The AgriCoach Podcast by The Financial Bloke

Ben Law
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Management

The podcast for farming families who want to get succession right. Putting the success in succession. Most farming families spend a lifetime building something remarkable, only to watch it come unstuck when it's time to hand it over. Not because they didn't work hard enough, but because nobody ever taught them how to do the handover well. The legal and financial side is the easy part. The hard part, and the part that actually makes or breaks a family legacy, is the people side: communication, alignment, and getting the next generation ready. That's what this podcast is about. Your host, Ben Law, coaches some of Australia's most successful farming families. Raised on the land with three generations of farming in his blood, Ben has spent almost 30 years and more than 40,000 hours alongside farming families, first as their financial adviser, now as their coach. Along the way he learned the truth nobody talks about: lasting success isn't about the money. It's about whether the family stays strong while the business keeps growing. Each fortnight, Ben sits down with farming families, trusted advisers and industry experts to unpack what it really takes to build a family that thrives across generations: strong in business, strong in relationships, and set up to hand over the farm without losing each other. If you're a farming family who wants to get ahead of succession, keeping the business winning and the family together, this is your podcast. Subscribe and join Ben each fortnight. Because a great succession isn't luck. It's preparation.

  1. 2d ago

    #132: What Wealthy Families Know That Keeps Them Wealthy with Susanne Bransgrove, Partner, Family Office Advisory – Mutual Trust

    Two people can shake hands, nod, and walk away completely certain they agree — and only discover, years later when it truly matters, that they never did. That quiet gap is where family fortunes quietly come undone. In Episode 132 of The AgriCoach Wealth & Wisdom Podcast, Ben Law sits down with Susanne Bransgrove, Partner in Family Office Advisory at Mutual Trust — a firm that has looked after some of Australia's wealthiest families since 1921, including founding families now in their seventh generation. Susanne grew up inside a 380-year-old family business, and she has spent her career on the part of succession planning that accountants and lawyers rarely reach: the relationships that quietly decide whether wealth survives the handover at all. Australian farming families own close to 90% of the nation's farms — land worth trillions, compounding year after year. Yet most families are asset-rich and time-poor when it comes to the conversations that actually protect it. So what separates the families who hold onto their land and their relationships across generations from those who lose one, or both? It rarely comes down to tax structures or clever trusts. It comes down to something far less comfortable — and far more powerful. Susanne explains what a family office really does (and why it isn't only for billionaires), why the well-worn "three-generation curse" is badly misunderstood, and the two deceptively simple questions every farming family should sit down and ask long before a will is ever drafted. She and Ben talk candidly about the unspoken assumptions that pull families apart, why the most harmonious-looking families are sometimes the most exposed, and how trading short-term discomfort for long-term clarity becomes a skill any family can build with practice. If you're quietly carrying the weight of "what happens next" for your farm, your business, and the people you love, this conversation offers a calmer, smarter way through. Press play — and start the conversation your family will thank you for.  About Mutual Trust: Established in 1921, Mutual Trust is one of Australia's leading multi-family offices, coordinating tax, wealth, estate and succession planning for many of the country's most successful families — exactly the kind of joined-up thinking farming families need as their land and legacy grow.  🌐 https://www.mutualtrust.com.au/  If this podcast has ever added value to your farming business, we'd love for you to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. https://pod.link/1598835360 ----------------------- Ben Law is a coach to some of Australia's most successful farming families. He was raised on the land — three generations of farming in his blood — and has spent almost 30 years and more than 40,000 hours alongside farming families, first as their financial adviser and now as their coach. Along the way he learned the truth nobody talks about: what makes or breaks a family legacy isn't the money — it's whether the family can communicate, get aligned, and prepare the next generation before succession arrives. That's what this podcast is about. Each fortnight Ben sits down with farming families, trusted advisers and industry experts to unpack how to build a family that thrives across generations — strong in business, strong in relationships, and set up to hand over the farm without losing each other. Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and for education purposes only. It is not financial advice. It is not legal advice. No one should act on the information without appropriate specific advice for your particular circumstances. Ben Law is a former financial advisor but is no longer licensed and cannot and will not give you specific or personal advice in this podcast. The Financial Bloke Group Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of reliance on the information in this podcast. ...

