The Farm Ownership Podcast: Recent Episodes
Cultivate Farms
We have had a few people get back to us recently why they think the time isn’t right to really dig in and make their farm ownership dreams happen. Given we are kicking off our farm pitching program (www.cultivatefarms.com/cultivator), I thought now was another great time to smash through any excuses you have which are stopping you getting on your pathway to own your farm.
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You need to be ready to jump onto opportunities The Cultivate Farms team continually get asked to comment on next gen farm ownership issues and this is helping us to uncover farm ownership opportunities. This means that farms could pop up anywhere, anytime, and they could meet your needs perfectly. But unless you have a plan and are ready, we are going to struggle to recommend you to these retiring farmers. Our need is to have high quality farmers, with a plan and proven record, to put in front of farmers that are always coming to us. That means you need to be ready, mentally and also with a plan and track record. That is why we started Cultivator - our farm pitching program. It is the very best way for you to work through everything you need to make sure you are ready. The program works and you just need to take the leap to do it. You have to have a plan, you need confidence and you need to practice your pitch; everything you get in the program.
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Farms are expensive People have been saying this for decades and it is probably more true than ever now. But no matter the price of farms, you need to be the best farmer that can make money off the farm or farming area you want to farm. Even if you had the money to buy a farm, you wouldn’t be farming somewhere you couldn’t make money. So make sure you know how to farm well and make money, then pick the locations where you think the land prices will work and focus your efforts there. Maybe you are looking at areas, which don’t make sense for the farming you do.
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I’m too busy Life will never get quieter and you always make time for your priorities We tell our farmers to sit back and think about what they want out of life and if farm ownership is up the top, then we know and have seen, farmers make time. Once you do the heavy lifting on the why, how, what and finances, you will be able to hunt for farms and ownership opportunities like breathing. It is getting things going and having the plan clear at the start which takes time. But you need to find it, and you can if your driver is to own your farm.
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I’m not ready If you don’t know how to run a farm and make money off it, then you probably aren’t ready.
But if you are working for someone else or doing farming on your own through leasing or a small block, then you are probably ready.
This is about you being confident in your own skills. Don’t worry about what others will think. If you know you are a great farmer, then you are ready. Cultivator 6 The next farm investment program starts in early May and places are filling. So please do jump on the website and check it out.
If you want to own your farm, you need a plan and this is the best way to get you to get that plan and the confidence to realise it. Get more information here: www.cultivatefarms.com/cultivator
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- Cultivate Farm Links Podbean: https://cultivatefarms.podbean.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cultivatefarms/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultivatefarms Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultivatefarms Blog : https://www.cultivatefarms.com/blog/ #CultivateFarms #AspiringFarmers #retiringfarmers
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If you can't afford to buy a farm yourself, are there ways that you might be able to team up with people who have the capital to invest in you?
There are so many people who would love to own their farm and farm ownership is so deep. They wanted to own their farm but if you start from scratch and aren't going to inherit, a five million ticket is a pretty big price.
It's not gonna be a smooth pathway or an easy pathway to get there, but it's possible.
Cultivate Farms have a focus on the Mildura and Mallee regions with our efforts to match farmers. We want to get at least three farm ownership matches in the next 12 months. Sam chats with Rebecca from ABC Wimmera about how anyone can be a farm matchmaker and help keep/bring the next generation into farm ownership.
The Federal Government have just announced the AgriStarter Loan is now available. They say they are 'loans to assist first-time farmers and loans to support farm succession arrangements'.
https://www.ric.gov.au/agristarter#guidelines
I have had a quick skim and it looks pretty good. Good rate and terms and it is excellent support next gen farmers and retiring farmers. But you still need to have a farm business plan, have some equity and have an arrangement with a bank. We will be working through the loan with our Cultivators in the current program to see how they can leverage this. It emphasises the need for you to have your farm business plan and/or investment proposal ready. There are so many opportunities to get onto your farm - the limitation is you having words on paper and financial model to convince someone to back you. This is why we run Cultivator - farm pitching program - a few times a year. So that we get you ready to jump onto opportunities like the AgriStarter Loan. Check out details here and we kick off on Feb 18. Applications close soon.
www.cultivatefarms.com/cultivator
Sam interviews Sheia from Lifeforce Farms (https://lifeforcefarm.com/) who has been on the farm ownership journey for many years. We have been working to help Sheia uncover opportunities and she just recently secured another long term partnership with a landholder. Sheia talks about the amount of effort required in finding opportunities, about the persistence needed to uncover opportunities and how powerful (and sometimes daunting) sharing her story is (via blogs and social media), but now without that constant storytelling, opportunities would not have opened up for her.
Sam shares ideas and his experiences building Cultivate Farms through content creation on social media. He believes that we have never been in a better time to share your ideas, get attention and subsequently uncover opportunities for you to own your farm (or build your business). Sam was speaking at a Bendigo startup meetup event.
In this update Sam Marwood provides an update on how we are continuing to find farm ownership opportunities for you all.
Cultivate Farms TV Episode 81:
- Cultivator Program Update - our 10 farmers are pulling together their farm pitches for the investor
- We are launching a project in Queensland on Vendor Finance - watch this space
- We are pulling together a book - ’The first farm owners guide’. Super excited for this
- Ageing on Farm program is gaining momentum. This will result in a practical guide for farmers on how they can decide if they age on farm and back a next gen farmer
- Many from the agricultural industry are reaching out to us - lots of plans underway to find more farm opportunities for you
- More farms being loaded on the system - www.cultivatefarms.com/farms
Let's get you farming!
Cultivate Farms are developing a guide for Ageing on Farm with Maria Berry who is a champion for older Australians.
Maria and Sam unpack how important this concept will be for retiring farmers across Australia
Ageing on Farm is the process of farmers realising their potential for physical, social and mental wellbeing on their farm.
A cornerstone concept is that ageing farmers heading towards retirement are best able to achieve their goals with partnership opportunities with younger farmers.
We want to help farmers identify pathways to stay on their farm for as long as they want.
Reach out if you would like to be part of the program - sam@cultivatefarms.com
Sam's delivers another ‘1-hour farm ownership pathway plan’ workshop. This time in Dalby Qld as part of the Investing in Ag series.
Sam works through super practical steps on how you can find your own pathway to farm ownership
Get inspired and let’s get you farming
You may be in your home more, but this doesn’t mean your farm ownership dreams should be stuck as well. Here are 10 ideas to keep you moving on your path.
- Write your farm investment pitch You can’t convince someone to invest into a farm if you don’t have a plan and you don’t have a plan unless you have written it down.
So spend your Corona time writing. We have a template you can download - http://www.cultivatefarms.com/aspiringfarmers?fbclid=IwAR3OSwf-mFiabFtstHYlVlWiuEhZL_D8yWigqiY7TFXkOX-Bg-L7ZekV6rQ
Write 10 dot points a day. Just get writing. Pick the farm you want, go to farmbuy.com and pick a farm and just write about it Write about a farm a retirement aged farmer you know owns and write about that. Get their advice on what you have written and say you are learning how to pitch. What a great conversation starter with them. Build a financial model. Show you know your stuff. Or use it to show you don’t know your stuff, but you are learning
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Read We have hundreds of blog posts and videos and podcasts of practical tips on how to own your farm
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Vision board Create a vision board for what you really want out of life and for your farm. If you don’t know what you are aiming for, how you know if you get there
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Little black book Get your list of people you need to be part of your journey - retiring farmers, potential investors, people who know people. Get your list sorted and figure out how you will engage with all of the ongoing, so they help find you farm opportunities.
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Keep farming or get farming You need to be good enough for someone to back you, so keep farming.
If you want to farm and haven’t even been farming, what are you doing?! Get out there and work on a farm.
- Document your farm ownership journey Finally, setup a Facebook Page and start telling people that you are on a journey to own your farm. Then create one piece of content each day talking about your desire to own a farm.
https://cultivatefarms.com/blog/Documentyourfarmownershipjourneyonsocialmedia?fbclid=IwAR3TEybjb0Dck3S-qeZAmsWugqY73CxIQASMVGDPObVwT35VcmxoPBTrl4I
- Write letters to retiring farmers Get out a piece of nice paper and your best pen and write a heartfelt and true letter to one or a few retirement-aged farmers that you know and whose farm you’d love to be involved in.
https://cultivatefarms.com/blog/Templatelettertoretiringfarmers?fbclid=IwAR2Cd22yOTe0N9c0WvFO96s8Qe-ZTxNoG30T39u3UdxdThC1EzuXVbSBG2s
- Keep your farmer profile up to date Investors and retiring farmers do check our profiles and they aren’t impressed when you don’t have much information about yourself in there. So, do yourself a favour and ensure your details are up to date and also present the best story about yourself you can.
https://cultivatefarms.com/blog/Keepyourfarmerdetailsuptodate?fbclid=IwAR3AZuP3CXl4dpO9klEa2e6sRBA3keU5ZPKstOqV6q_SZSvI7KNSz0lz00I
- Farm ownership pathway plan Watch this video which works through ways for you to write your own farm ownership pathway plan.
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cultivatefarms.com%2Fblog%2Ftheonehourfarmownershippresentation%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR24ACXRBmwovGsFEa_sCFrkFl7eAPrNev982aVqFCq8fCUTYEd1R67M--A&h=AT2ofsy1NMGaDDJJifQLotXg2adPk3tlMtj7mKcHqRzA8-WnWz6HRsF0O6Bgc3F-GGv8XXlRGsK3AUzI0Ovsmdq-wLJEQilybmACFAGs6HbenrnEvvu46D2xZO32ICfbEijqwDGoAVaDxbc6cYWBXw
- Reflect Use this time to think about what you really want out of life
Is owning a farm really a burning passion? You need to know this or else you aren’t going to follow your passion
The topics we cover in Episode 79 of Cultivate Farms TV:
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Cultivator 10 farmers
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Uncovering farm investors
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How we are key to Agriculture’s 2030 Plan
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Cultivate Communities update
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Ageing on Farm
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26 farm ownership opportunities
In November 2019 I had the chance to present the ‘one-hour farm ownership pathway plan’ to a crowd of over 300 @Young Beef Producers Forum in Roma Queensland.
I had the pleasure of co-presenting with Claire Coates from Freeland Pork who was our first farmer matched with an investor.
If you haven’t seen that amazing presentation you can watch it here:
https://cultivatefarms.com/blog/theonehourfarmownershippresentation?fbclid=IwAR3MIWTNVeDdeYBk2fBBF6cKZTwMHuxgu10-i7SFCpRLDeN0DuP6FNhpbW0
The Future Farmers Network organised the event and they had questions come in via the cloud which meant there was a stack of questions that we couldn’t get to. So I wanted to take the time to answer these questions here so everyone can benefit.
The context to these questions was a focus on practical ideas on how aspiring farmers can find their pathway to farm ownership.
The questions were ranked, so I’ll leave the highest voted questions till the end. But I think all of them were rippers. Most of my answers are ‘it depends’
As you listen you will see why we have the focus we have with Cultivate Farms -i.e. a matchmaking service. Because every farm, farm operation and the people involved have different requirements. So there is no one size fits all. People farm for different reasons, people invest for different reasons and retiring farmers want/don’t want to share for different reasons.
Your job as an aspiring farmer is to find 1000 people who might be able to help, in the expectation that one of them you will form a great relationship with and then co-own a farm together.
- How do we change employer/farm owners mentally towards young people wanting to own a farm like when I first started out I was told there is no possible way to own a farm unless you are born into it?
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What advice do you have to give young people looking to invest in properties and competing with foreign ownership?
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Wouldn't the investors and retired farmers want the best profits so how do you make money to pay them?
