Hard Ground

Is Your Bank Really Working for You?

Josh and Steph sit down with Adam Rakowski and Matt Costello from Autos Financial to explore how finance brokers help farming families and business owners secure better deals, manage cash flow, and navigate financial uncertainty.

Highlights:

What does it take to leave everything behind and find your place in a world completely different from your own?

In this episode of Hard Ground, Josh and Steph sit down with Ellie and Dan to explore rural life, relationships, regenerative farming, and the challenges of belonging. Ellie shares her journey from Oxford, England, to a 12,000-acre cattle property in Queensland, discovering that her greatest strength wasn't fitting in, but embracing what made her different.

They also dive into cell grazing, food transparency, and reconnecting consumers with the people who produce their food.

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What are you escaping, and what is it costing you?

Content Warning: This episode discusses mental health struggles, isolation, and suicide. Some topics may be distressing for listeners.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in immediate danger, please contact your local emergency services or a suicide crisis helpline for support.

Josh and Steph sit down with Coach Sam Falsafi from Warrior Week for a direct conversation about men, disconnection and taking responsibility for the way we live.

From alcohol and digital distraction to the constant excuse of...

What does it take to build a $70 million family business without destroying the family behind it? 

James and Emma Salerno from Ringers Western sit down with Hard Ground to unpack the principles that helped their family build one of Australia’s best-known rural clothing brands while staying united through business pressure, disagreements and extraordinarily difficult seasons.

Raised on a million-acre cattle station in the Kimberley, James and Emma share how their family went from making clothing for themselves to building Ringers Western into a business with around 20 stores, more than 300 employees and roughly $70 million in ann...

Why are so many rural Australians putting their own health last, and what actually gets them to finally make a change?

In this episode, we sit down with Richard Sheppy to unpack how Fat Farmers and Active Farmers are changing rural health, fitness and mental wellbeing across Australian farming communities. From taking health screenings directly to field days to creating local fitness groups where farmers can exercise alongside their mates, the mission is simple: break down the barriers that stop country people from looking after themselves.

We talk about...

How do you pass down a family farm, business, property or inheritance without tearing the family apart?

In this episode of Hard Ground, Josh and Steph sit down with Karen Gale, founder of Forever Told, Australia’s first intentional ethical will service, to explore one of the most overlooked parts of succession planning: explaining the WHY behind your decisions. A legal will explains what happens to your assets. An intentional ethical will explains why you made those choices. And for farming families, family businesses and parents preparing for succession, that difference could prevent years of confusion, resentment an...

Why are so many men and boys struggling with purpose, identity, relationships, fatherlessness, mental health, and belonging?

In this episode, we explore what happens when boys grow up without strong male role models, when healthy masculinity is treated as something dangerous, and when men feel increasingly disconnected from family, brotherhood, responsibility, and purpose. This episode examines the boy crisis, fatherless families, male suicide, domestic violence against men, Australia’s family court, masculinity, relationships, parenting, cultural change, and the importance of fathers in raising boys.

We also discuss why men ne...

Why do so many men struggle in silence, and why do some traditional approaches to men’s mental health fail to reach the blokes who need support most?

In this episode of Hard Ground, Mary O’Brien, founder of Are You Bogged Mate?, joins rural shearer and sheep farmer Tom to unpack the reality of rural men’s mental health, suicide prevention, male loneliness, vulnerability, brotherhood, and asking for help. Mary explains why she believes men aren’t incapable of opening up, they often need a different environment, different language, and people they can genuinely relate to.

Tom...

Passing on a family farm should protect the legacy, not destroy the family. But when rising land values, sibling buyouts, retirement security, old promises, and unclear expectations collide, farm succession planning can quickly become a costly family dispute.

In this episode of Hard Ground, farmer and commercial property lawyer Tim Flynn explains how farming families can approach succession before the lawyers are called in to fight. This conversation is for parents preparing to step back, on-farm children hoping to continue the business, off-farm siblings wondering what is fair, and rural families trying to protect...