  2. Aug 13

    MINI: Stop Driving Past the Leak, Dumb Dumb

    Most farming families aren't avoiding the hard conversations because they don't care. They're avoiding them because there's always something more pressing — a pump to fix, a mob to shift, a season to get through first. But here's what that costs you. In this mini episode, Ben Law draws on one of the oldest lessons in grazing country to reframe something that quietly unravels even the strongest family operations. It's not dramatic. It doesn't announce itself. It just keeps running in the background while everyone stays busy doing real work. If you've ever had that nagging feeling that your family isn't quite on the same page — about the farm, about the future, about who gets what role and when — this episode is going to feel uncomfortably familiar. Ben unpacks why that feeling tends to stay a feeling rather than becoming a conversation, and what the difference is between a family that talks about it and one that actually does something about it. He also lays out the three-part framework he uses with farming families to move from good intentions to real decisions — and why the order of those three things matters more than most people realise. This one's short. It's direct. And it might be the nudge that finally gets the conversation onto the calendar. If this podcast has ever added value to your farming business, we'd love for you to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. https://pod.link/1598835360 ----------------------- Ben Law is a coach to some of Australia's most successful farming families. He was raised on the land — three generations of farming in his blood — and has spent almost 30 years and more than 40,000 hours alongside farming families, first as their financial adviser and now as their coach. Along the way he learned the truth nobody talks about: what makes or breaks a family legacy isn't the money — it's whether the family can communicate, get aligned, and prepare the next generation before succession arrives. That's what this podcast is about. Each fortnight Ben sits down with farming families, trusted advisers and industry experts to unpack how to build a family that thrives across generations — strong in business, strong in relationships, and set up to hand over the farm without losing each other. Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and for education purposes only. It is not financial advice. It is not legal advice. No one should act on the information without appropriate specific advice for your particular circumstances. Ben Law is a former financial advisor but is no longer licensed and cannot and will not give you specific or personal advice in this podcast. The Financial Bloke Group Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of reliance on the information in this podcast. ...

  3. Aug 6

    #131: Respond, Don't React — What the Farmers Sleeping Well at Night Are Doing Differently with Paul Omodei, Farm Business Consultant & Director - Planfarm

    There's a particular kind of farmer Paul Omodei can spot from across the kitchen table. Calm, clear-eyed, and somehow sleeping well at night while diesel prices spike and margins tighten. What separates them from the families quietly unravelling isn't luck, and it isn't the size of the balance sheet. It's a single mental shift Paul has watched play out again and again, sitting at the table with some of the country's highest-performing farming businesses. In this episode of The AgriCoach Wealth & Wisdom Podcast, Ben Law sits down with Paul Omodei, Farm Business Consultant and Director at Planfarm, for a conversation that goes straight at how the best-run agricultural businesses in Australia are getting through rising input costs, an unusually tense season and no shortage of things outside their control, without losing their nerve or their family relationships along the way. Paul has spent two decades in the room with multi-generational farming families, and he's noticed the pattern doesn't change: the ones who thrive aren't the ones with the fewest problems, they're the ones who've built a discipline into how they think, talk and decide under pressure. Ben and Paul get into why so many family operations quietly come apart long before the paddock ever lets them down, and what the families getting succession right are doing differently, well before a lawyer or an accountant is in the room. Along the way, the two trade the practical tools they each use with their own clients (and their own families) to cut through anxiety and get back to clear thinking, plus a football analogy about business fitness that Paul leans on constantly. If your family's deep in the stress of this season, or quietly wondering who leads the business next, this is the conversation to put on before your next kitchen table sit-down. 📌 About Planfarm: Planfarm is one of Australia's leading farm business consultancies, working alongside farming families across WA, SA and Queensland to build stronger, more resilient family businesses for the next generation – https://planfarm.com.au/  If this podcast has ever added value to your farming business, we'd love for you to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. https://pod.link/1598835360 ----------------------- Ben Law is a coach to some of Australia's most successful farming families. He was raised on the land — three generations of farming in his blood — and has spent almost 30 years and more than 40,000 hours alongside farming families, first as their financial adviser and now as their coach. Along the way he learned the truth nobody talks about: what makes or breaks a family legacy isn't the money — it's whether the family can communicate, get aligned, and prepare the next generation before succession arrives. That's what this podcast is about. Each fortnight Ben sits down with farming families, trusted advisers and industry experts to unpack how to build a family that thrives across generations — strong in business, strong in relationships, and set up to hand over the farm without losing each other. Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and for education purposes only. It is not financial advice. It is not legal advice. No one should act on the information without appropriate specific advice for your particular circumstances. Ben Law is a former financial advisor but is no longer licensed and cannot and will not give you specific or personal advice in this podcast. The Financial Bloke Group Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of reliance on the information in this podcast. ...

