other side with youth programs is actually the sponsors and those volunteers around it. Because with those sponsors I remember when we first started doing Future Beef, all Flex, now MSD Animal Health, they were heavily involved in it. So when we got to the Zander Awards Summit, one of the first people I see is Jared Briggs, who was with All fleets now invest the animal power and, like those people that have been investing in youth back when I first started, which was 2006, to still be involved in it today. It's like those same company, those same people that are there supporting youth, getting around youth, and I think that's another really important thing to look at with those youth programs is it's those people that keep taking their time out of their day. If it's volunteers but sponsors to help the youth, they are actually really critical to the success of the industry going forward and I probably don't think those people actually getting enough recognition for the contribution they have or even understanding how much their impact is meaning to those people coming through.

Speaker 1: 13:44

Yeah, really good point. I mean I guess I listed the sponsors, but are really cheerleaders for the youth and for those programs and I know that they all people like Jared's a great example and Shane and lots of others where I know that it absolutely warms their heart to see someone they've seen come through the ranks and move through and come into positions of influence and just, yeah, just absolute testament to their effort in helping people get through that and helping people build their networks and build their confidence. It's yeah, they're great programs for sure. We might hammer into now your current role, which is an extension officer with Angus Australia and as part of that you've seen cattle farmed across very diverse environments. I'm guessing You've obviously also got a strong interest in cattle over the years and I know you run a few sheep up there, but cows are your thing. What's your thoughts on whether the perfect cow has been bred yet?

Speaker 2: 14:37

that's a pretty simple question, which is no for me is, whenever we're breeding we're always making those sort of corrective mating decisions, like there's always opportunity for improvement in breeding cattle. Like I think there are some great, we're doing a great job breeding cattle. There are some amazing animals out there, but the other way to look at it is what's most profitable now. How is that going to affect you in five or ten years' time? Because I think we've definitely seen over time, as selection decisions, as market pressures, have changed, what we think is a great animal now may not be the best animal in ten years' time. Like the best example of that is the belt buckle cattle when they were that small at that time they were great for that market. But we are always moving forward and the selection decisions we make in cattle can still be impacting us in 10 years' time. So if we're AIing or whatever bulls we put out or buy this year, that's going to affect the herd in 10 years' time through the female side of things.

Speaker 2: 15:31

Is that animal still going to be perfect for 10 years' time? Or what other market things are coming in? We're looking at all the research on methane. So in terms of methane low methane output. What's going to be an ideal animal for that? What other characteristics are they going to have? So I think it's a really with breeding the perfect cow. We're always breeding cattle, we're always trying to breed genetically superior animals, but I don't think you're ever going to breed the perfect cows because, as much as you like to think you've got the perfect one there's always one thing in that animal, I can guarantee it.

Speaker 1: 16:07

You would slightly change if you could, yeah, and I think I mean the other thing that's very obvious to me crossing the ditch a bit like you do is like a perfect cow in the western district of victoria is a very different perfect cow, that's sort of on your country, which is sort of vertical and overhanging some of it. Um, that's very like the job that the beef cow, the humble beef cow, has to do is quite different across different areas as well. Yes, definitely, it's fantastic to have you along today, nancy, and one of the reasons is because you're the winner of the New Zealand section of the Xander McDonald Award, which I've got a little bit to do with. Firstly, big congratulations. That's an awesome accolade and something that hopefully will both reward the effort so far but also supercharge your career in terms of the networks it brings.

Speaker 1: 16:51

I was in the room when you got announced as a winner and I was actually sitting pretty close to your brother, patrick. I reckon he had the biggest smile in the room, even maybe bigger than yours. You two are obviously pretty close.

Speaker 2: 17:01

Yeah, I think it's growing up. We've always had that sort of sibling rivalry, as most siblings do. We've both been heavily involved in ag. We've both been just always doing the youth programs growing up. A lot of the time it would be similar age groups. It would be who got first, who got second. A lot of the time we've of quite close growing up, like when he was doing quite well in young farmers, I always sort of joked with him like you're lucky you had this little sister nipping at your heels the whole time to like keep you honest, to get you where you are. But it's one that we've had quite a lot of fun with, because that sibling rivalry actually sort of drive you both of us to sort of be better and it's actually now we've sort of I've been over in Aussie for a few years.

