Mixing Family & Business in Ag with Megan Ford

Jon Paul Driver 0:00
Welcome to the Hay Matters podcast brought to you by LocalAg and Feed Central. This is your go to source for all things hay related in Australia. I’m your host. John Paul driver in today’s episode, we’re joined by Megan Ford, one of the owners at LocalAg and Feed central Megan. Where were you raised?

Megan Ford 0:23
So I’m actually from western Queensland. I was born in a town called bar calden, which is not too far from longrich. So I spent a majority of my childhood in bar calden, and then just before I started boarding school, we moved to another smaller country town called Surat, which is not far from Roma. So I call western Queensland home.

Jon Paul Driver 0:44
As you think back to your childhood, who were some of those women that influenced you most?

Megan Ford 0:50
For me growing up, there’s probably a handful of people, my grandmother, so that’s my dad’s mother. At the time, I probably didn’t know it. My dad travelled for work, so he was away a lot, and so grandma would often pop around with some food, and she would babysit. We’d have sleepovers at grandma. But one of the things I can really fondly remember with my grandmother was during the school holidays, was attending the CWA meetings, so the country women’s associated meetings, and as a little kid, you’re all really excited because there’s all the little scones and the finger food and the good China, and you’re allowed to use a tea cup, which you’re not normally allowed to use at home. So you know, you’d see this amazing group of women getting together and fussing over morning tea, but then even maybe I wasn’t paying attention, but subconsciously, there were conversations happening in those meetings about how to support their community, about, and we’re talking about some of the early 90s, late 80s, early 90s, when drought had really started to take hold in Queensland. So conversations about how they could support, you know, their local farmers and their own children in rural towns at that time, fundraising, but also others forms of support, in terms of, you know, taking meals to certain people. And I don’t think I realised at the time, I just thought they were talking about things, but I realised right then and there that how instrumental those groups were in those country towns. So even back then, the exposure to those sorts of things, I look really back fondly of so my grandmother and obviously my mother, who had a tough time, her husband, travelled a lot, was away for periods of time and had three daughters to raise, ended up going back to work while we’re in sort of late primary. She did an amazing job. One friend in particular, you know, we’re lifelong friends. Would hang out at her property outside of Barclay every chance I got. Her mother was an amazing woman, very stoic, as tough as Western Queensland women came. I just used to think, Wow, what an amazing you know, she was on this property just doing stuff. It was amazing. My Auntie is another really amazing woman. She had 10 children and lost her husband when her youngest was about, I think, five or eight, and we used to visit her property. I remember saying to Mum, when Aunty Libby turned 70, oh, I said, I haven’t been able to get Auntie Libby. She goes, No, no, I think she’s still out on the motorbike, mustering sheep. I’ll have to wait till dinner time. You know, my god mother also lived on a property just outside of Barcaldine. She was an amazing influence on me as well. Still is we catch up. She’s retired in Brisbane now, and we catch up from time to time. At the time when you’re growing up. I don’t know that you can totally identify why. But you are drawn to these people because they’re really they were amazing women, you know, doing some amazing things. And they might have thought at the time they were just doing the day to day. But for me, I had some really great women to look up to. That puts you in good stead, I think, from the get go, if you’ve got really strong female role models that are not just doing their own lives, but looking after other people and involved in community work that really makes an impact on you.

Jon Paul Driver 4:15
And how did that play into the early days of Feed Central?

Megan Ford 4:19
I think for me, when things are tough, like when you’re building a business and things are really tough, money’s tight. We had small children. We had big ideas, but no they’re going to take time to come to fruition. Looking back on all of those women that influenced my life, they also had had really tough times, really tough times. And I thought, well, you know, you’ve just got to sort of knuckle down and go through the tough things will get better, because I had, you know, obviously watched their lives improve. You know, I’ve been able to watch these women do these amazing things and have tough times than. Surely I can, you know that resonated with me. Surely I can. Part of our success story is the amount of support we had with family in those younger times. And I look back at those women and know that they also probably had a lot of family support for me, those two things go hand in hand, seeing those women survive difficult times with droughts, family things. It certainly gives you something to hold on to when you’re in the trenches going, Look, if they’ve made it, I reckon I’ll be right, too.