  4. Jul 23

    #130: Want to Know What's Turning the Best Talent Away From Your Agribusiness? with Lavinia Wehr, Founder & Creative Director AgSocial

    The best young operator in your district has already decided whether they'd work for you — and they made that call from their phone, long before any job ad went live. In Episode 130, Ben Law sits down with Lavinia Wehr, Founder and Creative Director of AgSocial, the socials-first agency built specifically for agricultural businesses. Lavinia grew up on a sheep and broadacre property in Esperance, backed herself into business at 22, and now works alongside some of the country's most ambitious farming enterprises to shape how they're seen online — and who they attract because of it. This conversation is for the family business that's growing, professionalising, and quietly competing for the same handful of high-calibre people everyone else wants. Lavinia and Ben talk through why a strong online presence has become one of the most practical recruitment tools a modern farm has, how the right content shows prospective staff exactly what kind of operation — and family — they'd be joining, and why the businesses getting this right are pulling ahead while others wonder where the good applicants went. You'll hear how to start from a blank page without feeling overwhelmed, what high-performing agribusinesses are doing differently right now, and the small, surprisingly ordinary moments on farm that turn out to matter most to the people watching. There's also a candid thread running through the episode about the next generation — what it really takes to step into a leadership seat in a multi-million-dollar farming business, and why backing yourself early may be one of the most valuable decisions a young person on the land can make. If your family is thinking seriously about who carries the business forward — and how you'll attract the people who help them do it — this one's worth your time. 📌 About AgSocial: a socials-first marketing agency built specifically for agricultural businesses. They create strategy and content that actually resonates with growers — and helps farms recruit better people. Worth a look if this is on your radar – https://www.agsocial.com.au/ If this podcast has ever added value to your farming business, we'd love for you to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. https://pod.link/1598835360 ----------------------- Ben Law is a coach to some of Australia's most successful farming families. He was raised on the land — three generations of farming in his blood — and has spent almost 30 years and more than 40,000 hours alongside farming families, first as their financial adviser and now as their coach. Along the way he learned the truth nobody talks about: what makes or breaks a family legacy isn't the money — it's whether the family can communicate, get aligned, and prepare the next generation before succession arrives. That's what this podcast is about. Each fortnight Ben sits down with farming families, trusted advisers and industry experts to unpack how to build a family that thrives across generations — strong in business, strong in relationships, and set up to hand over the farm without losing each other. Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and for education purposes only. It is not financial advice. It is not legal advice. No one should act on the information without appropriate specific advice for your particular circumstances. Ben Law is a former financial advisor but is no longer licensed and cannot and will not give you specific or personal advice in this podcast. The Financial Bloke Group Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of reliance on the information in this podcast. ...

