Mecardo Blog

We’ve heard it repeated many times from various experts across different channels: when employees are empowered at work, they are more effective workers and are more committed to their job.

However, is this actually the case?

Leadership is often sought as some sort of pinnacle in a chosen field, something to be aspired to when seemingly other more humdrum accomplishments have been completed.

In fact, this is the deception of leadership, the gaining of leadership is not the end game, it is just the beginning of a responsibility that few are prepared for and most attempt to “learn on the job.”

Whether leading a company, a movement, an industry or a team, good leaders can achieve great things via their team, members or staff. The obvious paradox is that poor leaders can hold back the organisation or team leaving an unfulfilled or sometimes worse situation.

Up, down, up, down, down, down & up. Farming is one of the most variable occupations in the world. Our profitability is determined by several factors including drought, pricing & government intervention. Australia is lucky to have access to farm management deposit (FMD) accounts to mitigate the impact of seasonal conditions. In this update we look at the state of FMD accounts at present during the drought.

In 1932 Winston Churchill’s essay “50 Years Hence” predicted that society would “escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium”. Today, scientists and farmers are fulfilling Churchill’s vision, combining technology, science and sustainability to develop creative approaches to food production, such as entomophagy, which is insect eating, and fake meat..

The announcement that scientists have successfully mapped the wheat genome is significant. Firstly, for the fact that the scale of this achievement is huge; the wheat genome map is five times the size of the human genome map.

But also important is the impact this will have on wheat as a source of food supply into the future, and by extrapolation the effect this event will have on future land use in general.

The next employee you hire will play a huge role in how your business can meet its goals and objectives – or, they could be the reason why you don’t. The effect your newest employee will have is entirely dependent on who you choose to hire.

A perceived major issue in Ag is the labour employment challenge, and with every innovation, we see less labour employed as a result. So how substantial is this labour crisis really? This decline in labour employed may be more a symptom of a changing Agriculture industry. A new generation is stepping up to the challenge and with fresh blood comes fresh ideas.

In many areas of the country the outlook for the crop looks bleak. There are many farmers out there who have forward sold grain and will not have the production to deliver.

Washing out a forward sold grain contract is a stressful action. In this short article, we will look at washouts and rollovers - and why it is so important to look at it early. 

The Sheepvention name captures the remarkable story of a sheep show that has survived where many other regional events have long ago shut up shop.

The P & A Society members who 40 years ago decided to re-invent (and re-name) a dying sheep show by thinking outside the traditional and accepted model are to be applauded.

As part of the Ruralco network, Mecardo are strong advocates of the work conducted by crisis support and suicide prevention charity Lifeline Australia. Since 2015 Ruralco have had a corporate partnership with Lifeline, engaging in a number of initiatives to support Lifeline in assisting those in rural areas who are in crisis. 

In a new initiative the two organisations are rolling out the first nation-wide survey into how rural communities and farmers cope with life’s difficulties, the Farmers and Rural Communities Survey.