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With the recent loss of agricultural teaching institutions such as the ag colleges, how can the knowledge and skills from farmers who've been on the land for decades be passed on?
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Are cultivate farms goals limited to farm ownership? Or do they extend to creating profitable agribusinesses?
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What is the biggest road block young people who want to own a farm run into aside from personal motivation?
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How many deals would a candidate look at before securing a successful one?
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How involved do the investors that approach you want to be in the farming business?
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Do the arrangements result in profit sharing with the existing owner?
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Practically, is the investor the one buying the farm then entering into an agreement with you or are you taking money from the investor to then go and buy a farm?
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Return on investment in ag is so low - how do you make a living and pay back your investor?
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What returns in investment are the investors looking for when they invest?
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How is ownership transitioning? Are the new operators reinvesting profits to the owner to effectively pay off the farm?
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Not sure how to word this without sounding cynical, but wondering if there are any fail stories from Cultivate Farms matches and how has the business learnt and grown from these mistakes?
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What happens if the farm doesn't turn a profit? E.g. multiple drought years etc.
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What kind of preparation does a young farmer need before approaching a retiring farmer or investor? Do they need an existing business that needs growth or just a solid business plan and budget all set out?
Generation Ag is the podcast for anyone interested in life working in primary industries. From beef to berries, agvocacy to Australian politics.
You have 3 days to apply for Cultivator
We have definitely been pumping the promotion for this program and hopefully, you have already heard about it and are in the process of applying.
www.cultivatefarms.com/cultivator.
https://cultivatefarms.com/blog/commonquestionsaboutthecultivatorprogram?fbclid=IwAR3FoDMT_wKh3Yh5g9Hl4GvigPdXI3GMJ4rD2-tXhecT51FZd5IhCVBNpSc
It takes about 10 minutes to apply
We have an investor ready to back a farmer, so we are taking 10 farmers on a pitching journey with the best pitch being backed.
What we are really excited about is that between now and the pitching event in November 2020 we have 12 months to promote all of our 10 farmers and target more investors.
We will have a class of the best farmers going around that we can put in front of as many farm investors as we can. We would love to find an investor for every farmer.
So if you are worried that you only have a one in ten shot at the investor, take heart that we will be fighting for more investors.
If we don’t find more investors along the way, we will have the farm pitch that we can take with you to find your own investors after the program.
What we are doing with Cultivator is what we have been promoting for a long-time - aspiring farmers need to pull a farm pitch together and start shopping it around. It takes time to pull this together, but having a pitch document is so powerful
How can you get an investor or anyone to back you if you don’t have a plan showing how good you are and how good the farm deal is?
So if you know you want to farm your whole life, you want to co-own your farm and you want to farm in Vic or NSW, then please do apply.
You only live once and this is an amazing opportunity.
Apply by this coming Friday 15 November
Email me if you have questions sam@cultivatefarms.com
Let’s get you farming!
We have 5 farmers already signed up for Cultivator. 5 spots remain and you have 3 weeks to apply. Applications close 15 November
Sam and Tam talk through the common questions people are asking about the program.
Questions like: How much time will I need to commit? How long does Cultivator go for? Do I need to know the farm I want to co-own?
If you have some queries about the program, you can enquire here: https://cultivatefarms.com/cultivator/enquire
We interview great people who are helping farmers to get farm ownership ready or make farmers more profitable and successful - we do this to help save you time. Click through to join Sam with Mike Krause who is the Founder of P2P Agri. P2P Agri a farm business profitability cloud platform. It’s is just one of the tools we will be using through our Cultivator Program in 2020 to support 10 aspiring farmers pitch successfully to investors to co-own a farm. Our farmers will be developing their 5-year financial model through this system. Mike has worked with farmers for years and in government, banking and the insurance sectors P2P Agri is software to help farmers manage their business - Their mission is to help farm businesses be profitable and sustainable into the future Also, Mike wrote Farming the Business - sowing for your future - which is free or $10 from GRDC. Well worth the reading and is another great resource provided to farmers in our Cultivator program www.p2pagri.com.au
If your kids don’t want the farm, you don’t just have to sell up and walk away. If you have a dream of owning a farm but aren’t going to inherit a farm, it is absolutely possible to realize your dream.
Bringing more people into the community is a priority at any time, even in times of drought like now. Cultivate Farms, farm matchmakers, are encouraging the Millewa community to start thinking about who they could match so that there is a continual flow of top-quality farmers to the community forever.
Cultivate Farms are focusing on the Mildura region to pilot an initiative in an attempt to bring more young people into farm ownership and help retiring farmers step back with dignity.
The Mildura region is one of three focus communities with the Cultivate Communities program which aims to find practical solutions to transitioning farm ownership between generations.
Sam Marwood, Co-Founder of Cultivate Farms, will be running workshops on matchmaking farmers as part of the Regenerative Communities Road Trip being run by the Mildura Rural City Council on Thursday 3 October at Lake Cullulleraine.
If you are ready for a farm investor and want to own a farm in Vic or NSW, Cultivator is the program for you.
G’day I’m Sam Marwood, co-founder of Cultivate Farms. We have an experienced farm investor who is ready to back another top gun aspiring farmer to co-own a farm with them.
So we set up the Cultivator program to incubate 10 farmers from Vic and NSW over 6 months to pitch their dream farm. One farmer will be backed but all farmers will have a pitch that we can help you take to other investors.
Apply here - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/cultivator/enquire
We started Cultivate Farms to make it possible for anyone to own their farm and that is why we are so excited to have created this Cultivator program. It is doing just what we had dreamed for those with farm ownership dreams.
How good is this!?
We have been able to extend the invitation now to NSW, previously we were just Victoria.
Also, applications are now due November 15 (you have 2 extra weeks)
At the end of the program you will have 1) a farm pitch 2) 5 year financial model 3) 3 minute video.
We will support you if you aren’t the matched farmer. You now have a pitch that you can take to unlock other investors or impress a retiring farmer. You will be confident in who you are as a farmer and willing to get out there and open doors. And the Cultivate Farms team will be alongside you the whole way We will have a stack of media opportunities during the program where you can get your face and name out there to build interest from people who could back you There isn’t a program like this in the world, and we are so excited to have created this opportunity for aspiring farmers. So please don’t let this opportunity pass you by.
If you think you are good enough and do want to own your farm, reach out Let’s get you owning your farm
Apply here - https://cultivatefarms.com/cultivator
Cultivate Farm Links
Podbean: https://cultivatefarms.podbean.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cultivatefarms/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultivatefarms
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultivatefarms
Blog : https://www.cultivatefarms.com/blog/
CultivateFarms #AspiringFarmers #retiringfarmers
Sam talks to the Farmer Incubator participants www.farmerincubator.org about how they can realise their farm ownership dreams.
Going through a program like Farmer Incubator where you learn how to farm is an excellent thing to do to help realise your farm ownership dreams. You need to be good enough to be matched with someone to co-own a farm and going through this program demonstrates your eagerness to make your farming dreams a reality. Retiring farmers and investors want to see that passion and dedication.
Sam unpacks how and why an investor is ready to back an aspiring farmer - which could potentially be you.
Cultivator - the World’s first farm investment incubator
https://cultivatefarms.com/cultivator
I wanted to give an update on the Cultivator program which we are currently taking expressions of interest for applicants
It is a 6 month incubator program where we take 10 aspiring farmers and help them pull a farm pitch together and at the end, one farmer is going to be backed by an investor (who has already backed Freeland Pork).
We have had a number of enquiries and I wanted to give some more details to help answer some common questions we are having.
Please do reach out if you are interested, I am happy to chat with you about whether this is for you.
- Vic focused but we are seeking to expand to NSW
- We have received Federal Government support to subsidise the costs
- Applications due October 30 2019
- You will get 1) a farm pitch 2) 5 year financial model 3) 3 minute video
- Who are the mentors: Claire Coates Create Business P2P Shine at Business ImpactAg
Apply here - https://cultivatefarms.com/cultivator
- How we will support you if you aren’t the matched farmer. You now have a pitch that you can take to unlock other investors or impress a retiring farmer. You will be confident in who you are as a farmer and willing to get out there and open doors. And the Cultivate Farms team will be alongside you the whole way
- We will have a stack of media opportunities during the program where you can get your face and name out there to build interest from people who could back you There isn’t a program like this in the world, and we are so excited to have created this opportunity for aspiring farmers. So please don’t let this opportunity pass you by
If you think you are good enough and do want to own your farm, reach out
Let’s get you owning your farm!
World-first farmer incubator launches for 2020.
We are pumped to be running Cultivator 2020 and we want the best farmers to be a part of it.
Through Cultivator you have a chance to be selected to co-own your dream farm with an investor
We have proven the model with Claire and Marc Coates on Freeland Pork in Kyabram Victoria and you could be the second farmer.
This program is exactly why we started Cultivate Farms - to show anyone with a dream of farm ownership that it is possible.
The investor who backed Claire and Marc loved it so much that they want to go again and hopefully we are able to get a few more investors along the way.
Apply here www.cultivatefarms.com/cultivator
How it works We incubate 10 aspiring farmers who develop a pitch for a farm in Victoria.
Our scope is for anyone who wants to farm in Victoria. If you are jealous that this is only Victoria at the moment, then help us spread the word so we can get support to roll this out nation wide.
We then run 6 months worth of seminars and one-on-one sessions for you to develop a: 1. farm pitch document 2. 5 year financial model 3. 3 minute video
There will be 10 participants and at the end of it every farmer will have a pitch and the confidence to go and find your own investors to realise your dream
So if you think you are good enough to co-own and run a farm with an investor and have a track record of running a farm, then please do apply.
Help us to spread the word about this - tell everyone you know so that we can make this a massive success and get even more opportunities like this for you to get on your farm.
We have support from the Federal Government and also the Minister for Agriculture, Senator Bridget McKenzie.
It is absolutely possible to own your farm. Get pumped up. Get inspired and keep chasing your dream.
We are running the second Cultivator Program. This definitely is a world-first program and we are so excited
The investor who backed our first farm (Freeland Pork) has confirmed they are willing to back another farmer, so we are ready to go.
The program is for aspiring farmers who want to farm in Victoria only.
If you are anywhere else in Australia, we want you to be jealous and talk to all your farming, government and community groups to kick up a stink and fight to get us to do a program in your area. We are ready.
The program kicks off in early 2020 but we are making a list of willing farmers - so email sam@cultivatefarms.com if you want to know more.
Requirements:
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Know how to run a farm and feel confident to co-own with an investor
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Want to farm in Victoria
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You can commit time to pulling a farm proposal together (Detailed plan, finances and 2 minute video)
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Could pay $4,000 to be part of the program
Summary: Australian agricultural production is set to increase from $60B to $100B by 2030, and the average age of farmers is 59, 20 years older than most industries. 50% of farmers are expected to retire within the next 15 years. $400B in investment dollars needs to be invested in a new generation of young people to take over the farms. If we don’t inspire the best to become farmers, our regional communities will continue to decline as our farms become bigger and less family-oriented. Cultivate Farms established the Cultivator program in 2017, a world first farm investment incubator. The first program had 13 participants and a Kyabram free range pig farming couple were backed by an investor in mid 2018 (Freeland Pork). The course has been upgraded and will provide bespoke support to each farmer over 6 months where participants develop a farm pitch which will be presented to an investor. What is exciting is that one farm will be backed by the investor and we expect more investors to sign up along the journey. The best applicant will then build a relationship with the investor over a number of months and once both parties are comfortable with the farm ownership plan, they will seek a farm and purchase it together. All other participants will have a farm pitch document, renewed confidence and the skills to attract investors or convince retiring farmers to transition ownership to them.