Speaker 2: 17:39

I've been separate, but you do celebrate your wins Like Pat and Izzy. I would say there are two people where I want advice. Regardless of what it is, they'll probably be right at the top of the list of who I'm going to ring to bounce ideas off different things and to see where they're going. And it's likewise when they think I need to be a bit of a realignment. They're pretty happy to say so as well, which is always good. I think it is one of those ones that's pretty cool. And also he actually managed to get over to Beef as well with Beef and Lamb. But it was actually seeing that Xander McDonald Award we sort of talk about like the family, but it really is and people probably don't understand that until they're involved in it. So he had been able to meet a few people in sort of passing conversations at the Xander Award and then he's over there at Beef Australia having in-depth, proper conversations to them and they're coming up to me saying, oh, caught up with your brother, we've been discussing this and it's sort of like how that Xander McDonald Award does. It brings everyone into that family. So that's always been pretty cool just to be able to see it all unfold. But so it's been pretty cool just to be able to see it all unfold.

Speaker 2: 18:43

But yeah, I think we are pretty close but there's always a rivalry, but it's also celebrate your successes and I think after the like I remember just before the cyclone struck, I was at his place around Christmas and we went around the whole property and everything he told me he wanted to get done. When he brought the place he'd done it. So it was actually really cool just to see all that vision he'd had. It was finally sort of at that point where they were really happy.

Speaker 2: 19:04

And then you go through something like that and then this was, that was the year to really put the foot down, really start making some money out of it, and then just to come in and once you've done all your infrastructure, you've fixed off your waterways, here's a couple cyclones just to throw into the mix. So it's sort of one of those things where it really comes a bit clear as you do celebrate those wins, because you are going to have those shit days sometimes or shit months with the cyclone, but where you can get out and celebrate those wins, it's actually really important yeah, for sure, and I think I think on the night I think he or you might have told me that he was he was saying to you that he was thinking about applying for the Zanna McDonald Award and you said you already had.

Speaker 1: 19:45

I think that is that true, or did I make that up?

Speaker 2: 19:48

Yeah, well, izzy actually went out Christmas last the year before, so the applications we had had a few cocktails and she had given me a little Nancy, you should be looking at doing this, one of those sort of chats. And then me and Pat like it had just sort of been in the back of my head since then, like thinking about it, because generally when Izzy says something she's got quite a good point so we were sort of discussing, we discussed that that night, we sort of left and we hadn't touched anything since. And then it was about a week or two after applications had closed and me and Pat were together just talking about it and he was like, oh yeah, I was thinking of applying, but I know it's just a bit tough with the kids trying to work out time commitments and all that sort of stuff. So I was like, oh yeah, well, I applied.

Speaker 2: 20:29

I was like, oh shit, lucky, only one of us did, then would it be a fun job for the jammers having to work out one between two. But that was the next question he said is now that you're one, am I still allowed to apply? And it's like, of course I'm like no one's gonna say no to it definitely that one where it was.

Speaker 2: 20:47

We were like going against each other probably isn't something we're too keen to do, but I'd definitely say at some point he's going to apply. It'll be interesting to see what he does, so I'll be quite happy to give him a bit of a hurry along, yeah yeah, yeah, that sounds good.

Speaker 1: 21:01

You and Pat are obviously third generation there at Kennard Angus. If you had the reins today, what would you change?

Speaker 2: 21:07

Well, the fun thing with how we sort of operate things is we're actually being Dad's probably got used to the idea, since we were quite young, that we were going to have a say in the stud side of things, and we're rather opinionated to have some good discussions about the cattle yards.

Speaker 1: 21:20

I figured that might be the case. I thought that could be going on.

Speaker 2: 21:23

So that's actually, in the stud side of things, actually being pretty good, because then we can come back with ideas and different things or different genetics, and we've sort of got the number of cows that we can have a little bit of play around and trial. So, like when I was in Australia, it was bringing across different genetics to sort of have a little bit of a dabble in to see how that worked. And probably what we sort of identified was on the home farm we do run at a high stocking rate so the yearling heifers weren't getting the treatment they needed to really perform. So that's one where those yearling heifers now we sent straight after waiting 100, went down to my brother's place. Now he's going to feed them up, to grow them out so they're ready to be able to go to the ball. So we are looking at those different ways where we can sort of incorporate both our skill sets into what we're doing.