Farm succession planning is not simply about deciding who receives the land. It is about protecting the family farm, preserving relationships, managing debt, creating opportunities for every child, and helping the next generation build a future of their own.

In this episode of Hard Ground, succession planner and farmer James Hamilton explains why equal inheritance is not always fair, and why dividing a farm equally can make it impossible for the business to survive. Drawing on professional experience and his own successful family succession, James reveals how farming families can discuss ownership, debt, off-farm siblings, retirement, management...

Why do so many farmers stay silent when they are struggling with depression, hopelessness, or suicidal thoughts? In this episode of Hard Ground, we examine the hidden mental health crisis affecting farmers, rural men, agricultural families, and multigenerational family farms.

Farm succession is not simply a financial or legal process. When the future of a farm becomes uncertain, a farmer can feel trapped, powerless, ashamed, or unable to move the family business forward. That pressure can affect his identity, marriage, decision-making, self-worth, and belief that he is providing value to his family. In the darkest moments, he m...

What would happen to your family’s income if illness, injury, or an unexpected crisis stopped you from working tomorrow?After being diagnosed with stage four endometriosis, Amy faced emergency surgery, weeks away from her literacy clinic, a major medical bill, and the frightening realization that no work meant no income. That moment pushed her to explore online income, affiliate marketing, digital marketing, investing, cryptocurrency, and multiple income streams. Later, while recovering in a hospital bed, one of those income streams generated $1,500 without her being physically present.In this conversation, Amy explains how income diversification transformed her family’s opti...

Family farm succession is not just about land, money, wills, or who gets what. It is about communication, trust, family dynamics, hard conversations, emotional safety, and whether the people around the table feel heard. In this episode of Hard Ground, we sit down with Katie Godden to talk about why farming families avoid the conversations that matter most, and what happens when those conversations are left too long.

If you are part of a family farm, rural business, or agricultural family trying to navigate succession planning, conflict, resentment, generational pressure, or difficult family communication, this conversation is...

Farm succession can either protect your family legacy or tear it apart. In this episode, succession lawyer Theresa Dowling explains what really happens when farming families avoid the hard conversations about ownership, inheritance, wills, unpaid labour, in-laws, family trusts, debt, retirement, and who gets control of the farm.

If you are part of a family farming business, planning to return to the farm, married into a farming family, or trying to work out what happens when Mum and Dad step back, this conversation is for you. Thersa shares real stories of farm succession disputes, court cases, broken...

Farm succession planning can feel impossible when family conflict, old wounds, fear, resentment, and unspoken expectations are sitting under the surface. In this conversation, Josh and Steph talk honestly about what happens when the family farm, marriage, parenting, in-laws, succession planners, and father-son relationships all collide.

This episode is for farming families who know they need to talk about succession, farm transition, inheritance, business structure, communication, and the future of the farm, but feel stuck, overwhelmed, or afraid to rock the boat. If you have ever come home carrying the stress of the farm into your marriage...

Farm succession planning is one of the hardest conversations a farming family will ever have — but avoiding it can cost more than money. It can cost relationships, clarity, trust, and the future of the family farm.

In this episode of Hard Ground, Jess Cavanagh from Proactive Succession joins the conversation to unpack why farm succession, family business transition, inheritance, estate planning, and generational change are so emotionally loaded in agriculture. This is for farming families, next-generation farmers, parents on the land, sons and daughters waiting for clarity, off-farm siblings, daughter-in-laws, son-in-laws, and anyone trying to protect both th...

Mick is an accomplished poet, author and song writer. He writes for and has been published many times in National magazines including R M Williams “Outback” magazine. He frequently presents his poetry on ABC radio. His poem “Mates at the gate” has been picked up by Country singer, Ashley Cook and is looking like a good chance for a Golden Guitar in Tamworth.

