Ground Control to Major Tom.

Commencing countdown, engines on. Check ignition and may God's love be with you.

Now before you go any further in this blog, you must watch this video from Commander Chris Hadfield, from his time on the International Space Station.
While you are watching and listening, I want you to reflect on, well........... just about everything in your life.

I will get back to you in a few minutes after you have seen the video.

Please, you must watch this video first, and full screen it to get the full effect.


How do you feel?  What are you thinking now?   Isn't this place earth absolutely amazing?
I don't need to hear your answers to those questions. Those answers are for yourself.

But I do have a question I would love to hear your answer.

What are you doing to take care of your little patch of Planet Earth?

On Monday night on the ABC TV, Commander Chris Hadfield was on Q&A. Quick, get on iview if you haven't seen it. What an amazing inspirational leader.
A question from the audience asked Commander Hadfield, "So many of us want to change aspects of ourselves, or our life, how do you, or how did you fundamentally change your self with the challenges you faced?
His response resonated with me so much, I couldn't wait for a couple of spare moments to write this blog.

To summarize his answer, he spoke of the fact the he spent 5 months in space, 5 months, but 50% of the risk was within the first 9 minutes. The Launch is Risky. (I will come back to that in a minute)
Commander Hadfield went onto talk about Fear. How do you face up to danger in your life? How do you overcome the fear of taking the next step or doing something that is out of your comfort zone? "We just basically say, I wont do that because I'm afraid."

"All of those experiences you deny yourself from doing, have a richness, that maybe make them worth doing." "How do you change yourself to over come that fear, to do something that is, taking a risk for?"
His comments were, "early on giving yourself a definition what success might look like. If these things go perfectly, how am I going to end up? What am I really trying to accomplish with my life? Because that, then lets you choose what you want to do next."
"Set the pathways in place you need to make your outcomes happen. The key question is not what to do in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, The real hard question is what to do next. That's the real key to change your self,"
"Give your self long term definitions of how you want this to turn out, so it helps you choose the small things you need to change about yourself, so that you can separate danger from fear, and work out the risks worth taking. It's amazing where each of those little steps can take you."

Click here to see the full interview
He tackles that question around the 30 minute mark if you want to forward to that part only.

"The Launch is Risky" Commander Chris Hadfield

Launch - Definition

: To set going, to initiate.

: To give (someone or something) a start.

: To begin a new venture, or phase.

The first step in any new venture we take on, is invariably the hardest step of all. Sometimes we think things can be too daunting, or we fear too much on what may go wrong, or what people will say.

So to, is that feeling for a many number of Primary Producers, when it comes to looking at Biological Agriculture or Nutrition Farming Practices. It need not be that way. You need to take the blinkers off, peel back the layers of your thinking and take action. You must take the first step. The Launch.

As we have just seen above the outcomes from Commander Chris Hadfield, once you have set your goals in place, your outcomes can be achieved.

So take action, take the first step, launch your self into your next challenge. 

And know that the support structure is right there with you.

I have a network of like minded producers all through the broad acre sectors of WA that have "launched" on there journeys, and are seeing things from a very different, but a very achievable outcome.

We as a collective look forward to you joining our network, to build relationships, knowledge and solutions, in agriculture in WA.

So what are you doing to take care of your little patch of Planet Earth?

Now That's Smart Thinking, Smart Farming.

Keep Your Green Light On.

A New Future Ahead

• Change the Mindscape before the Landscape
• Our mind is a powerful tool. A change in mindset, or a paradigm shift, can be the most powerful thing you can do, In all aspects of your life
• It’s not all about doing things right, It’s about doing the right thing.

Ok, for some of you that attended a Conference that I organized in Guildford a few years ago, I had a speaker there, a friend of mine called David Koutsoukis.
His theme outlined the Red light, Green light concept.

In a nutshell this means that as a Red light farmer, everything that goes wrong is someone else’s fault. A good example of this, is to blame the local chemical supplier of not having the chemical you want the day you want to use it. He blames the supplier, when in fact he should have made sure he organized this before he needed it. Therefore blaming the supplier and taking no responsibility of his own.

A Green light farmer who can’t get the chemical the same day either, realizes that yep, I should have pre-ordered and will take responsibility of the outcome.

What do you reckon is the mindset of the two farmers that would have left the supplier that day?

Mr Red man would have probably been abrupt and angry and gone home and kicked the dog.
Mr Green man would have been disappointed, but ok with it, and gone home and patted the dog.
So for the love of your dog’s guys, make sure you are a Green Light Farmer.

Maybe I will go deeper into this another time.

Right……, now to make the “Paradigm / Mindset Shift more relevant to us about soil and plant health. Let’s look at our Biological Farming Approach.
I have shown you over many years now that our Biological Farming practices, i.e. the use of Mineral Based Fertilisers, Microbial Soil Inoculates, Humates for nutrient uptake, Microbial Stimulants and Liquid Fertilisers for precise nutrient uptake can and do give you yield, and net profit returns.
So I don’t need to go on about that. Please contact me if you want to discuss this further.
For those of you who are reading this, and not following Biological practices, but are still farming profitability with your current system, this is “now” where your mindset needs to change.