Speaker 2: 22:09

So this stud is one where, yes, dad's at the range of things, and probably a good way to put that actually is I'd send him over a coal list when I was in Australia, so I'd have a coal list where he'd get the list and he'd take it down. Everyone knows which ones my list work because the workers would tell me about when they got back. And then I'd come back from holidays and go for a drive around the place and he'd be hiding some cows in different paddocks that were on the coal list that he didn't want me to find. And you're like, hang on a minute, what's these cows? You weren't supposed to find those. So I don't think that's probably. One thing he's probably not enjoying as much with me being home is he can't quite hide them when he wants to, as much when the car pops up. So that side's all fun.

Speaker 2: 22:51

But I think in terms of the business, I think sheep and beef, where we are definitely go hand in hand. So I think if we were sort of at the reins something I've even discussed with Dad already is actually looking at how we can sort of improve infrastructure so we're not spending so much time in the yards chasing sheep around in circles. And the other one is if we reduced our capital stocking rate a bit, then that's going to be able to give us a bit more feed in the system to really pump those lambs along finished stock where we need to and then when we do have a surplus, we can go a bit more in the trading side of things rather than being so restricted to keep feed in front of the capital stock, probably the area we've discussed to look at. So now we're home a bit more, I'll be interested to see how much of the progress we can start on that one.

Speaker 1: 23:36

Yeah, excellent. I'm sure there's some pretty lively discussions there and I think, as with most parents, it's awesome to have people coming through and well, not so much the challenge, but that's all part of it. It's good to have people interested. The opposite can be pretty boring if there's no one asking the questions and pushing the envelope a bit.

Speaker 1: 23:55

One of the things during the judging of the Zanna McDonald Award I really enjoyed were your reflections on working as a QA manager at Tees in South Australia and, I guess, the opportunity to work with people from diverse backgrounds, which is not something always happens today. Sometimes we're in a bit of an echo chamber with people that look and sound like us, talk us through what you sort of learned from the people you work with and that whole experience yeah, I think the Tees, working at Tees and that QA manager role was definitely a game changer for me, because you just get so much exposure to sort of root cause analysis, problem solving, people management, efficiencies, like what you can actually learn from being in the meat works and doing a stint, I reckon, in agriculture is actually so beneficial and I think that's something.

Speaker 2: 24:37

Probably more of us that want to go on farm, be more involved in agriculture, actually should spend a bit more time learning about what's next in the supply chain and how that can set a goal for us. In terms of that QA team, I was 23 when I was actually put into that role, so that was one where for me it was. I knew I was younger than everyone in the team. There were people that were old enough to be my parents and my grandparents that now all of a sudden had to report to you. So you know straight away. I sort of knew, and for them that could be quite difficult. So I went in with the sort of mindset that no one expected me to know all the answers. Like you go into your first manager role at that age, you haven't had management experience and you're not expected to have management experience. So for me it was a big one is I didn't need to know all the answers, but when I didn't or when I made a mistake, I had to own it, and that was really around making it a safe space to make mistakes, because that way when you're in QA, people are willing to come up to you with when there's a problem. It's a heck of a lot easier to fix then and now, rather than a couple months later when they have confession. So that was a big one for me is if I could go through, be really clear on my mistakes, take ownership and show these guys right. This is a. This is what I've done about it. That was actually a key one to sort of getting that buy-in In terms of the different cultures.

Speaker 2: 26:00

That was a huge learning curve for me because obviously New Haka, new Zealand we're probably not an area that gets a large amount of international people across. So growing up is probably something I had bugger all exposure to until I got to the meatworks. So growing up is probably something I had bugger all exposure to until I got to the meat works. And a really important one was actually, if you go in Australians and Kiwis, we probably do things quite similar. But when you're actually trying to work with people of different cultures, what we may think is a simple, clear message or a straight way forward may not be how they see it. So a big one for me was actually learning about their cultures and understanding their cultures and what's important for them. Because once you actually have a bit more understanding on their cultural values, what's important, how they like to be spoken to, how they like to be treated, then that actually builds a lot tighter bonds within the team and then they respect you a lot more for it.