Sam spoke to farmers in Huon Valley Tasmania about options for transitioning ownership of farms. The farmers are a group of organic orchardists who catchup regularly to discuss everything farming - ownership transition being a key topic. This is a great one for farmers looking to step back while seeing their farm-scale up on the back of a top gun next-generation farmer. Thanks to Matthew Tack from Our Mates Farm for setting this up
The topics we cover in Episode 78 of Cultivate Farms TV: 1. Gold content from July/August 2. Cultivate Farm Supporters Agrimaster - https://www.agrimaster.com.au/ Mecardo - http://www.mecardo.com.au/ RCS - https://www.rcsaustralia.com.au/ Shine at Business - https://www.shineatbusiness.com.au/ 3. Federal Agriculture Minister Meeting 4. Community rejuvenation 5. Cultivator 2.0 6. Ghinni Ghi 225 acres organic mixed operation farm 7. 3 x Greenhouse Igloos Northern Rivers NSW 8. 400 Acre Lease Innisplain Qld With Many Opportunities 9. 27 farm ownership opportunities
Cultivate Farm Links
Podbean: https://cultivatefarms.podbean.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cultivatefarms/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultivatefarms
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultivatefarms
Blog : https://www.cultivatefarms.com/blog/
CultivateFarms #AspiringFarmers #retiringfarmers
What is your great Australian dream? Is it to become a farmer and owning a farm?
The biggest barrier is the mental barrier that you think farm ownership isn’t possible. We are here to tell you that it is possible. You might not be able to buy a farm on your own, but you can build relationships with retiring farmers and potential investors who can own the farm with you.
Get scheming and let’s get you farming!
Get inspired by this amazing story of a farming couple from WA who get their chance and hustled their way to vendor finance deal with a retiring farming couple.
The topics we cover in Episode 77 of Cultivate Farms TV:
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1st year of Freeland Pork
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Farms that haven’t sold for over 6 months
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Agrimaster Partnership
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Pick and farm and get to know it inside out
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We are going to be historically correct
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100 acre Organic Cropping Farm Tongala Central Vic
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Banyard Game Birds Pittsworth Qld
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Farm ownership opportunities
Cultivate Farm Links
Podbean: https://cultivatefarms.podbean.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cultivatefarms/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultivatefarms
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultivatefarms
Blog : https://www.cultivatefarms.com/blog/
CultivateFarms #AspiringFarmers #retiringfarmers
Sam Marwood here from Cultivate Farms and we are focused on finding pathways for the best next-gen farmers to own their farm. Part of what we do is to find the best people and organisations to put in front of our farmers to ensure they have the skills and tools to farm well. I had a farm advisor tell me a few months ago that AgriMaster is the finest agriculture finance system going around This piqued my interest, so I reached out. The AgriMaster team loved what we are doing and what we are about and so we established a partnership. Hence this discussion now with David Egerton-Warburton who is the Managing Director of AgriMaster David, thanks for your time. We are going to unpack what a farmer needs to do to keep on top of their numbers and how AgriMaster can help. Also, we will be announcing the details of our partnership. Questions 1. How do you help farmers? What is your goal for them? 2. What are the nuts and bolts of AgriMaster? How do farmers use it? 3. Can this work on any farm? 4. How long have you been around at AgriMaster? 5. What is your passion in agriculture and farming? What is your background in ag? 6. What is your footprint across Australia? 7. How do you differ to Xero? 8. Do accountants use this platform? 9. What is the best setup you have seen? 10. Young farmer 11. Why are you partnering with us at Cultivate Farms? 12. What is our partnership arrangement? $349 for 12 months (usually $1100) Then $110 off ongoing. Thanks again for your time David Please do check AgriMaster out Again they are great supporters of Cultivate Farms, so if you want to support us, make sure you sign up with them.
Cultivate Farm Links
Podbean: https://cultivatefarms.podbean.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cultivatefarms/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultivatefarms
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultivatefarms
Blog : https://www.cultivatefarms.com/blog/ #CultivateFarms #AspiringFarmers #retiringfarmers
The topics we cover:
a) Merchandise b) Keep your farmer details up to date c) Freeland Pork 1 year anniversary d) RCS partnership e) Unlocking your vision for your farm - retiring farmers f) Paying a farm advisor to get yourself farm ready g) World’s largest collection of farm ownership pathway ideas h) Grafton dairy farm NSW i) 26 Farm ownership opportunities
Cultivate Farm Links
Podbean: https://cultivatefarms.podbean.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cultivatefarms/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultivatefarms
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultivatefarms
Blog : https://www.cultivatefarms.com/blog/
CultivateFarms #AspiringFarmers #retiringfarmers
The topics we cover in Episode 75 of Cultivate Farms TV:
a) Weekly update b) Lead investor announced c) Contacting real estate agents about farms that haven’t sold for a while d) Investor wanting to co-own with a top gun farmer - West of Sydney e) Template letter to retiring farmers f) 3 new farms g) Updated farm focused on vendor terms h) 25 farm ownership opportunities
Every week Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality.
Cultivate Farm Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cultivatefarms/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultivatefarms
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultivatefarms
Blog : https://www.cultivatefarms.com/blog/
CultivateFarms #AspiringFarmers #retiringfarmers
Topics we cover:
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Soil Would soils be the number one thing to think about in farming? What are the three things you need to do to build soil carbon?
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Risks in farming What can farmers do to be drought resistant? What can you do to get a better price for your product?
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Best farmers What are the attributes of the best farmers in the industry?
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Aspiring farmers What specific things would you look for in a next gen farmer that would make you want to back them onto a farm?
Welcome to the Cultivate farms podcast. Sam Marwood here. And thank you for taking the time to listen to our podcast. We're thinking of as many ways to get you onto your farm or help you to step back and we really hope you find all of this information useful and inspiring. Let's get you farming!
“
Speaker:
Well Sam Marwood runs a company that tries to match up retiring farmers who are struggling to exit the industry with aspiring farmers people who desperately want to own their own farm. You might remember hearing about this in a special episode of The Country Hour last year and it featured some Western Australians who were either trying to get in or out of the industry even though there aren't many details to today's pre-election commitment from the Coalition. Sam Marwood thinks such a low interest loan would give his clients another bargaining chip to convince retiring farmers to give them a go.
Sam Marwood:
“I think anything to help young farmers find a pathway to farm ownership is a great thing in our books and I guess our main question would be is a repository required for getting access to this loan. I think the answer would be yes and then there's still the outstanding question for most young farmers is how do you get that deposit to access that loan
Host:
Is that the biggest hurdle to overcome?
Sam Marwood:
It’s the number one that's what we're finding all over Australia and the world is. How do you get a half a million or a million dollars in your back pocket to convince someone to get you onto a farm
Speaker:
But a loan of up to two million dollars isn't to be sneezed at is it.
Sam Marwood:
It's an amazing. What amazing tool for young farmers having a back pocket. That's what we're trying to inspire young farmers to do is think about all the opportunities available to you and leverage them like an entrepreneur would. So if those loans are available what I'll be doing is setting up as many people as I know and building my networks of people who could back me onto a farm who have money whether that's locals or family or high net worth individuals and say to them I'm the best farmer going around I know how to make money. Here's a farm opportunity and I have access to relatively low interest loans so why not why not back me or even committing a retiring farmer in that same sort of fashion. Someone who doesn't want to step back from or sell their farm and happy to step back and share ownership. They didn't look up at access to this low interest loan. How that would work out a deal.
Speaker:
You deal with a lot of aspiring farmers people who would like to get into farming. Do you think a commitment like this in the lead up to an election might be enough to convince them to keep their vote or to sway their vote towards the Coalition?
Sam Marwood:
You’ll never know. You never know why they will vote. I think I think in general from our point of view anything that is getting people thinking about farm ownership and they get it giving people the inspiration that farm ownership is possible and there are people out there trying to help you to make that happen I think is a great thing. We think this farm ownership issue and the eligibility for young people to get capital is the biggest reason why young people are leaving regional communities and not staying on farms. And if we can eliminate that barrier we can we can see a brain drain back to the country.
Speaker:
How long has your organisation been operating now?
Sam Marwood:
Four years
Speaker:
And are you having some success trying to allow people who want to get out of farming and retire and then allowing people who would like to get into farming so that they can live their dream.
Sam Marwood:
Absolutely, having conversations like this every day with retiring farmers who don't want to sell and just walk away and we've got hundreds of aspiring farmers who want to own a farm and finding pathways to get into ownership we've made a number of matters now we've got plenty on their website to be able to have a look at now. There are farmers out there who want to transition ownership and happy to share their ownership in their farm with the kids aren’t their own. And there are thousands of top quality next gen young farmers who would love to own a farm. Just capital is their biggest barrier. But we're ready to match them with whoever is ready.
Speaker:
Sam Marwood he's the Managing Director of Cultivate farms. Talking to Richard Hudson about today's pre-election commitment from the coalition to provide low interest loans of up to two million dollars for aspiring farmers. “
Thanks for your attention. We know there are thousands of other things you could be doing or other podcasts you could be listening to but you've chosen to listen to us. We appreciate your time so much. Please reach out as we're happy to work through your farm ownership pathway with you. Let's get you farming.
We are all about getting next gen farmers farm ownership ready and helping farmers to step back from their farm and a lot of our messages are about Resilience- Persistence - Determination
These are the three words that our guest today focuses on.
Warren Davies is the unbreakable farmer (www.theunbreakablefarmer.com.au) and we met a few weeks ago and I loved his story and I think he has a great message to all our followers which will keep you motivated to go for your farm ownership dreams.
We are going I’d like to focus on aspiring farmers and helping them get over the mental barrier to owning a farm - that’s the only barrier holding them back
Cultivate Farm Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cultivatefarms/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultivatefarms
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultivatefarms
Blog : https://www.cultivatefarms.com/blog/
CultivateFarms #AspiringFarmers #retiringfarmers
The topics we cover:
a) Weekly update
b) Retiring farmers are using our system to load their farm
c) Opening your eyes to the farm opportunities all around you
d) Are you going to die waiting for your family farm to be handed to you?
e) Aspiring farmers should set up a farm ownership board
f) Farm ownership opportunities
Cultivate Farm Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cultivatefarms/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultivatefarms
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultivatefarms
Blog : https://www.cultivatefarms.com/blog/
CultivateFarms #AspiringFarmers #retiringfarmers
The topics we cover in Episode 73 of Cultivate Farms TV: a) Weekly update b) Community farmer activation program c) Document your farm ownership journey on social media d) Farmers coming to us with vendor deals e) The best way to convince someone to back you onto your farm f) Apple Orchard South West Tasmania g) Update: 130 acres near Freycinet Tasmania h) Farm ownership opportunities Every week Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality.
- Aspiring farmers registered We are at 790 aspiring farmer members from all over Australia. Thanks to the 85 in the last month. We appreciate you all very much.
If you aren’t a member, please signup here (Free or Premium) www.cultivatefarms.com/pricing
We need you to back us to help ensure Cultivate Farms takes off. It costs us to keep things going and we need our aspiring farmers to step up and help fund our operations.
You can sit back and not sign up, or be a free member - that’s great - but wouldn’t it be much better to work through a farm ownership plan with us and ensure we keep finding farm opportunities for you?
There are also a stack of benefits for you to being a Cultivate Farms premium member a) You get to chat with the Cultivate Farms team b) We work through a farm ownership pathway plan c) Mecardo market analysis membership (valued at $300) d) We directly notify you of farm opportunities (some are only promoted to members) e) Monthly webinar for members only
- Weekly update Behind the scenes discussions: We are having so many behind-the-scenes discussions with aspiring farmers, investors and retiring farmers. It takes a while to get to know people, what they want and the farm opportunity.