Mick has been either a compere or feature poet at Monagaribli Care flight charity show, Boondooma Spirit of the bush, The Queensland outback Golf spectacular in Winton, NQ’s Rockin Queensland in Mackay, a series of Brisbane...

Matt and Brad are brothers who farm in North West NSW with their brother Phil and father Peter. They run a YouTube channel “The Jackson Brothers” where they showcase day to day farming life as well as some earthmoving content with two D11 bulldozers. They recently worked through the hard task of succession planning and offer a different insight into how faith, family and farming all come together.

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This insightful interview explores the values of family, faith, and humility in farming life. The brothers share their journey, challenges, and the importance of a biblical worl...

Matt and Brad are brothers who farm in North West NSW with their brother Phil and father Peter. They run a YouTube channel “The Jackson Brothers” where they showcase day to day farming life as well as some earthmoving content with two D11 bulldozers. They recently worked through the hard task of succession planning and offer a different insight into how faith, family and farming all come together.

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This insightful interview explores the values of family, faith, and humility in farming life. The brothers share their journey, challenges, and the importance of a biblical worl...

Rebecca Fing is the Founder and Managing Director of House Paddock Training and Consulting, based in Goondiwindi. A wife, mum, country girl and self-described "susie-homemaker-wanna-be-gardener," Bec has spent nearly two decades helping businesses and individuals better manage their people, projects, safety and operations through practical training, coaching and consulting.

Known for her no-frills, down-to-earth approach, Bec specialises in WHS and HR management, focusing on real-world solutions, engagement and sustainable processes over paperwork.

Farm safety, WHS, OH&S, contractor risk, fatigue management, farm inductions, and safety paperwork can feel overwhelming for family farms, but this conversation...

The proposed Australian budget tax changes have left many farmers, landholders, and rural families asking the same question: what does this mean for our farm, our trust, our capital gains tax, and our succession plan?

In this discussion, accountant George Morrice from Prime Partners Accounting breaks down the biggest proposed changes affecting Australian farmers, including CGT changes, family trusts, negative gearing, farm succession, company structures, SMSFs, fuel tax credits, biosecurity cuts, and off-farm investments. If you own farmland, operate through a trust, lease agricultural land, hold investment property, or are planning to transfer the farm to the...

When farming gets tough - financially, personally or strategically - the Rural Financial Counselling Service Northern Region is there to help producers work through what comes next. From drought and debt to succession planning and big business decisions, we walk alongside farmers and fishers with practical, free and impartial support. Trusted and experienced in holding the conversations to help navigate change with more clarity and confidence.Most farm families face their toughest challenges in silence—until now.

Emma Wallace, a seasoned financial counsellor and community advocate, uncovers the essential messaging farming populations need to hear: timely, honest co...

Farm succession planning is one of the hardest conversations a farming family can have — but avoiding it can cost far more than money. In this episode, accountant George Morris unpacks why family farms fall apart when succession, inheritance, ownership, debt, and family expectations are left unclear.--George grew up on a cattle farm near Coolah, NSW, and was appointed CFO of an Australian premium meat company at just 21. He went on to work in procurement and logistics for a global shipping company, based in Dubai with responsibilities extending into Africa, before transitioning into public practice with what was then th...

1. Ben’s podcast link

https://thefinancialbloke.com.au/podcast/

2. Link for roadmap workshop

https://agricoach.com.au/takeaction-2/

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Ben works with ambitious multigenerational farming families across Australia to make sure they don’t lose the farm or each other, when succession comes around.

Most families spend a lifetime building something incredible, only to watch it slowly unravel in the years before transition. Not because they didn’t work hard enough, but because nobody prepared the family for how to do it together...

We welcome you to Hard Ground, a podcast dedicated to people who live and work on the land. We discuss how farming extends beyond just stock and crops to encompass people, families, and the partnerships that are built on the land. We invite you to listen, laugh, and share in the emotional journey as we explore ways to build stronger families, better businesses, and find common ground together.