  5. Jul 16

    MINI: That's Not The Point, Ben

    You've built something worth protecting. You've made the sacrifices, reinvested when others spent, and stayed the course when the easier path was right there. That discipline shaped everything. But what if the very thing that made your operation extraordinary is quietly becoming the thing that holds it back? In this mini episode, Ben Law opens with a moment that will feel uncomfortably familiar to anyone sitting on either side of the generational fence — a conversation that started with a Landcruiser and a bull bar, and ended somewhere most farming families never quite manage to go. Ben unpacks why the transition from one generation to the next so often stalls not because of money, not because of succession plans, and not because of bad intentions — but because of something far more human and far more fixable. He speaks directly and plainly to both generations: the one holding the keys and the one waiting for them. What does it actually look like when a family gets this right? What happens in the room when the person with the most power chooses curiosity over certainty? And what is the one thing each generation can do this week — not next year, not at the next family meeting — to start shifting the dynamic right now? This episode won't take long to listen to. But it might be the conversation your family has been circling for years.  If this podcast has ever added value to your farming business, we'd love for you to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. https://pod.link/1598835360 ----------------------- Ben Law is a coach to some of Australia's most successful farming families. He was raised on the land — three generations of farming in his blood — and has spent almost 30 years and more than 40,000 hours alongside farming families, first as their financial adviser and now as their coach. Along the way he learned the truth nobody talks about: what makes or breaks a family legacy isn't the money — it's whether the family can communicate, get aligned, and prepare the next generation before succession arrives. That's what this podcast is about. Each fortnight Ben sits down with farming families, trusted advisers and industry experts to unpack how to build a family that thrives across generations — strong in business, strong in relationships, and set up to hand over the farm without losing each other. Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and for education purposes only. It is not financial advice. It is not legal advice. No one should act on the information without appropriate specific advice for your particular circumstances. Ben Law is a former financial advisor but is no longer licensed and cannot and will not give you specific or personal advice in this podcast. The Financial Bloke Group Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of reliance on the information in this podcast. ...

  6. Jul 9

    #129: Succession Proof Your Family with James Hamilton, Succession Facilitator of Cultivate Advisory

    Ask most farming families when succession actually begins and you'll hear a number — fifty-eight, sixty, "once the debt's down." In Episode 129 of The AgriCoach Wealth & Wisdom Podcast, succession facilitator James Hamilton of Cultivate Advisory offers a very different answer, and it reframes almost everything families think they know about handing on the land. James isn't a consultant who parachutes in with theory. He's a farmer first — twenty-five years on the land at Narromine with his wife Amanda — who lived through his own family's succession and came out the other side with relationships stronger, not strained. That lived experience is the spine of this conversation with Ben Law, and it's why his approach lands so differently from the usual advice. Ben and James get into the one conversation most families quietly avoid for years — the one that, left unspoken, slowly erodes relationships while everyone waits for a "better time." They talk through the difference between fair and equal, and why the families who get this right stop fixating on dollar figures and start thinking about something far more powerful. There's also a deceptively simple golden rule for parents that turns the usual planning process on its head — and spares them the heartbreak of presenting a polished plan only to watch it fall flat. You'll hear why the strongest farming families treat relationships and balance sheets as equally important, what really happens when you invite the child who "doesn't need anything" into the room, and how time itself quietly becomes either the most valuable asset on the table or the most expensive thing you waste. This one is for forward-thinking families who'd rather shape the next chapter on their own terms than have it shaped for them. Whether you're five years out or fifteen, the next gen wondering how to even raise it, or a parent who keeps putting it off, family farm succession planning starts with a single conversation — and this episode shows you how to begin it well.  📌 About Cultivate Advisory: James Hamilton helps farming families across Australia move from uncertainty to a clear, agreed roadmap for succession — facilitating the conversations most advisors shy away from, with no baggage and no pressure.  👉 Learn more about Cultivate Advisory here: https://www.cultivateadvisory.com.au/ If this podcast has ever added value to your farming business, we'd love for you to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. https://pod.link/1598835360 ----------------------- Ben Law is a coach to some of Australia's most successful farming families. He was raised on the land — three generations of farming in his blood — and has spent almost 30 years and more than 40,000 hours alongside farming families, first as their financial adviser and now as their coach. Along the way he learned the truth nobody talks about: what makes or breaks a family legacy isn't the money — it's whether the family can communicate, get aligned, and prepare the next generation before succession arrives. That's what this podcast is about. Each fortnight Ben sits down with farming families, trusted advisers and industry experts to unpack how to build a family that thrives across generations — strong in business, strong in relationships, and set up to hand over the farm without losing each other. Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and for education purposes only. It is not financial advice. It is not legal advice. No one should act on the information without appropriate specific advice for your particular circumstances. Ben Law is a former financial advisor but is no longer licensed and cannot and will not give you specific or personal advice in this podcast. The Financial Bloke Group Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of reliance on the information in this podcast. ...