We continue to keep in touch with all of our retiring farmers letting them know who is applying for their farms. But also keeping in touch with those who have indicated an interest. These farmers are dabbling with the concept of transitioning ownership to kids that aren’t their own and this takes time which we have to be appreciative of.
I did an interview with the Founder of RCS, Terry McCosker. Terry had some gold about how to make your farm dreams a reality, his thoughts on whether retiring farmers are ready to transition to kids that aren’t there own and what you as a farmer need to know to succeed. We have had such great feedback on this interview - so please do add this to your playlist. Tim is complete the Grazing for Profit RCS course this week in Wagga Wagga NSW so we can learn first hand why people love what RCS are teaching You can watch the interview here. https://www.youtube.com/watch….
Cultivate Talent - we are unpacking a recruitment concept with a corporate farm. Their biggest risk is finding farmers who are dedicated, hardworking and there for the long haul. They are open to helping their farmers get farm-ownership-ready and we think we could have an amazing farm employment concept that could change how farm jobs are rolled out across the country. Both parties know you want to own a farm, and you will work together to get you there, but in the meantime, work hard on the farm.
We are applying for a couple of grants for the Cultivator Program and also a community farmer activation program - where we will help regional communities find their own farm matches.
- Community farmer activation program We have been working with a community leader in North East Victoria who is keen to see more young people get onto farms in their district and to help retirement aged farms step back with dignity and remain in the community.
So after some discussions, we developed a community farmer activation program which we want to share with you now and encourage any community in Australia to reach out if this is of interest.
We know that there are plenty of solutions to get young people back to your farming community. It takes time and a few dedicated people to make it happen. But essentially you can be the farm matchmakers and you are in the best place to do this because you know the social landscape.
Our plan is that over 2 years we assist a farming community to attract 3 aspiring farmers into farm ownership and to assist 3 retiring farmers into transition ownership while remaining in the community.
Most farming communities are aware of the change in demographics of their community over the past few decades. The ability to retain and attract next-generation farmers is getting harder. However, the farming opportunities in any region are many and varied and the scene is set for local communities to look at the current situation as opportunities for exploitation. There are many retirement-aged farmers who would be open to transitioning ownership to next-generation farmers. There are communities full of passionate people already taking action to continue to see their district thrive. We just need to tap into this and offer practical solutions.
- Document your farm ownership journey on social media We have been talking to all our premium aspiring farmer members about the power of social media to fast track their farm ownership dreams. Everyone should be documenting their journey through social media.
Bianca from OurCow is doing this and you should follow them.
The ability for this to open doors that you can’t open yourself is immense.
We want you to tag us in any posts that you create or think are relevant as well, so we can share and promote you to increase your chances of ownership.
- Farmers coming to us with vendor deals We have had a few farmers coming to us with vendor finance deals - this is great.
But how come you haven’t already found these deals!? You should be out there contacting all these farmers and they should feel overwhelmed with attention from passionate aspiring farmers jumping onto any opportunity that could help them.
We will be promoting these opportunities soon, but you should be finding these yourself.
You should know all the farms that are on the market and understand the needs of the farmers. Maybe there are farms that haven’t sold for over 12 months - these ones you should definitely contact the real estate to see if vendor terms would be an option.
You should be emailing all real estate agents anyway for any farm opportunity and asking them if vendor terms are available. The squeaky wheel will get the fix and soon real estate agents will be finding your deals just to get you off their back!
- The best way to convince someone to back you onto your farm We believe that the best way to get onto your farm is to start farming yourself. If you are already running a farm operation using your own money and making sacrifices, then this is the number 1 best way to prove to a retiring farmer or investor that you are worth backing. If you are good with your own money, then you will be good with theirs.
You are most likely not going to be able to buy a farm on your own. So you need others. Therefore you focus is on impressing people.
We know it is hard to find, but keep a focus on finding land to lease and setting up a small version of your ideal farm. Get a herd of 10 cattle, start growing mushrooms, do whatever you can to show you are on a trajectory to having your own farm. You know how hard it is, but you want to show everyone you want this bad.
- Apple Orchard South West Tasmania This farm is a sale, but the vendor is open to some form of vendor terms. We thought this was a great one to promote with the owner because we this a farm entrepreneur might be able to see the value and then find investors to back them and go for it.
https://cultivatefarms.com/…/appleorcha…
It is 3.5 Hectares in Cygent in the South West of Tasmania
It is already a profitable operation and has the opportunity to tap into the cider market and convert the house to tasting rooms or another option is to grow late season cherries on it in conjunction with the apples to further compliment the current structure.
- Update: 130 acres near Freycinet Tasmania We have a lease opportunity that has been available for a while near Bicheno on the east coast of Tasmania. On the doorstep of world renowned Freycinet National Park.
I had the opportunity to visit the 132 acre property the other day while down in Tasmania and met up with the owner. The owners are great and have really setup a green field property that is right for a top gun farmer.
We kicked around ideas why we haven’t been able to find a farm entrepreneur to jump onto this farm and then we thought we should think bigger. So we are now going to approach a few larger farming operations to see if they would be up for incubating the farm as an extension of their current operations and back a top gun farmer.
The property has so much potential. So keep a watch out. Do get in touch if of interest
- Farm ownership opportunities We have 22 farms that you could own with retiring farmers tomorrow. We want you to check these out and pass the details on to friends and family. These are red hot live opportunities which could set you up for life.
The process will be that you do a basic pitch and then we give it to the retiring farmers to decide if they want to take it any further. If they do it's then a number of conversations to find the best solution for you both.
www.cultivatefarms.com/farms
1) Tasmanian Apple Orchard https://cultivatefarms.com/…/appleorcha… 2) 640 acres Murrayville Victoria: https://cultivatefarms.com/…/640-acres-… 3) Mushroom farm sale Gippsland Victoria https://cultivatefarms.com/…/gippsland-… 4) Free Range Chicken Lease Tasmania: https://cultivatefarms.com/…/Opportunit… 5) Organic Farm share farm just outside Melbourne Victoria: https://cultivatefarms.com/…/Organic%20… 6) Permaculture Dorrigo NSW https://cultivatefarms.com/…/80acreperm… 7) Dairy ownership pathway | North East Victoria - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/dairyn… 8) Cattle Leasing - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/Cattle… 9) Mushroom Farm Opportunity - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/Mushro… 10) Walnuts & Truffles Farm - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/Walnut… 11) Cherry Orchard in NSW - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/Cherry… 12) Greenfield opportunity Freycinet Tasmania - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/Manuka… 13) The Mantle 250 Hectare Farm in Toolern Vale Vic - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/TheMan… 14) Kilkivan Community Farm Qld - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/Kilkiv… 15) 74ha Lime tree farm west of Dimbulah Qld - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/LimeFa… 16) 70 acres Chestnut Farm in Western Australia - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/Chestn… 17) Intensive Aquaculture in Rutherglen Victoria - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/IntensiveAquacultureRuther… 18) Rare Vegetable Seed Farm in Victoria - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/RareVe… 19) 100 Acres in North East Tasmania - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/100acr… 20) Tropical Horticulture Northern Territory - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/ntmark… 21) Northern Territory Small Beef Farm - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/f…/NTBeef 22) Olive Grove in Tasmania - https://www.cultivatefarms.com/…/Tasman…
Sam Marwood here from Cultivate Farms We are focused on making pathways for anyone to own a farm. Part of that is providing useful and inspiring information and connecting you with great people in the farming industry. This is the reason behind today’s interview with Terry McCosker from RCS (Resource Consulting Services). Terry setup RCS back in the mid-80s which is focused on helping farmers get the skills they need to succeed. Cultivate Farms are working with RCS to find ways to get aspiring farmers skilled up for farm ownership and this is the context of our chat today. We are also working on some great deals for Cultivate Farms premium members and RCS courses. 1. What is your back story, Terry? Were you once an aspiring farmer? 2. Who is RCS? And why did you start it? 3. What advice do you give farmers? 4. What is the grazing for-profit course? 5. Should people not on a farm do the Grazing for Profit course? 6. What do you like about Cultivate Farms? Why were you interested in working with us? 7. Are there retirement aged farmers out there looking for next-gen farmers to co-own their farm with? 8. What makes a top quality next-gen farmer? 9. What does our partnership look like?
Sam was interviewed by Lucas Hoson from the University of Western Australia for a research project he is undertaking on Innovation in Agriculture Here are the questions that Sam works through with Lucas:
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What is your core business? How long have you been in the industry?
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What do you enjoy about your work?
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What are the major challenges you face in your business? Please describe.
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How are you trying to solve the problem(s)? Please explain.
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Please explain your innovation or new approach? (and to whom is it new? New to the world or new to this region?). Where did it come from?
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How have you been successful in solving the problem(s)?
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How sustainable are your initiatives? Has it made your business more competitive into the future? Please explain.
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Is there any intermediary organization who helps your business connect to consumers? Do you also do this directly?
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What is the main obstacle or remaining issue(s) for your business?
Cultivate Farms are finding as many ways as possible to demonstrate how anyone can own a farm. We have heard a lot about SMSFs and have been connected with Andrew Grinsell from Cooee Wealth Partners from a farmer in our networks who have been utilising their Self Managed Super.
We want to understand how anyone can be an investor in a farm through their SMSF.
Sam and Andrew’s conversation will give you a general idea of the options available to you. You’ll need to work out what’s appropriate for you and your own circumstances.
For more information
contact Email: info@cooeewealth.com.au.
Phone: 02 8894 0309
Questions:
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What is a Self-managed super funds?
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Why do people usually consider Self-managed super funds? What makes them take the leap?
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Can SMSF be used to buy farmland?
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Can it be used to buy a farm business or livestock?
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What restrictions are there? What can and can’t you do?
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Can you live in a house on the farmland owned by your SMSF?
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What risks are there using your super? Who would you recommend considers this?
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What are the costs of setting up and managing, compared to traditional super?
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What are the financial benefits of setting up SMSF? Tax etc?
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What are the steps in setting one up?
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What stops people from setting one up to buy a farm?
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Can you bring more people into your own SMSF to pool funds?
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Do you have a case study you can talk about?
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Can you combine SMSF with other investment funds available and debt?
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Once the money is inside super it's stuck there till you retire?
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What else should be considered when using an SMSF?
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Do you have to show the farm is financially viable?
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What is the minimum you need to set up Self-managed super funds?
Questions:
- How did we meet?
- What was happening in 2017 with your farm
- What did you think when I said we might have an investor
- What was filling out the template like? How long did it take?
- What did you want to achieve?
- How confident were you? Leasing is key
- What did you tell all your friends?
- What was the investor looking for?
- How is the farm going now?
- What tips do you have for aspiring farmers who don’t have the cash?
- What sort of person should apply?
- Questions from others.
The topics we cover :
a) Weekly update b) It will never be easier than now to find your farm c) BYO farm ownership opportunity d) Feedback from our farmers e) Ah Ha moments from our aspiring farmers f) Nation-wide Farmer Frothy Events g) 640-acre farm Murrayville Victoria h) 25 farm ownership opportunities
You can crowdfund just about anything these days, but would you ever consider hitting up the public to help sell your farm? Crowdfunder DomaCom is working with retiring farmers to help aspiring farmers get a leg up in the rural property market
Jody Burgess, a retiring farmer, explains how she got involved in their latest venture to raise capital for the sale of her Scottsdale farm she bought 4 years ago.
The topics we cover :
a) Weekly wrap up b) What is stopping you from applying for a Cultivate Farms farm opportunity? c) Farm transition options d) Farm ownership opportunities
The topics we cover:
- a) Backend non-publicised deals we are working on.
- b) More good things are coming in 2019.
- c) World first farmer incubator is going ahead 2019.