Speaker 2: 26:52

Like I know one of the girls she'd been a supervisor for three or four years but not one person in our team knew how to say her name properly. Like we had a shortened version of her name which we kept saying. So then one day I went and sat down in there and I just got her literally to teach me how to say her name properly and for her that was huge. Like I don't think it was much going in, I just thought I feel like I should probably know how to say your name. But to her, having someone to sit down and take the time to do that it meant so much to her. So that was like a huge one of just understanding those little things and how you interact with people has such a big impact.

Speaker 2: 27:32

And the other big one we sort of did was actually I'm not a huge meetings person, like I don't like going to meetings if you're not going to get any value out of it. So that's where part of the role is we had to have toolbox meeting, which is a part of our sort of one of the requirements through the audit process. You need to have regular meetings. So in the meetings phase I actually looked at it as what can we do in this meeting that's going to add value to you in your role or outside of work? So it's not just like here's everything that's gone wrong with everything that's gone right. It's like what could we actually do to enhance these meetings? You actually take something away from it that's going to help you in your job so what?

Speaker 2: 28:09

we actually half ended up doing was finding different videos on youtube. So one of the better ones we came across was circle of control and circle of influence, because in the meat works, that one is really important. The qa side of things, because you can focus on what's in your control. But you we spend so much time worrying about right off there's a chemical leak if the water's not at 10, all these sort of things, power cuts we spend so much time stressing and fretting over but we can't actually control them. So it's more about what we can do and how those actions take.

Speaker 2: 28:40

And that meeting was. I literally had three or four of them come up to me after that meeting because what we learned in that meeting wasn't just good for work. They actually could apply those outside of work as well. So it was working out how we could make things valuable and inviting for them. Because when we sort of started we had extremely high absenteeism. We'd have people if it was audit day they'd call in sick. You pretty much knew every time which ones were going to do it and by the time I sort of left us, we had one of the lowest absenteeisms on site in our department and we had people that were brought in to what we were trying to achieve, and it's all about making that journey and making it relevant for those guys.

Speaker 2: 29:21

But the other exciting one we did was, in their cultures, food's huge Food is extremely important. Like if they bring you food and you don't eat it, that's an insult. That was one I learned pretty early on, because they wouldn't just bring you a little bit of food, they'd be like shopping bags of food on your desk in the morning some days that you had to get through. So I was like we need to sort of work this out a bit better. So what we did is, once a month, we'd have what we called a QA smoker and that's where, instead of our normal meeting, everyone would bring a dish from their own culture and you'd come and you'd have this joint smoker so you'd all sit down, share food together, which in their cultures was extremely important. So that was turned into one of the highlights of the week. We may have over catered every single time. We had enough for smoker and lunch, but that way.

Speaker 2: 30:08

you had amazing international cuisine for smoker on lunch and you're actually respecting their cultures and doing something as a team to build that sort of team culture that was most important in their cultures. So it was a big learning process, but something I'm 100% better off for doing.

Speaker 1: 30:26

Yeah, amazing and great to hear it again. I guess your role now with Angus Australia? You're out and about a lot. Just maybe run us through for those people out there listening who are looking to follow in the footsteps of people like Nancy Croshaw. What's your role now and what do you love about it?

Speaker 2: 30:42

So my role now as an extension officer is it's all about working with members. So if they've got low-hanging fruit, how can we add value to their business? So my role is not about going out and telling them how to breed cattle or what to do. It's more right oh, this is what we're trying to achieve, what can you do to help us get there? So that's quite a key component of the role. And the other area sort of around that education understanding. So we run a lot of field day sort of activities like workshops, like I know I'm doing one in christchurch which is going to be around how to actually use Angus Tech database search, because that's something where, yes, we all know how to look up an animal ID and find a catalogue, but actually helping them uncover some of those other capabilities to make it a lot easier searching for bulls for sale. And then the other huge side of it is actually the youth program.

Speaker 2: 31:30

So that's all about running different events we can for youth to help youth in agriculture get their first, get their foot in the door, and also actually help them add value to their business and others. So I think the Zander McDonald Awards actually sort of look as a perfect example. So if you win the Zander McDonald Award you get an incredible amount of opportunities all for yourself, but it's actually around. Are you going to keep that information to yourself or are you going to create that snowball effect of getting that information through and actually adding value to your communities and the people around you? So that's what I'm looking at a bit more closely with our youth program is we've got our Gen Angus Young Leaders program out in Christchurch in a couple of weeks and one of the sessions we're actually doing there right at the end of the week is actually going to be how to make your mark, which is going to be around. How are you one going to take all this information you've learned this week to add value to your business? And then it's actually the Angus members, the Angus Foundation, who put in, say they'll put in a voluntary sort of fee into the youth program every year. How are you actually going to add value back to all those people that have funded this program to make it happen. So it's really around looking about how we can use the youth and actually get them back involved in the Angus Breed, adding value to the Angus Breed to make the breed stronger going forward.