  7. Jun 25

    #128: How to Win the War for Talent on Your Farm, Even in the Middle of Nowhere with Kelli McDougall, Partner & Managing Director Agri Talent

    What if the reason you can't find good people has nothing to do with where your farm is — and everything to do with how you're showing up? Finding and keeping top talent in agriculture is one of the most pressing challenges facing farming families today — and it's only getting harder. With a retirement cliff looming, a shrinking pool of skilled workers, and a generation that thinks and works differently than any before it, the old ways of hiring simply don't cut it anymore. But here's the thing: the farms that are winning this battle aren't necessarily the biggest or the best resourced. They're the ones who've figured out what great people actually want — and how to communicate it. In this episode, Ben Law sits down with Kelli McDougall, Partner and Managing Director of Agri Talent, a woman who grew up between Inglewood and Goondiwindi, built her own recruitment business at 25, and has spent the better part of three decades placing top-tier talent across the agricultural sector. She sits squarely in the middle of both sides of this conversation — hearing what farming families are frustrated about, and what high performers are quietly walking away from. What she's seeing should make every farming family sit up and pay attention. Kelli unpacks why over 80% of the best placements Agri Talent makes are headhunts — meaning those people weren't even looking — and what that tells you about where the real competition for talent actually lives. She gets into the uncomfortable truth about why good people leave good employers, and why it's rarely about money. She talks about what your housing says about your standards, why a half-billion-dollar farming operation with zero online presence is raising red flags with 30-year-old candidates, and what the difference is between telling people you're a great place to work and actually being one. There's also a conversation about the tectonic demographic shifts reshaping who's available to work in agriculture over the next decade — and why automation and authenticity may be your two most powerful recruitment tools going forward. Whether you're trying to attract your first farm manager or hold onto the best operator you've ever had, this episode will change how you think about the people side of your business.  🌾 About Agri Talent Agri Talent is one of Australia's most respected agricultural recruitment specialists. They place permanent and executive talent across the full spectrum of ag — from hands-on farm roles to senior leadership — and they bring genuine industry knowledge to every brief. If you're looking for the right people for your farming enterprise, they're worth a conversation.  👉 Learn more about Agri Talent here: https://www.agritalent.com.au/ 👉 Learn more about Global People Solutions here: https://www.globalpeoplesolutions.com.au/ If this podcast has ever added value to your farming business, we'd love for you to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. https://pod.link/1598835360 ----------------------- Ben Law is a coach to some of Australia's most successful farming families. He was raised on the land — three generations of farming in his blood — and has spent almost 30 years and more than 40,000 hours alongside farming families, first as their financial adviser and now as their coach. Along the way he learned the truth nobody talks about: what makes or breaks a family legacy isn't the money — it's whether the family can communicate, get aligned, and prepare the next generation before succession arrives. That's what this podcast is about. Each fortnight Ben sits down with farming families, trusted advisers and industry experts to unpack how to build a family that thrives across generations — strong in business, strong in relationships, and set up to hand over the farm without losing each other. Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and for education purposes only. It is not financial advice. It is not legal advice. No one should act on the information without appropriate specific advice for your particular circumstances. Ben Law is a former financial advisor but is no longer licensed and cannot and will not give you specific or personal advice in this podcast. The Financial Bloke Group Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of reliance on the information in this podcast. ...