- d) Cultivate Side Hustle Program.
- e) Plug your farm skills and we will promote.
- f) Farm ownership opportunities.
The topics we cover:
a) 2018 review b) 2019 plan c) Get ready for haters d) Tracking down farm match case studies e) Farm ownership opportunities
The topics we cover
a) The world’s first online farm matching making marketplace. b) How we work with investors c) Christmas party conversation starters to find your farm d) Gippsland mushroom farm for sale Gippsland Victoria e) 25 farm ownership opportunities
The topics we cover in Episode 67 of Cultivate Farms TV: 1. Quick update on all we are doing 2. Retiring farmers who want to sell to a top quality next gen farming family 3. Aspiring farmer Facebook Group 4. Farm Employers need to give ownership in order to attract and keep the best The 10 point policy ideas to get young people onto farms The Farm at Byron Long Term Lease Livestock Free Range Chicken Lease Tasmania Organic Farm share farm just outside Melbourne Victoria 24 Farm opportunities
The topics we cover in Episode 66 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- Speaking gigs October and November 2018
- Launched: 2nd ever crowd-funded farm in Australia
- Are you ready for an investor or retiring farmer?
- Jobs that could get you in front of more retiring farmers
- Three ways to get farm-ownership ready
- Excuses from aspiring farmers to not even try
- Hazelbrae farm matched #7
- 21 farm opportunities for you right now
Disclaimer:
This podcast is originally recorded from Regional Voices Australia. They Love what they are doing. Please follow them.
The topics we cover in Episode 65 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- How your premium membership helps us to find you farms
- Have you been watching for a long time but haven’t signed up or said hi?
- Case Study: Retiring farmer matched with aspiring farmer on 3,500 acres
- How the farm matching works
- Email real estate agents ask ask for lease to buy options
- Farm Sitters
- New farms loaded
- 23 Farm Opportunities
The topics we cover in Episode 64 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- Summary of the week
- Monthly webinar for premium members
- Farmer Friday Frothy in Kyneton Vic
- Building relationships between investors and aspiring farmers
- What sort of aspiring farmer should you be
- Have you been watching for a long time but haven’t signed up or said hi?
- Outdoor piggery Temora NSW
- Cherry Orchard Wellington NSW
- 21 Farm Opportunities
Sam had a wonderful interview with the one of the co-founder of Life Cykel, Ryan Creed. Together with Julian Mitchell they co-founder Life Cykel in 2015 after discovering how to grow gourmet mushrooms from waste coffee grounds. Life Cykel on ABC - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CbiW... Life Cykel website - https://lifecykel.com/ Be an urban farmer - https://www.nationalmushroomnetwork.com/
Welcome to episode 62 episode of Cultivate Farms TV. Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality.
The topics we cover in Episode 62 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- Freeland Pork Business Planning Day
- Farmer Friday Frothy
- A message to Mayors across Australia
-
- 20 Farm Opportunities
I spoke with an aspiring farmer the other day who is in NSW and going through the drought. They have setup a lease arrangement and are cropping.
They discussed that things are really tight this year and that they might struggle to break even.
He was a bit disheartened because of the possibility of failure.
But do you know what I saw? I saw a motivated, clever and proactive aspiring farmer who is ready to be backed onto their own farm with a retiring farmer or investor.
Sure they might struggle to get through financially, even they may have to end the lease, but do you see what respect they will get from a retiring farmer or investor for what they have done? Off their own bat they have found a way to get farming in trying a situation and in a business that is really expensive to get going.
I saw a man who has established a business model that will work when backed onto a farm that they can run with appropriate resources. I saw a top quality farmer who is driven to realise his dream and someone that an investor would be completely confident would work for their best interest and would work hard for them, no matter what happens.
This aspiring farmer was proving his ability to run a farm and to be a steward of money and the land. I was so excited to chat with him because of the potential he has and the proven track record of initiative.
He is building his story which will open many doors for him. His story will be one of initiative and struggle and persistence. A story everyone will love to listen to and people will want to back him to see him succeed.
What are you doing to demonstrate you are farm ready? Are you out looking for leased land? Are you trying to build your wealth and be a good steward of money? Are you proving that you are worthy of being backed by a retiring farmer or aspiring farmer.
Yes you may fail in your endeavours, but your goal is to open doors to the people who will back you onto your farm and it isn’t dependent on you being able to get through an impossible drought, or being subject to commodity price crashes.
The topics we cover in Episode 61 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- Discussions with premium members
- Hunting for NSW farm for an investor (you could be the farmer)
- National Farm Succession planning day
- What you should do if you have just found out about us?
- 19 Farm Opportunities
We held our first farmer Friday frothy in Kyneton Victoria and it was a lot of fun. We had aspiring farmers and retiring farmers and people from the ag industry. Lots of mingling and discussing farm ownership plans.
It highlights just how valuable face-to-face discussions are with like-minded people. I got to unpack farm ownership plans with a few aspiring farmers. It was really inspiring to hear the stories that these farmers have of striving to own their farm, and they just need a bit of support and to throw them some ideas and they’re on track to realise their dreams.
We hold it with our mate Melissa Connors from This Farm Needs a Farmer. We are both based in Kyneton and have the same vision to rejuvenate regional communities through good farming.
Please come along and mingle. We know sometimes it can be hard to get out and might seem awkward, but you know me now and we can connect you with everyone who comes along.
Our plans is that this becomes the must-go-to-event for farmers in the district and we’d love to replicate across the country.
We have signed up a couple of new investors for Cultivate Farms. This is very exciting and we are already underway in matching these investors to aspiring farmers.
Our focus with investors is the same as with aspiring farmers and retiring farmers. We get to know what you want in your farm and then focus on finding the right farmers to build a relationship with. So we are focusing on finding the best aspiring farmers to have a coffee with the investors, get to know them, see if values align and if they do, you go off together to hunt for your farm.
This is an amazing opportunity for aspiring farmers. It is the goal we have been aiming for since we started. To get investors to back aspiring farmers and it is all starting to build.
If you are an aspiring farmer and haven’t signed up as a member then you could miss out on being matched to an investor. Our premium members have been hand selected from our database by these investors and are now in with the chance of owning their own farm.
Welcome to episode 60 episode of Cultivate Farms TV. Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality.
- Aspiring farmers registered
We have 434 registrations, 12 more aspiring farmers signed up the past week.
What you get as a member:
- You get to chat with us and priority access to realise your farm ownership pathway
- Mecardo market analysis membership (valued at $300)
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We directly notify you of farm opportunities (some are only promoted to members)
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We need your support to keep build momentum
This is a call to our aspiring farmers. If find any value in what we do at all, we ask that you do sign up as a premium member. It is $150 a year and this money allows us to keep the lights on while we really get Cultivate Farms cranking. Help us to help you.
What we are doing is new and will take time for us to get to scale to have a lot of amazing farm opportunities for you. We need your help to keep us going. Your money goes to keeping our website updated, supporting our social media and allowing us to travel around the country to spread the word. We aren’t making any money off this yet as we are ploughing it all back into the business.
Please do consider becoming a premium member, you get lots of benefits including discussions with the Cultivate Farms team and free Mecardo market analysis membership.
- Weekly Update
We made the Financial Review. They did a piece on us, our partnership with DomaCom and how we are crowdfunding farms.
https://www.afr.com/real-estate/commercial/fractional-investing-platform-domacom-expands-into-rural-property-20180629-h1215j?btis
We are in the process of developing a master brand under which all of our farms will sit. This is really exciting stuff and we will be exploring how we can create a name for ourselves which benefits every single farm that we setup
Matching retiring farmer and aspiring farmer in Gippsland. I caught up with the retiring farming couple and the aspiring farming couple on one of the farms we are matching.
I asked if I could film the discussion but they said no for some reason, but they were excited to be part of the Cultivate Farms matching process. We worked through potential options for transitioning ownership over the long term. There is intent to make something work and we are working through our list of actions for the next meeting. It is mainly focused on whether the new farmers are able to work on the farm for 12 months to build a relationship and to determine the financial model so they can earn their way into ownership.
Loading our first farm investment proposal - we are getting legal advice so that we can start promoting farm investment opportunities on our platform. We have a yabby farm that we are about to load and can’t wait to start promoting this to potential investors.
- Farm-ownership pathway program
We have develop a farm-ownership pathway program which will get 20 farmers ready to pitch their investment to an investor. This would happen over 12 months, with the 6 month point being the pitch. We have lined up an investor who is keen to invest in the best farm. We are just waiting from government organisations across the country to confirm who might be able to fund the program. Please let me know if you are interested
- Freeland Pork our first farm match
Our first farm match with and investor and aspiring farmer is moving along well. We are now cranking up the marketing side of things for Freeland Pork. Our model is to supply into restaurants as the farm grows production - so we had a filming day on the farm taking photos of the family and also making awesome meals with the pork. We are finalising the 1819 business plan and the budget for the year for sign off by both parties.
- Refining what Cultivate Farms does
Over the past 6 months we have been working in the background to unpack how we provide the most value to the most farmers and it is looking like we will need to tweak our model. Which is to be expected given what we are doing is pretty unique.
We believe that getting on your farm is centred around relationships. We match you with a retiring farmer but the first step is to get to know them, to build trust and then you can work through an ownership transition. We think we need to start doing the same thing with building relationships with investors. How can we make it possible for you to get to know an investor who can then back you to go find farms to invest with them in?
To make it easier to build these relationships we have been thinking that we need to have a farm mentor who works alongside aspiring farmers to help them on the farm ownership pathway. We are now thinking of getting these farm mentors, agronomists who understands our model, from all around Australia who you can select to work with.
These mentors would help you work through a long term farm ownership pathway program and also provide a third party independent verification of an aspiring farmers farm-ownership readiness. This validation will be of great benefit to retiring farmers and investors, who want to be confident that they will be working with someone who is ready to get going onto a farm.
So we are going to be unpacking the role of farm mentors in our model and using them to verify our aspiring farmer’s farm-readiness. This will be an optional component of your membership but one we think will be a great way for you to get on your farm quicker.
- Farm opportunities
We have 19 farms that you could own with retiring farmers tomorrow. We want you to check these out and pass the details on to friends and family. These are red hot live opportunities which could set you up for life.
The process will be that you do a basic pitch and then we give it to the retiring farmers to decide if they want to take it any further. If they do it's then a number of conversations to find the best solution for you both.
www.cultivatefarms.com/farms
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Manildra NSW
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Free Range Pig Farm in Wagga Wagga
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Lime farm Cairns
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Chestnut farm in WA
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Beef cattle enterprise in southern Qld
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20 acre vineyard south of Bendigo Vic
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Dairy farm ownership pathway in NE Vic
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Intensive aquaculture in Rutherglen Vic
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Rare vegetable seed farm SW Victoria
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44 acre market garden on outskirts of Sydney
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100 acres NE tassie mixed
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Market garden in NT
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Beef in NT
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Olive grove and Tasmania
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Olives in Victoria
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Mixed farm in Terang, SW Vic
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Achacha in Qld
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Mixed organic in Tansey Qld
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Flower Farm in Qld
Sam presented to students from Wodonga's Victory Lutheran College about leadership and how right no is the best time in history to not know what to do with your life.
There are so many take aways here for anyone with a dream to be a farmer. It is possible. If you have a passion there are so many tools available to you right now.
What Sam talked about are: 1. What he is doing now 2. His history 3. His alternate history (if I was your age) 4. Dabble, document, patience
Ag Skills Victoria is set to provide training and information to people in Ag across the state! School Age to Old School, we are the team to give you the skills you need. Check their website: https://agskillsvic.com.au/
How this can work for a retiring farmer A retiring farmer or farming couple would think – am I ok with sharing my farm? If so, they send us an email and let us know what they're thinking.
