Head Shepherd
Mark Ferguson from neXtgen Agri brings you the latest in livestock, genetics, innovation and technology. We focus on sheep and beef farming in Australia and New Zealand, and the people doing great things in those industries. To learn more about neXtgen Agri, visit www.nextgenagri.com.
Episodes
287 episodes
Lessons learned from LambEx with Jane Kellock
Jane Kellock joins Mark to talk through the production and business decisions that have shaped their Merino operation in South Australia’s Mid North. From running a non-mulesed flock for more than 20 years to building a breeding programme focus...
How to run a farm business your bank trusts, with Matt Hood
Matt Hood on farm succession, agribusiness banking, and building better farm businesses.Based in Marlborough, Matt has worked across sheep and beef, dairy, and viticulture businesses in both New Zealand and Australia, with a focus on suc...
Feet, finances and faster genetic gain with Chad Taylor from Mumblebone
You'd never ignore your interest rate, so why aren't you tracking your genetic gain? This week, Ferg catches up with Chad Taylor for an update on what has been happening at Mumblebone and the recent work around footrot and feet stru...
Turning lamb data into profit with Will Barton
This week, Mark catches up with Will Barton from Gundagai Meat Processors (GMP) to chat about what has changed since his last appearance on the podcast and where things are heading next for Gundagai.Gundagai has built a reputation for do...
What practical mental health support looks like in the shearing industry with Carol Mudford
This week on the podcast, Mark chats with Carol Mudford to talk about her unconventional path into the shearing sheds and the work she is now doing to help improve mental health across the industry.Carol grew up around sheep but never pl...
Breeding seedstock for tough country at Hazeldean, with Bea Litchfield
Bea Litchfield is Managing Director of Hazeldean, a sixth-generation family seedstock business running both Merino and Angus studs alongside commercial operations. Hazeldean is a large-scale seedstock business, and they produce aro...
Key tips for improving the reproductive performance of your beef herd with Dr Shane Thomson
Join Mark and our guest this week, Dr Shane Thomson, to discuss some key points around reproductive performance in cattle. Shane is a veterinarian and partner at Holbrook Vet Centre in southern New South Wales, leading a team of 10 ...
Fat, fertility and the genetics of cow performance with Professor Wayne Pitchford
This week on the podcast, Professor Wayne Pitchford joins Mark Ferguson to discuss all things cow condition. Wayne has spent more than three decades at the University of Adelaide working across animal breeding, genetics and livestoc...
Lifetime Ewe Management, leadership and the legacy that changed sheep farming, with Mark, Darren and Andrew [PODCASTHON]
This week on the podcast, Mark (Ferg) catches up with Andrew Kennedy (Ox) and Darren Gordon (Cat) to reflect on their early years together as well as the career and influence of Dr Andrew “Thommo” Thompson. The episode is part of Podcasthon, su...
Using Genomics to Improve Heifer Selection in Commercial Beef Herds
Choosing replacement heifers shapes the productivity of a breeding herd for years to come.This week on the Head Shepherd podcast, James Starling joins Mark Ferguson to discuss the 'Optimised Heifer Selection' project, which focuses on co...
Understanding the wool industry pipeline with Shannon Donoghue
This week on the podcast, Shannon Donoghue joins us to talk about why she's so passionate about telling the story of wool. Growing up on a sheep property in South Australia, Shannon started off in the industry as a wool classer befo...
40 years of sheep selection lessons: worm resistance, longevity and performance with Allan Richardson
How much do you hate daggy sheep? Well, what started as a frustration with daggy sheep ended up reshaping this week's guest’s entire farming system.This week, Allan Richardson explains how his determination to eliminate daggy sheep ulti...
Ferg’s thoughts on the 25/26 ram sale season, how to buy a good ram and why breeding values matter.
Tune in this week on the Head Shepherd podcast to hear Ferg discuss the 2025/2026 ram sale period across Australia and New Zealand. He explains his approach to selecting the right ram team and the decisions breeders have been facing when produc...
Why you can't miss LambEx26 with Jamie Heinrich
Are you heading to LambEx26? This week on the podcast we have LambEx chair, Jamie Heinrich, on the podcast to discuss one of the sheep industry’s largest gatherings, bringing together producers, researchers, service providers and supply chain l...
Leading The New Zealand Merino Company into its next chapter with Angus Street
Our guest this week, Angus Street, has worked across journalism, global agricultural marketing, Asian supply chains and livestock trading before stepping into the role of CEO at New Zealand Merino. In this episode, Angus reflects on taking on t...
Breeding Romneys for the rain at Kaituna Ridges
How do you breed sheep that thrive in wet coastal hill country without routine drenching? What traits actually matter when you're selecting for challenging conditions? This week on the podcast, Mark is chatting to Fred Gane, who runs Kaituna Ri...
Lessons from moving sheep genetics around the world with Ian McDougall
Ever wondered about farming New Zealand sheep in the UK, or considered farming UK shedding genetics in Australia? In this episode of Head Shepherd, Ferg speaks with Ian McDougall, a veterinarian whose career - and sheep - have taken him across ...
How innovation is changing the wool industry with Sam Wan
Growing up in Western Sydney with no connection to agriculture, Samantha Wan’s path into the wool industry was anything but typical.In this week's episode, Sam talks with Ferg about finding agriculture through high school ag, building co...
Practical breeding strategies for commercial cattle producers with Carel Teseling
How can commercial producers use breeding values without recording full pedigrees? This week, Mark chats with Carel Teseling, Chief Operating Officer at Angus Australia, to find out. Carel's career has taken him from South Africa's ...
Ferg's thoughts on genetic gain
Ferg shares his thoughts on genetic gain in the sheep and beef industries. He has often said that we should be seeking to achieve a minimum of 2% genetic gain, but the top operators we deal with here at neXtgen Agri are consistently achieving 3...
Selecting for worm resistance in low-challenge systems with Swabtec
What if measuring worm resistance didn't require high parasite burdens and ALSO delivered double the heritability of egg counts?Sarah Preston, Lecturer at Federation University and cofounder of Swabtec, explains the development of their ...
Individual ewe performance and the future of sheep productivity with Tara Dwyer
What limits ewe productivity in current sheep systems?Our guest this week, Tara Dwyer, is the breeding manager at Headwaters Genetics and a farm manager within the Lone Star Farms group. Her work covers stud breeding, commercial supply c...
Results from the 'Genetics of foot health in Merinos' project with Gus Rose
Gus Rose shares the recent results from the 'Genetics of foot health in Merinos' project, which is looking at footrot and foot structure in sheep in Australia. Gus shares what the data shows on the heritability of foot shape and its relationshi...
Proactive sheep management strategies with Tim Gole
On this week's episode, Tim Gole shares how sheep farmers can increase their profits by shifting from responding to problems to preventing them in the first place.Tim runs ForFlocksSake, a vet...
How Do You Breed Short-Tailed Sheep? with Marnie Hodge
What do the genetics of tail length and the genetics of semen quality have in common? Not much, except that our guest, Marnie Hodge, Sheep Genetics Senior Development Officer, has researched them both.Tail length is moderately to highly ...