  8. Jun 18

    MINI: Your Profit Went Somewhere?

    Most farming families have a good year, watch the money come in — and then quietly wonder, sometime in March, where it all went. Not because anyone was reckless. Not because anyone wasn't working hard. But because profit without a plan doesn't stay put. It gravitates toward whatever's urgent, whatever's default, whatever no one got around to deciding. In this mini episode, Ben Law — The Financial Bloke — puts a name to something that happens quietly on farms across the country: the gap between what a family earns and what it actually decides to do with that money. It's a gap most families don't even know exists until they sit down and look at it. Ben shares the single clearest signal he's found in high-performing farming families — something that separates the ones genuinely building wealth across generations from those working just as hard and getting a fraction of the result. It's not about scale, location, or what the season did. It's about one conversation. And whether your family is having it. He also unpacks the four-bucket framework he uses with clients — a simple but surprisingly confronting way of thinking about where profit should go. What makes it confronting isn't the framework itself. It's the exercise at the end: the moment when family members who thought they were on the same page realise they've each been operating off entirely different assumptions about what the money is actually for. If the next generation in your family feels like they're not quite at the real table yet — or if money conversations tend to get started and never quite finished — this one's worth eleven minutes of your time. If this podcast has ever added value to your farming business, we'd love for you to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. https://pod.link/1598835360 ----------------------- Ben Law is a coach to some of Australia's most successful farming families. He was raised on the land — three generations of farming in his blood — and has spent almost 30 years and more than 40,000 hours alongside farming families, first as their financial adviser and now as their coach. Along the way he learned the truth nobody talks about: what makes or breaks a family legacy isn't the money — it's whether the family can communicate, get aligned, and prepare the next generation before succession arrives. That's what this podcast is about. Each fortnight Ben sits down with farming families, trusted advisers and industry experts to unpack how to build a family that thrives across generations — strong in business, strong in relationships, and set up to hand over the farm without losing each other. Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and for education purposes only. It is not financial advice. It is not legal advice. No one should act on the information without appropriate specific advice for your particular circumstances. Ben Law is a former financial advisor but is no longer licensed and cannot and will not give you specific or personal advice in this podcast. The Financial Bloke Group Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of reliance on the information in this podcast. ...

See All (157)

Trailer

Hosts & Guests

About

The podcast for farming families who want to get succession right. Putting the success in succession. Most farming families spend a lifetime building something remarkable, only to watch it come unstuck when it's time to hand it over. Not because they didn't work hard enough, but because nobody ever taught them how to do the handover well. The legal and financial side is the easy part. The hard part, and the part that actually makes or breaks a family legacy, is the people side: communication, alignment, and getting the next generation ready. That's what this podcast is about. Your host, Ben Law, coaches some of Australia's most successful farming families. Raised on the land with three generations of farming in his blood, Ben has spent almost 30 years and more than 40,000 hours alongside farming families, first as their financial adviser, now as their coach. Along the way he learned the truth nobody talks about: lasting success isn't about the money. It's about whether the family stays strong while the business keeps growing. Each fortnight, Ben sits down with farming families, trusted advisers and industry experts to unpack what it really takes to build a family that thrives across generations: strong in business, strong in relationships, and set up to hand over the farm without losing each other. If you're a farming family who wants to get ahead of succession, keeping the business winning and the family together, this is your podcast. Subscribe and join Ben each fortnight. Because a great succession isn't luck. It's preparation.

Information

You Might Also Like