We then write down their plans and vision for the farm and get them to discuss with their family and advisors
If they want to go ahead we then promote their farm and get aspring farmers to pitch.
The aspiring farmers get filtered and they meet 3 on farm. The best comes back 3 times and they are now ready to commit.
We all sit at the farm table and work through a 10 year strategy, unpacking all the issues and making sure they have the right advisors.
They setup a bank account where all savings go to buy the land
The aspiring farmers work for the first 12 months, and then the ownership model kicks in which happens over 10 years. They share the profits and these go into the bank account.
When there is enough savings they then get debt and buy the farm and the retiring couple do whatever they want.
Welcome to episode 59 episode of Cultivate Farms TV. Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality.
The topics we cover in Episode 59 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- Freeland pork - our first farm match
- Working through a farm transition
- Aspiring farmers and local real estate agents
- We save time for investors
- Paid farm retirement
- 19 Farm Opportunities
The topics we cover in Episode 58 of Cultivate Farms TV: 1. What happened this week 2. Question from a 16 year old aspiring farmer 3. Investor feedback 4. Pitching to an investor’s brief 5. Farm pitching workshops 6. Free Range Pig Farm ownership opportunity 7. 19 Farm Opportunities
am Marwood interviewed the Agroecology Head Teacher and ORICOOP board member, Rob Fenton. Organic and Regenerative Investment Cooperative Board is working to purchase farms and there could be opportunities for Cultivate Farms members - another reason to create your farmer profile.
Sam Marwood interviewed the Co-operative Bonds & Investment Options and ORICOOP board member, Rohan Clarke. Organic and Regenerative Investment Cooperative Board is working to purchase farms and there could be opportunities for Cultivate Farms members - another reason to create your farmer profile.
Sam Marwood interviewed the Organic Farmer, Frank Harney. Organic and Regenerative Investment Cooperative Board is working to purchase farms and there could be opportunities for Cultivate Farms members - another reason to create your farmer profile.
Sam Marwood interviewed the founder of CERES and ORICOOP board member, Chris Ennis. Organic and Regenerative Investment Cooperative Board is working to purchase farms and there could be opportunities for Cultivate Farms members - another reason to create your farmer profile.
Sam Marwood interviewed the Founder & Organic Land Specialist, Carolyn Suggate. Organic and Regenerative Investment Cooperative Board is working to purchase farms and there could be opportunities for Cultivate Farms members - another reason to create your farmer profile.
Sam Marwood interviewed the Co-operative Bonds and ORICOOP member, Antony Mc Mullen. Organic and Regenerative Investment Cooperative Board is working to purchase farms and there could be opportunities for Cultivate Farms members - another reason to create your farmer profile.
Sam was talking live to the participants of the Alpine Valleys Community Leadership Program.
He is walking the talk as he discussed the value of social media for aspiring farmers and anyone in business.
It is free and available to anyone and everyone is on it. So aspiring farmers should be creating content here to attract retiring farmers and investors to help them realise their farm ownership dream. Sam discussed the Cultivate Farms journey and how the team want aspiring farmers to use social media.
Tablelands Farming System brought together a group of passionate, knowledgable presenters to work with local farmers in an interesting and innovative half day workshop:
Our very own, Sam Marwood shared his story from growing up on a farm in Central Victoria to co founding what is described as the "Tinder of farming". Cultivate Farms connects retiring farmers and aspiring farmers with each other and investors.
Together with Kim Lee of Rabobank who shared her extensive experience in working with farming families to achieve personal, family and financial benefits for each generation.
We have matched our first farm!
It’s official. Meet Claire Coates. Claire and her husband Marc and their three brilliant kids are the first farmers matched with Cultivate Farms. They pitched to an investor and 6 months later they own their farm with that investor.
Claire and Marc Coates own a farm with an amazing investor in Central Victoria, Kyabram. A brilliant organisation called Odonata secured the investment www.odonata.org.au
Claire and Marc run Freeland Pork and will expand their business on this new farm
We should call this June 5th ‘national farm ownership day’.
Thanks for all your support. This is just the first of thousands!
Let’s get you farming
A light hearted interview about all things Future and Farming: 1. How to make your farming dream a reality 2. Frustrated want-to-be farmers from the city 3. How we get more young people to be farmers 4. Benefits of being a member of the Future Farmers Network. To get all this juicy information, Sam Marwood (co-founder Cultivate Farms) interviewed the Future Farmers Network Executive Officer Toby Locke
This time Sam sits down for a Skype interview with the one and only Matthew Evans, also known as the Gourmet Farmer, to discuss life as a farmer, new farming methods and the future of farming.
Our mates at Mecardo not only provide our members with free access to agriculture market analysis, but we chat regularly about what is going on.
Robert Herrmann chats with Sam Marwood about the current status of the grains, beef, sheep and wool industry.
Jump over to their website to get more nuggets of gold.
This is the information we think aspiring farmers should be all over to get farm-ready.
Questions: 1. When will grain prices recover? 2. What are the challenges for the beef industry? 3. Can we see these income levels for sheep and wool be maintained?
Welcome to episode 56 episode of Cultivate Farms TV. Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality. The topics we cover in Episode 56 of Cultivate Farms TV: 1. Get an article in your local paper 2. A retiring farmer created their own website 3. Q&A how to find retiring farmers 4. Q&A what happens if the retiring farmer passes away 5. Feedback from a Cultivate Farms member 6. Community farm in Qld 7. 18 Farm Opportunities
WE MET THE LEGO FARMER! Tune in as Sam Marwood has a chat with Aimee Snowden, from Little Brick Pastoral, to talk about posting online content as a farmer, and ways for you to make your farming dreams a reality.
The topics we cover in Episode 55 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- Create your own farm-ownership-pathway website
- Community rejuvenation workshops
- Pitch your farm investment opportunity in your local Town Hall
- Livestock farm Gippsland Victoria
- NE Vic dairy farm ownership pathway
- Lime Farm
- 18 Farm Opportunities
Top 3 items in Episode 54 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- The level of hustle you should have as an aspiring farmer
You should have a handful of options as well because if you only have one, then you will have your heart set on it and if it doesn’t come off you will be shattered and struggle to keep going. It may take reviewing 10 farm opportunities before you get your farm.
There is nothing stopping you understanding farm opportunities in the area you want to farm. You have the internet and you can connect with anyone who can help you understand the farm opportunity. 2. Help get the word out to your local retiring farmers
We have developed posters that we want you to put up on notice boards all over your district.
The aim is to get the attention of retirement-aged farmers. We know that many of them still read the noticeboards in town. They are more used to seeing information that way than online. So let’s get the information to where they want it.
If you can get the retiring farmers talking about Cultivate Farms then they will be keen to post their farm and then you will have a chance at getting on a farm in the district you want to farm.
Help us to help you to get on your dream farm. Use us to open doors for you in a really easy way.
Download and print 20-30 and have them in your car with some bluets and sticky tape so you can post all over the place
https://www.cultivatefarms.com/blog/Printables
Where could you post them? 3. Get your face in front of succession planners and accountants 7. Get your face in front of succession planners and accountantsWe believe that you need to get yourself in front of the people who could connect you to your farm ownership opportunity.
Two groups of people that could do that are succession planners and accountants. Sometimes they are the same people.
Do a google search for both of these people for your district, send them an email and call them to book in a time to chat over coffee.
Tell them that you are an awesome aspiring farmer, outline all you are doing to build your skills and then say that you are looking to find farmers who are looking to step back and work with them to help transition their farm.
Tell them the bigger story that everyone is looking for solutions to keep young people on farms and get them onto farms and this could a practical way to make it happen.
These succession planners and accountants have direct access to these farmers everyday. They just don’t know that you want to get on their farm. Imagine what could happen when they are convinced you would be a great solution for their farmers.
You are bringing them a solution. That is how you should look at this. It won’t be for everyone, but unless you are out there promoting yourself, who is going to find opportunities for you?
Get out there and get in touch with all the succession planners and accountants in your district.
Mitchell Hughes is an agricultural professional with more than a decade of experience in a wide range of agricultural industries. He has experience in large scale broadacre cropping and livestock industries, as well as irrigated and large scale horticulture production in NSW, Vic and Tasmania.
Welcome to episode 53 episode of Cultivate Farms TV. Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality.
Top 3 items in Episode 53 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- Bushtech podcast interview
- How to get your face in front of more retiring farmers
- How conversations with retiring farmers usually unfold
Welcome to episode 52 episode of Cultivate Farms TV. Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality.
Top 3 items in Episode 52 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- How to compete with corporates buying farms
- How to convince a retiring farmer to back you
- Matched farms
Top 3 items in Episode 51 of Cultivate Farms TV: 1. Crowdfunding program has been launched 2. How to create a video to find your farm 3. Mecardo Market Analysis membership for free to our members
Should we hold a Cultivate Farms event?
We have been kicking around the idea of an event held by Cultivate Farms. We know the power of bringing people together in one space to talk about a topic. And to get aspiring and retiring farmers in the same place could be a brilliant way to get farm ownership and transition discussions going. And to get you fired up.
Are you thinking about the right farm or the farm you can afford now?
When talking to aspiring farmers we ask them what their farm ownership plans are. They respond by providing a vision for their farm based on what they could afford to buy right now. 10 acres, 100 acres, a few livestock. What we want you to start thinking about is the farm that you know you can run and make really profitable. Don’t let your access to capital be the limiting factor. We can worry about the pathway to get there later.
You should be sharing Cultivate Farms content with people you want to influence
We want to reemphasise to all of our aspiring farmers that social media is the best way of you getting your message out to people who could help you get onto your farm.
Progress on our first farm match
Things are moving along nicely with our first farm match
- The investor is happy to be interviewed to document the journey. We can’t wait for this, as it is going to show everyone that there are investors out there who want to do good by you aspiring and retiring farmers
- We are planning a field trip to the farm to explain the investment process and how we will transform the farm.
- Speaking to banks about debt
- Working through the contract of sale, shareholders agreement, governance, farm plan, budgets, grants
- This is the support Cultivate Farms will provide all of our farms we match
Cultivate Farms investment pitching day is happening on 6 April 2018.
We want anyone out there who has a plan to buy and run a farm to have their farm investment pitch developed by the end of march and we will take your pitch to these investors.
What more could you want to get you up and running.
Find farms from real estate websites or get a farm from a retiring farmer, make a farm up just so you can get used to pulling a proposal together. Do what you have to in order to take another step to your farm ownership opportunity.
We are working on a farm investment as a result of our first farm investment pitch day, so you could be the next.
Send me an email to confirm you are up for it sam@cultivatefarms.com
Tablelands Farming System brought together a group of passionate, knowledgable presenters to work with local farmers in an interesting and innovative half day workshop: Our very own, Sam Marwood shared his story from growing up on a farm in Central Victoria to co founding what is described as the "Tinder of farming". Cultivate Farms connects retiring farmers and aspiring farmers with each other and investors. Together with Kim Lee of Rabobank who shared her extensive experience in working with farming families to achieve personal, family and financial benefits for each generation.
Cultivate Farms at 2GB's Work.Life.Money with Ross Greenwood
Sam was interview by Ross Greenwood from 2GB's Work.Life.Money. Here Sam talks to Ross about Cultivate Farm's initiative that encourages young aspiring farming families to invest in already established farms as older farmer retire.
source: https://www.2gb.com/podcast/its-your-turn-to-own-a-farm/
Hey Aspiring Farmers, Sam was interviewed on Bush Tech Podcast, it an Agtech entrepreneurship and investment community last March 21st.