In 2015, I cannot, and will not deny the fact that your current fertiliser systems, i.e. Acid based fertiliser, high Salt based fertiliser and high Nitrogen applications will give you a profitable return if the season is kind. My biggest concern with this is twofold. What’s the quality of the end produce, and for how many more years can we farm like this?

As primary producers, it is our role to feed the world, rich nutrient dense food.
Yep big statement, I know, but really think about it, what is our purpose?
You may not really care about this, but that’s the fact.

But here’s the biggy. Ever heard of Peak Phosphorus, as one example?
Do you think that at some time in the near future, 20 – 80 years we are going to face shortages of our natural resources?
Can our future families farm under our current thinking, if our resources are in short supply?
What will happen to the price of our resources when the supply is reduced?
Then what do our next generations use to grow our crops or livestock?

Do you really care?

Now, they are some pretty confronting questions there, and I apologize to you if you think I am up a Wattle, or up s#!t creek without a paddle, but we need to consider these questions.

Here is a question to you.

What if right now you could grow the same, or more yield, or produce the same, or higher livestock figures than you are currently producing, but using less of some our key natural resources (Phosphorus, Potassium, Nitrogen, Water) for the same or less input costs?

Ok, now change your mindset, go back and ask yourself that question again.

I haven’t even touched on the quality of your produce, or the change in your soil health in that question. We will just leave those to be added benefits in that question.

Yes we are farming for the here and now, but at some stage we have to think of the future. And the future ain't that far away.

All I am trying to say here is please do not dismiss anything. Do not just pigeon hole something because it is different, or you have “heard” that stuff just doesn't work?

Be very careful to not just follow the so called experts in the Agricultural Industry. By all means take on board all that is said, but don’t be afraid to question it.

See that’s “The Mindset Change needed.”

Keep your Green Light On.

Once upon a time........

Those magical first few words we heard as a small child. We new that what ever story came next was a world of excitement, wonderment, mystery and a tale of fulfilment. Those amazing "Fairy Tales" left us feeling as though the world was full of magic,that we can do anything and be a part of our own fairy tale. It gave us insight,scope and took us along a pathway of complete happiness and left us with confidence and feeling that all things were going to be "happy ever after".

As we grew up, our childhood fairy tales became shattered. The reality of the big wide world set's in. We are always feeling that we are pulled down a peg or two. Our dreams and goals drift away from us. We feel anxious, lose confidence, we wonder if there will ever be a, happy ever after.

This is what modern day society and business drives into us. It makes us think that, yes you can have your dreams and your fairy tales,in your mind, but in reality, corporates will drive you into the ground at every opportunity for their own gain, and at your ultimate detriment. We are left feeling, whats the point of continuing.

Well friends I want to tell you a story, and you guessed it, it starts with......

Once upon a time, a few years ago, I was sitting in front of my computer reading some blogs and forums on sustainable and productive farming solutions.
I started to read this particular farmer's insight on some things he had learnt and started to implement on his own program.
What he was putting into words in this forum, was an insight to this farmer's ultimate and achievable goals.
Then Mrs farmer popped up in the same forum, complementing her husband's insights, but from a different angle, yet again ultimately with the same ideas and the same set pathways.

The more they wrote, the more I read and researched some of this amazing tale of learning and practical knowledge building. After a while their time on the forum dwindled. I kept searching, and in my travels kept learning and passing on some of this information I had picked up from these guys.

Twelve months or so went by and as I do, I attend many field days and seminars to improve my knowledge. We were in a hall with about 40 or 50 people, where we all stood up and introduced ourselves and told every one a little about who we are and what we are there for.
Bingo. My forum fairys were there.

At the first break of the day, with cuppa and cake in hand I made a fast-track approach, shoved out my hand, introduced myself and told them how fantastic they were to be sharing and passing on their knowledge. Because you see, they are like-minded people, cut from the same stone as myself. Let's build knowledge and learning, and pass it on to the masses. That's what makes a difference.

Over the next year or two we would occasionally catch up the odd phone call, a farm visit here and there, no pressure, no sales just friends helping friends.

Earlier this year, pretty close to seeding, Mrs farmer rings me up. Andrew can you come and visit, we need to talk. No worries, is tomorrow ok?
The next day on the two hour drive to their farm I was wondering, why all of a sudden the quick cry for help or guidance.

As we sat around the kitchen table, Mr and Mrs farmer unloaded on me that things were not all good. They had lost confidence, they were anxious, had been screwed by corporates, and in their own way were feeling, is there going to be a happy ever after?

Then something amazing happened. A spark. They started to tell me about a project they had undertaken. Something from completely left field. But they believed in it. They had a passion about making it work. Because you see for them, This had to work. It was the last straw. It was the last throw of the dice. Everything came down to this.

In confidence they showed me their project. I was amazed. I had read briefly about this idea before, I had not dismissed it, I just had not followed it very closely.

After a couple of hours, I drove out of their farm knowing that,

1. They had a passion.
2. They had drive.
3. Yes, they were going into some relatively uncharted waters, but they believed.
4. They needed to share with a like minded person, and really for them, get a show of confidence from me to know that, what they were doing potentially had merit.
5. They were giving it everything, totally.