Speaker 2: 32:46

So if we look on a lot of those committees and different organisations, it's the same people that have had to do the same roles for years and years.

Speaker 2: 32:53

So if we've got these young ones coming through that are enthused and energised, let's actually get around these people and help them and take a bit of the pressure off. So we've actually got some new ideas coming in and they can actually take a bit of ownership of adding value to the breed and moving it forward. My role is all around just helping the members and how can we add more value to them. So the best part of that for me is actually when you're sitting down at the kitchen table. What you can actually learn from those members is incredible because you're in their safe space, they're comfortable, you're driving around the ute or the buggy. The information that comes out is I probably learn as much from the members in those visits as they do from what I'm sort of providing them and like we've got some of the top producers in Australia running Angus Cows around members, so actually being able to pick their brains and learn from them at the same time as doing the job is actually pretty incredible for me really.

Speaker 1: 33:45

Yeah, for sure, and now I guess, with your role, is it partly Aus and New Zealand. What's your region to cover?

Speaker 2: 33:55

Have you got a? Region or are you? Just wherever you want to go. Yeah, I do technically have a region, so technically I cover Tasmania, Gippsland, New South Wales and New Zealand.

Speaker 1: 34:02

Oh yeah, they're all pretty close.

Speaker 2: 34:04

Yeah, that can extend a bit. Like I say, last week I was up at Beef. Like I know I've got a couple of bread, wells, fed wells. We Redwell, fidwell has been facilitating through William LA to do up in Queensland. So I do have my sit area but I can sort of go a bit skewer sometimes.

Speaker 1: 34:19

I imagine you get a bit rogue. Awesome, nancy, I'll let you get back and go and check what your dad's been up to while you've been inside recording this. But, yeah, awesome to have you along, awesome to have you as our winner for Xander McDonald. You'll be doing your mentor trip towards the end. Yeah, it's going to be pretty exciting. Like I look at the Xander McDonald Award and it's. It was actually Richard Reigns.

Speaker 2: 34:40

I was talking to him before I had to speak at Queensland Country Life while I was up at Rocky and you look at Xander McDonald, he was 42 when he passed away. So if you're older or you're younger than 42, what would you have had to achieve by the time you were 42 to be able to create an award like this? Like I think that just shows how much of a sort of a curve better he was in agriculture and how much value he was adding. So I think this award, like it's going to be, I just can't wait to get out there, get around, do the trips and actually keep learning, because the amount I was able just to gain from that Xander McDonald network while I was up at Beef.

Speaker 2: 35:18

The different people I was introduced to, the different segments of the table I had, was incredible. So you look at what's coming up and I'm actually really excited about that. But then the challenge I see it as is okay. We're going to get all this great information. How can we then actually ensure we add that information, get that value we get out of the Xander McDonald Award and bring that back to our communities? Because you look at, like those youth programs, and say the East Coast has had it pretty rough. There are probably two areas that really need it. So that's sort of what I see as a challenge for the next 12 months is right, we've got this great opportunity now how can we create this snowball effect? So, instead of just adding value to one person, we can keep that going down through our communities and the people we're involved with.

Speaker 1: 36:02

Yeah, and that's a perfect way to end this interview. But, yeah, thanks very much for your time, Nancy, and look forward to catching up with you in Christchurch, hopefully.

Speaker 2: 36:10

Thanks, fer, it's going to Christchurch hopefully.

Speaker 1: 36:11

Thanks very good, riga Sure we'll have a good night, I'm sure we will. Thanks again to Heinegger, who are proud world leaders in the manufacturing and supply of professional sheep shearing and clipping equipment. Thank you to MNSD Animal Health and Norflex Livestock Intelligence. They offer an extensive livestock product portfolio focused on animal health management, all backed up by exceptional service. We thank both of these companies for their ongoing support of the Head Shippen podcast.