Sam discussed the following
- What it’s like to quit your job to become an entrepreneur
- The power of social media to reach your audience, even (or especially) in agriculture
- How aspiring farmers can get “investment ready” with Sam's help, and where to start
- The balance of having a for-profit business with a social good, and constantly having to assure investors he's not looking for, or giving, any handouts!
Visit and follow Bush Tech here: https://www.bushtechpodcast.com
Tim and Tegan Hicks are the co-founders of Cultivate Farms. They started this business because they wanted a solution to making their farming dream a reality. But they didn't just want to solve it for themselves, they want to help everyone in Australia who has the desire to own and operate their own farm. They chat about how they started out in farming, with 2 cows, to grow their farm to plate business Hicks Country Beef, while at the same time starting Cultivate Farms and raising 4 kids!
We had another article written about us, this time in The Land. It was a great article and gives a bit of our backstory and where we are heading. Please have a look and hopefully, you can start to get a feel for the reasons we are doing this and also how we want you to approach making your own farm dream a reality.
What was great and also bad, was that we had so much traffic come to our site that the website broke. So apologies, if you were one of the people trying to find out about us and the site, didn’t load.
We want to continue to inspire retiring farmers that they can step back from their farm and get an awesome aspiring farmer to farm with them. We have a growing database of the best farmers in Australia who would love to farm with you. So if you don’t have kids to hand your farm onto and you want to scale the farm to the next level, we would love to chat. We encourage you to spend a few weeks really thinking about what you want for your farm and yourself. Make a list. Think of everything you’d like to see on your farm, what are the things that you’d love to make happen but haven’t been able to? What do you want to do with your time and how does that fit with the farm? What are the things you want to do, but having the farm holds you back?
How do you make it possible for Retiring farmers step back and back the next generations?
A call out for video messages for aspiring farmers
We would love to promote all of our aspiring farmers through our social media.
If you feel up for it, we want to see you develop a 1-2 minute video introducing yourself, your dream farm, and what you are doing to make that dream happen? We will then share on all our social media, even our podcast.
Who is up for it?
- A message to all aspiring farmers If you want to own a farm then here is the number one thing you need to do
PITCH A FARM. 2. Book in for the farm pitching day in March 2018
If you are ready to pitch your farm, we want you to be a part of the March 2018 farm pitching day. It is our second. We will go through your proposal with a real life investor and if they love it (like the farm we are working through right now) they will invest. At the very least you will get great feedback.
We are going to re-pitch the remaining 13 from the first pitching day as well. 3. Equity crowdfunding progress
Welcome to episode 44 episode of Cultivate Farms TV. Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality.
- Livestock investment match making A few months ago I mentioned we are also working on a livestock match making service. Well it is going ahead nicely. I met with a couple of mates who are building this and we are working to make sure this will benefit aspiring farmers.
- Pathway program
We are in initial discussions with a group of farm investors who love what we are doing with Cultivate Farms and want to setup a farm pathway program. They need great farm workers and want to get them skilled with all their knowledge about farming, and then support them to take the leap onto their own farm in 3+ years time. 3. Developing our brand to help your farm make more money
Our mates at Mecardo not only provide our members with free access to agriculture market analysis, but we chat regularly about what is going on.
Robert Herrmann chats with Sam Marwood about the current status of the grains, beef, sheep and wool industry.
Jump over to their website to get more nuggets of gold.
This is the information we think aspiring farmers should be all over to get farm-ready.
Questions: 1. When will grain prices recover? 2. What are the challenges for the beef industry? 3. Can we see these income levels for sheep and wool be maintained?
Summary of Episode 43 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- What we are pitching for next stages of website
- 31 days to become a farmer
- All the ways we are trying to inspire you
Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality.
- Beta Farm Pitching Marketplace is getting closer
- Our first farm match (so close!) We are going full steam ahead with one farm that was pitched to the investor. We are now updating the proposal with the aspiring farmer and the investor to make sure it is a win win.
Everyone is very excited. The investor thinks the aspiring farmers are great people who are clever and passionate. The aspiring farmers are confident in the investor and believe they have the best intentions for them. We are eager to ensure this is a brilliant matched farm so that we can prove our model works. 3. What we have planned for 2018
What are you going to do this year to make your farming dream a reality? How much do you want this gang? How many real estate agents will you hit up? How many retirement-aged farmers will you chat to? How many times will you pitch farms through Cultivate Farms? If you really want this you will be hustling and that is what we want to see and we love supporting those aspiring farmers who are really going for it.
If you are farmer looking to step back, what do you want for you and your farm in 2018? If you want to step back, why not work with the best people to take your farm to the next level? We are working with 40 retiring farmers now to help them find aspiring farmers to work on the farm together.
Summary of Episode 41 of Cultivate Farms TV:
- Feedback from the 14 farms pitched to the investor
We had 14 aspiring farmers pitch their farms. We unpacked the proposals over 6 hours with an investor, Andrew Bomm who built the pitching template and Ed Hunter who is overseeing the marketplace website build and Sam Marwood. 2. Merry Christmas 3. Meat and Livestock Australia backing We wanted to do a shout out to MLA who have given us a grant through the Producer Fasttrack Program to get the Farm Pitching Marketplace up and running. Without their funding support we couldn’t have been able to super charge our work and we wouldn’t be this close to finding dream farms for you aspiring farmers.
We are hopeful of getting a second round of funding, which is why we are again calling on aspiring farmers to sign up to help us match the funding we could receive from them.
If you have a great idea and area producer, we recommend you apply for the Fast Track program - you will see a video of me on there. https://www.mla.com.au/about-mla/mla-donor-company/producer-innovation-fast-track-program/
Episode 40 summary:
- Pitching 10 farms to an investor this Friday
- More reasons you should be a member
- More farms for you to own
Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality. This week:
- Calling for aspiring free range pig farmers
- Give a membership for Christmas
- Help us to launch an amazing website
Welcome to episode 38 episode of Cultivate Farms TV. Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality. This week:
- Calling for aspiring free range pig farmers
- Testing our model at SproutX
- Give a membership for Christmas
Welcome to episode 37 episode of Cultivate Farms TV. Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality. This week:
- Today is National Agriculture Day
- South Australia workshops on collaborative farming
- 10 Farm ownership opportunities across Australia
This week:
- $400 membership for $150 - forever If you are thinking of signing up, we would recommend signing up now. For the next couple of months membership is going to be $150 but when the marketplace is launched early next year, it is going to be $400+. Plus we will ensure you only ever pay a maximum of $150 each year for your membership.
Why would you sign up? Because you will be able to pitch your dream farm and have it in front of an investor the next day. That is exactly what you have been asking for the past 2 years as we have launched Cultivate Farms. You need access to capital to make your farming dream happen - this is the way to do it. 2. South Australia trip
Sam is coming to South Australia November 20 and 21. It would be great to chat with all our SA aspiring farmers. Sam is presenting at a couple of workshops discussing ways that you can get farming. They are free, so please come along. It is being run by Natural Resources SA Murray-Darling Basin and the National Landcare Program.
Event 1: When: 20 November 2017, 5.30-8.00pm Where: Purtinga Wetlands Centre, Cornerstone College, 68 Adelaide Rd, Mount Barker SA 5251 Register: www.new-age-farming-mt-barker.eventbrite.com.au
Event 2: When: 21 November 2017, 10.30am - 2:00pm Where: Loxton Research Centre, Bookpurnong Rd, Loxton SA 5333 Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-new-age-co-op-whats-in-… 3. How much are you willing to work?
We want to encourage you to work hard to make your farm dream a reality. It won’t be easy for you to find the right farm, to pitch the farm and convince others to back you. But it will happen if you work hard. It isn’t about being lucky, or extremely clever. It’s about putting the work in. Knowing what you want and going for it.
If you want a lifestyle farm and just a small one that you run on the weekend then that is fine and you won’t have to work as hard. But if you want a farm that makes great profits and fulfils your dreams you need to work hard. Smarter. But mainly harder. Hustle. Find farms, get the education, quit your job. How much do you want it?
When you are 80 and looking back over your life will you feel regret?
Hey everyone, episode 35 of Cultivate farms TV, where we give you an update on what we are doing to help make your farming dreams a reality.
This week I wanted to head down memory lane.
- AgSkills Vic
- Tim and Tegan’s Lease
- Dairy farms we were looking at still
- Are you prepared to do to make your farm a reality
- Filmed our ad
- We were thinking of doing a crowdfunding campaign
- We were updating the website - the version we have now
- WWOOFers
Welcome to episode 34 episode of Cultivate Farms TV. Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality. This week:
- $400 membership for $150 - forever
- Marketplace to pitch your farm - progress
- 100 retiring farmers in 100 days - update
This week:
- Lifetime discounted membership
Next week you will be able to sign up for membership at a discounted price for life. It is going to be way less than half of what you will have to pay in 2018. We are doing this to demonstrate to investors, communities and retiring farmers that you want to see this succeed and you want to pitch your farm. This will enable you to pitch your farm to investors. So keep an eye out and we will be contacting everyone who has a free account. Anyone who has paid already will be automatically given lifetime access at the reduced rate
- Crowdfunding your farm (it’s going to happen very soon)
We are in discussions with a new business that has been setup to do crowdfunding of properties. They are excited to support aspiring farmers and retiring farmers and we are in negotiations right now on how this will unfold. We are getting our head around why this will be a great thing for you aspiring farmers both in the short and long term. But the concept of a lot of people owning a part of your farm is so powerful - you have supporters who will want to see you succeed and help promote you and the farm and the produce. We will keep you posted.
- Find your own investors
People ask us who are investors and also how much investors want.
We want to completely open up who can be an investor in farms and not double guess who they are and what they want. The power is in your hands to present a farm that you are happy with and that you want to run. It is then up to investors to decide if they want to back you. Who are these investors:
- a) High net work individuals
- b) Family
- c) Yourself
- d) Banks
- e) The crowd
- f) Your customers
- g) retiring farmers
- h) retired farmers
- i) Community members
- j) Friends
Everyone knows someone who has some spare cash that they need to place somewhere. You should be making a big list of those people and then start the conversation with them about your plans to get farming and that soon you will have an investment proposal for them.
This week:
- Retiring farmer update (26 retiring farmers) We are one month off our 100 days of gathering 100 retiring farmers. We have gathered just over a quarter of them. This has been an amazing result and we are loving meeting all these retiring farmers and working out how we can help them.
We have now figured out the process:
1. a) document farm opportunity
2. b) promote to our network
3. c) select the best suited farmer
4. d) discuss options between parties
5. e) this may end up in equity, vendor finance or going to an investor
- Live online Q&As We are always thinking of how we give value to you. Now that we have been loving Facebook Live, we want to take it one step further - live Q&A on Facebook. What do you think? Aspiring farmers, retiring farmers and investors can ring in with questions they have and we answer them live. We could get guests in as well to focus on a particular topic. Would you be willing to call in?! Trying to figure out how to make this happen technically.
- Tim giving updates on his farming pathway
This week:
- Another way to access investors
We have been in contact with Smith Agri International for a number of years now. David Smith and I caught up at the Field Days and spoke to some aspiring farmers about using their services to attract an investor who could back them onto a farm. This is a great concept. Smith Agri deal with high net worth individuals who want to buy farms. David suggested that anyone who has a farm in mind that they should approach them to discuss the opportunity and whether they could get an investor to back them. A normal real estate wouldn’t be able to find an investor like this, they would normally sell it to a neighbour or someone wanting to farm for themselves. But these investors need farmers. This could be an amazing opportunity - so please reach out to them. 2. Our first potential farm match
We had discussions with investors, real estate and farmers looking to step back last week. What a great moment it was. We will find out in the next 4 weeks whether this will go ahead. But this could be our first matched farm which is amazing. Cultivate Farms have brought the opportunity to the right people and the investors are very supportive of backing aspiring and retiring farmers. I’ll keep you posted. 3. Would you be willing to pitch a farm in 2018?