Now here we are 6 weeks post seeding. Crops are up. Looking pretty good. We have had a variable season so far, thinks going ok.

Recently I had the privilege of being with Mr and Mrs farmer on their farm with about a dozen or so fellow primary producers to share these insights.
What we discussed and discovered during the afternoon, made many people really stand up and think about their current farming practice. What we saw was not just some healthy crops, we saw a healthy farm.

This is driven by passion and commitment. To achieve what Mr and Mrs farmer are doing is about the thinking. To undertake this pathway, first you must create the paradigm shift.

If you do what you have always done,
you will always get what you have always gotten.

You must change your thinking pattern first before making ultimate change.

We have all heard of the book The Secret and the term, The Law of Attraction. Now some of you may initially dismiss this, but please don't underestimate the power we ultimately have our self, and the power of the universe.
You ask Mr and Mrs farmer here about their law of attraction. This program for them was never going to fail. For others it might, you see, you need to have belief.

After driving out their drive way that evening, I knew that Mr and Mrs farmer and their little farmers are going to live "happily ever after".

Sweet Dreams.

Now That's Smart Thinking Smart Farming.


Keep your green light on.

Your Biggest Asset.

In my very early travels through the Western Australian Wheatbelt some years ago, I sometimes asked the farmers I was dealing with was,"Whats your biggest and most important Asset?" A couple of times, though I must admit, not very often, the answer was, this new tractor, or the big header with the 30 foot front. Unfortunately some guys could not see the bigger picture, that in fact the biggest and by far the most important asset we as primary producers have is our soil.

Now I am glad to say that every one I now deal with, and with all honesty, most primary producers know the importance of our soil, and understands the management principles we need to implement. There has been a huge shift in the thinking about how we farm in current economic and more importantly, changing environmental conditions.


But it all starts with the basics. Understanding soils. Our Greatest Asset. This unfortunately where a lot of us get lost in the system. There are and have been many "opinions" about what to do or what products to use, but before that we need to start from the bottom and work up.

So what I will introduce to you in the coming blogs are in fact the basics;

• Where to start.



• What do we do.



• How do we do it.
  

This will revolve around the physical, chemical and biological traits of the soil, This can be quite expansive, so we will keep it as simple as possible with plenty of links to a lot of very informative information on the web.

My goal to you is to bring you a one stop shop if you like, where information can be presented and shared amongst us all.

No matter what your producing, the principles remain the same for the soil, and with that in mind mirror what we need for a healthy body ourselves.

Keep your green light on.

Smart Online Business.

Now this may not be directly related to your Smart Farm Business. But I have recently attended a Small Business Online Workshop.


As part of my role as Field Manager with Western Mineral Fertilisers, this information supplied by Seven Independent Business owners to strengthen your online presence was absolutely outstanding.
I encourage any of you who either have an online web business, are blogging or are even active with social media. Facebook, Twitter and the like. You must attend this interactive seminar.


If you have been skirting around the outside of getting involved in an online business or presence, please go the their website and register your interest.
There you will also see testimonials of those who have attened and how it has helped them.

I believe they will be conducting another round in WA in August and September.

What you can expect to take home from this seminar;

Website Development,

Content Management,

Graphic Design,

Imagery and Photos,

Search Engine Optimisation

and much more that can be tailored to suit your individual business.

While on the web subject, stay tuned for some new information and directions I will be soon involved in online, that again will keep you in a Smart Thinking Smart Farming situation.

Keep Your Green Light On.

The Leader Who Had No Title

To be inspired you got to watch this short video on Robin Sharma's Book, The Leader Who Had No Title.

You can do anything you wish. Stand up and lead.

Keep your green light on.

Lights, Camera, ............Action.

"Ideas are ultimately worthless unless you activate them with focused and consistent action. The best leaders never leave the site of a good idea without doing something, no matter how small, to breath some light into it. Lots of people have good ideas. But the masters became masters because they had the courage and conviction to act on ideas."

A powerful idea is absolutely fascinating and utterly useless until we choose to act on it.

The above extract taken from a fantastic book I am currently reading by Robin Sharma, The Leader Who Had No Title.


Earlier this year I was involved in holding a seminar here in Perth, with over 120 primary producers attending. Our Living Soils Conference covered many aspects of sustainable broad acre farming systems. The most important aspect we promoted during the day was to act on something from the day. It could have been a soil test to know exactly what you are dealing with, or an on farm visit from me to discuss your current management practices and make subtle changes initially to take the first step. Again, it doesn't matter how small a first step, just take that step.

It can be very difficult in the current farming economic climate to change what we know, or what we do.

You have to have the courage and belief to change. But believe me, once you make that first smart step, the rest becomes easier. And as I have said previously the more you move forward, the more you learn. You are taking action and, bingo you are getting results.


So next time you hear of a good idea or system, don't talk it up then do nothing, act upon that idea. Follow through, learn more and implement a system.

Now that's Smart Thinking, Smart Farming.


Keep your green light on.