This week:
- Elmore Field Days report
Met a handful of aspiring farmers and most of the discussion is about encouraging them to dream bigger. A lot of people are limiting their thinking to what they can save to buy. We say, dream about what you really want and let's work backwards from there on how we can make it happen. Everyone is loving the farm pitching marketplace. This is clearly going to solve a problem for asll you aspiring farmers out there. 2. Marketplace to pitch farms - update
We are in idea testing phase at the moment. We are asking questions of a lot of people about what they expect to see on the platform. The aim is that anyone can pitch a farm investment and get it in front of an investor to see if they will back you. We've had a great chat with ANZ, investors, aspiring farmers, agronomists and farm investment advisors. Our next phase is mapping out how this will flow online and support our handful of farms to pitch offline to prove it works. 3. Tim and Tegan Hicks join us live
It is rare for the Hicks' and Sam to be in the same spot and the Elmore Field Days was a great excuse for us to spend more time together and to talk to aspiring farmers together.
How are the 1000 acres going? What are you growing?
How is Hicks Country Beef going?
This week:
- Elmore Field Days next week
- Marketplace for you to pitch your farm
- Crowdfunding a farm
- Marketplace for pitching farms This concept of gap equity that I have been talking about the last few weeks has now solidified into the solution that we think could make a real difference to anyone wanting to be a farmer.
We are now developing the marketplace for pitching farms. Where you can take a farm, be guided by an advisor and have your investment opportunity presented to investors.
This means we will have templates developed that you fill in online in a ‘sand pit’ so you can get it right before submitting. You will also be able to connect with the right advisor to qualify that you and the farm pitch are great. 2. Employment pathway
We have been working with Ella Shannon from AgDraft (www.agdraft.com.au) which is an online marketplace for farm jobs. We are about to setup farm pathway opportunities. Which will be long term employment on farms, with the express focus on getting the worker farm-ready. We know the existing farmers will love this as they will get great workers, and you aspiring farmers need great opportunities to get your skills up so you are ready to get on farm. We haven’t seen anyone else offering these opportunities - where it is no longer a secret that you want to own a farm in a few years time. Get in touch if this interests you. 3. National Succession Planning Day We think that this issue of retiring farmers considering the next generation of farmers is also a massive and if we can get more conversations going about succession options this could open the flood gates for farm opportunities for you. So we are talking to a few people about setting up a national day for farm succession. It would be a day when you can ask awkward questions to farmers about whether they have their succession plans in palace. To discuss ways that you can get kids that aren’t your own onto your farm to continue your legacy.
Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality. This week:
- Gap equity really could be the solution What is it?
An investment structure that bridges the gap in equity that most aspiring farmers face between savings and debt. This gap is the single biggest reason for regional decline.
An aspiring farmer finds a farm opportunity and presents an investment opportunity which comprises debt, their own equity and the minimum equity needed from an investor. 2. Share our content to help build momentum
If you want us to find amazing farm opportunities for you and to get you on your farm - you need to share our content on social media. 3. What we tell every aspiring farmer
Find retiring farmers, ensure you have the skills and sign up as a member. You need to be out there hunting farm opportunities. You need to be helping yourself.
. Little Red Hen: Time after time we have discussions with people who absolutely love what we are doing. They get it; young people can’t afford to become a farmer. They then ask, how many farms have you setup, then they say, keep in touch and let us know when it’s more advanced.
I had a chat with some representatives from a Bank the other day and they asked how we could help - I said that we feel like the Little Red Hen - It will only be when we start getting farms matched that corporates and the ag industry will really back us - this is when they will like to come and eat the cake. The conversation went on, and you know what they said at the end? “Sam, what you are doing is great, please keep in touch and let us know when you get your first farm matched”.
What we need - we are after corporate sponsors to help bank roll the operation. To get our website really cranking, to setup streamlined processes so aspiring farmers can pitch farms, retiring farmers can pitch their farms and we can present great opportunities to investors.
So get in touch if you are interested.
Investment opportunities in WA: We are currently assessing the lay of the land in WA to potentially purchase a few farms. We have spoken to a half dozen retiring farmers who are eager to back new families.
We have a target of talking to 100 retiring farmers by November (100 days). We are still sitting on 20 - some farmers have pulled out and others have jumped on board.
Last February 7, Sam was interviewed by 774 ABC radio Melbourne about Farm Tinder.
Sam answered questions about Cultivate Farms as a farm tinder service for farmers. It is a farm matchmaking service. We connect an aspiring farmer with a retiring farmer and investors to own and operate a farm together.
This is part of a weekly series of updates from the team on how we are making your farming dream a reality. This week Sam Marwood talks about:
- Our national TV ad on Prime7
- How to use Landcare to get your farm
- A stack of farming opportunities
Welcome to Cultivate Farms TV episode 23. This is part of a weekly series of updates from the team on how we are making your farming dream a reality. This week Sam Marwood talks about:
- Your family are priority - but still keep hustling!
- How to use Landcare to get your farm
- Investors could be in your local community
Welcome to Cultivate Farms TV episode 22. This is part of a weekly series of updates from the team on how we are making your farming dream a reality. This week Sam Marwood talks about:
- Farm-ready opportunities
- 19 retiring farmers have been in contact
- Our national Prime7 ad
MASSIVE WEEK! Thank you to all our new followers and aspiring farmers. Welcome to Cultivate Farms TV ep 21. This is part of a weekly series of updates from the team on how we are making your farming dream a reality. This week Sam Marwood talks about:
- We are nearly at 100 aspiring farmers - let’s keep going!
- Our biggest week ever - so much is happening
- More farm opportunities - make sure you are signed up to take advantage
MASSIVE WEEK! Thank you to all our new followers and aspiring farmers. Welcome to Cultivate Farms TV ep 21. This is part of a weekly series of updates from the team on how we are making your farming dream a reality. This week Sam Marwood talks about:
- We are nearly at 100 aspiring farmers - let’s keep going!
- Our biggest week ever - so much is happening
- More farm opportunities - make sure you are signed up to take advantage
Welcome to Cultivate Farms TV Episode 19. We take you behind the scenes of how we are trying to make your farm dreams a reality. This week Sam Marwood talks about:
- Western Australia presentation on mindset to get on your farm
- Chatting with new investors
- How to ask a retiring farmer for their farm
Welcome to Cultivate Farms TV Episode 18. We take you behind the scenes of how we are trying to make your farm dreams a reality. This week Sam Marwood talks about: 1. Mecardo are here to help you 2. Heading to Western Australia 3. Crowdfunding your farm
Welcome to Cultivate Farms TV Episode 17. We take you behind the scenes of how we are trying to make your farm dreams a reality. This week Sam Marwood talks about: 1. We have a podcast 2. Pitch farms; we have a template 3. An interview with the Gourmet Farmer; Matthew Evans
Welcome to Cultivate Farms TV Episode 16. We take you behind the scenes of how we are trying to make your farm dreams a reality. This week Sam Marwood talks about: 1. Why you need to create your farmer profile online 2. The gold on our YouTube channel 3. Our key goals for 1718
Welcome to Cultivate Farms TV Episode 15. We take you behind the scenes of how we are trying to make your farm dreams a reality. This week Sam Marwood talks about:
- Farm opportunities
- Pitch us your farm opportunity
- The power of social media to get you a farm
Get pumped to get farming and find out what we've been doing to help you on your way. Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of Cultivate Farms - this week: 1. Are you really ready to get on your farm? 2. Creating a farmer profile will get you farming quicker 3. The reason you should be documenting your farming journey on social media 4. Amazing interviews with Maggie Beer and Annabelle Hickson - check out our blog
Welcome to episode 13 of Cultivate Farms TV. Your weekly dose of hustle and hope as we find ways to get you farming. This week Sam talks about: 1. If you work as a farm manager, tell the owner you want to own your own with them 2. You are helping to open doors for aspiring farmers 3. Please leave a comment if what we're doing is of value to you
Welcome to Episode 12. We take you behind the scenes on how we are making your farming dreams a reality. This week Sam Marwood talks about:
- Our updated website is live - go here to register your farmer profile.
- Why create a farmer profile? So we can promote you to the world and make your farming dream happen quicker
- What we do with the money - this will help us pay for basic running costs - website, videos and travel
- Discount to anyone who contacts Sam with... watch to find out
- Farm opportunity updates
- Preparing for Sam's presentation at the Australian Farm Institute conference next week
Welcome to episode 11 of Cultivate Farms TV. Sam takes you behind the scenes of the farm-dream-making factory! This week 1. The launch of a farm fund that could be your farm pathway 2. We are serious about you pitching farm investments to us 3. We want you to succeed 4. More...
Welcome to Cultivate Farms TV ep 10. Taking you behind the scenes of how we are making your farming dreams a reality. This week: 1. A vendor finance opportunity in Tasmania 2. The farm version of Shark Tank 3. How to assess a farm for an investor
Members and non-members aged under 35 are invited to join the NSW Young Farmers in Wagga for the 2017 Young Farmer AGM last April 1, 2017. The theme is Agriculture Today - showcasing the innovating industries and process currently happening in our industry. Our very own Sam Marwood couldn't come but recorded his message for the participants of the event.
Sam Marwood presented to Dairy Australia last September 2017 to aspiring and retiring farmers about practical steps on how they can get onto or off their farm.
Sam Marwood takes you behind the scenes of what we are doing to help make your farm dreams a reality. In this episode, Sam together with Andrew Boom from Progressive Agriculture (www.progressiveagriculture.com.au) discussed the FARM INFORMATION TEMPLATE, that provides the framework for an aspiring farmer to pitch an investment proposition and their own capacity to deliver returns to investors. 1. Summary of Proposition 2. Farming capabilities and experience 3. The proposed acquisition 4. Prospective operations 5. Financial projections 6. Investment proposition 7. Risk assessment
We take you behind the scenes of another week trying to find ways to make your farm dream a reality. This week Sam Marwood chats about: 1. What alternatives there are to Cultivate Farms 2. What retiring dairy farmers think of Cultivate Farms 3. Update on the first farm match 4. And more...
Episode 8 of Cultivate Farms TV where we take you behind the scenes of our work to make your farm dreams a reality. This week Sam talks about: 1. Another aspiring farmer hustling 2. Insights into investors and how we are setting up deals for you 3. Two years since we started: a summary of the journey | 10052017
Welcome to Cultivate Farms TV ep 7 where we take you behind the scenes of making farming dreams come true. This week Sam gives an update on: 1. Goodies that will be in your membership 2. A tenacious aspiring farmer 3. Dairy farm investment update 4. How log it takes to save for a farm (32 years!) | 10052017
The weekly update on how we are finding your dream farm. This week Sam talks about 1. Feeling lost about how to get on your dream farm? 2. Examples of aspiring farmers hustling 3. Want to volunteer for us and change the face of ag in Australia? 4. Membership survey results | 10052017
Come along for the ride with Cultivate Farms as we discuss a week in the life of a start-up making it possible for young people to live their farming dream. This week Sam Marwood (co-founder) discusses why we need your support (aspiring farmers); Vertical farming in the city; His experience talking to retirement-age farmers; The organic investment fund we are supporting in order to get you onto your dream farm. | 12042017
This episode is about: What investors are looking for in their farm and aspiring farmers, new organic farm-land investment fund, setting up webinar training sessions for aspiring farmers and more.. | 05042017
In this episode Sam discussed the quickest way for you to make your farm dream a reality. 29032017
Welcome to the first episode of Cultivate Farms. Sam gave updates on what's going on. | 16032017