Jon Paul Driver 5:33
Megan, we talked ahead of recording this, of course, and one of the things that stood out to me was the concept of late night board meetings.

Megan Ford 5:43
Yeah. And that’s, that’s right, it’s a good way to refer to them, actually, late night board meetings. And looking back, I don’t know that I realised what they were in their context, or the importance of them, because obviously you’re juggling really small kids building a business, and we would be having these conversations at 910, 11 o’clock at night or on Sunday afternoons. And you know, whenever we could grab some adult time, really, which is very difficult when you’re juggling small children. Someone mentioned to me I was doing a leadership course a couple of years ago, and there was a mentoring part in that. A lady who was partnered with for the mentoring part said to me, you know, don’t ever underestimate those conversations, those conversations at home or in the car or in the paddock, they really matter just as much as the conversations that are happening in boardrooms and offices, because the clarity that you can seek through those conversations and the decision makings and deciding which directions to take your business in, they’re really important. And don’t just think you’re having another conversation you know about your business and that your voice isn’t necessarily making an impact. That really resonated with me, because I think I look back over those years when the kids were small and thought, well, I mightn’t have physically been in the office and doing day to day things, the conversations that we were having and the decisions we were making about which direction to take the business and involving, you know, expansion and all sorts of things were really important. And I’m not sure sometimes as females, we understand the importance of those conversations just because they’re not happening in an office environment, a meeting environment, someone’s not there taking notes that those conversations are really, really important, that really resonated with me, and so that’s actually really helped me these last couple of years, when we are having conversations, not in the office and at home and or in the car when we’re driving somewhere, to really switch in a different mode and make sure that when we’re engaged in that conversation, that that’s what that conversation is about. And I’m not tempted to bring in other conversations just because I’ve got, you know, Tim’s attention or someone’s attention about the business at that time. You know, they’re really important conversations to be had.

Jon Paul Driver 8:15
And you would see those things implemented. Did it take time?

Megan Ford 8:20
Yeah, it has taken time. All things take time. Tim and I have big plans all the time when you’re implementing it’s often the slowest part. Got to get your team on board. You’ve got to move with the market. You’ve got to roll out all sorts of procedures that go along with it. But it is really rewarding when you’ve had a conversation about stuff and you’ve your ideas and inputs have gone in, and then you might necessarily get to see it on a day to day basis, because you’re not necessarily involved in every meeting or every discussion or every part of the process, but then to see the outcomes months or a year or so later is really rewarding, and know that you were part of that conversation, part of those decisions. It’s really rewarding.

Jon Paul Driver 9:05
I want to hear some of the struggles that you’ve had along the way. I think we’re going to hear about the importance of family and support. But there’s a story about a hay shed fire.

Megan Ford 9:15
There always seems to be a story about a hay shed fire when hay is involved. Unfortunately, yeah, we’ve had a few things happen along our road, but one of the things that stood out for me, back in the early 2000s Tim was overseas at the time, in South Korea, exploring some exporting opportunities, and we had some hay. We had storage facilities out at Oakey. I had been out all day. Tim’s parents had been amazing and babysitting our children. And I’d gotten home, and it was maybe 430-5 o’clock in the afternoon, and they had literally had just left. I’d started taking over, started moving to dinner mode, and next minute, my phone’s ringing, and I’ve got team members ringing me saying, oh my god, the haze, all the light in Oakey, it’s mad. Massive. It’s big. You need to get out here. And so I just rang Tim’s parents, and they just double backed. Got Kev some, which is Tim’s dad, some old workers, and got in some workers, and away we went. And we could see it as we were approaching. And it was a very big fire. Perhaps the fire department still used some footage for some of their training. And it was a real pivotal point in that, you know, you just switched into, okay, what needs to be done? What phone calls we were really, you know, we had an amazing General Manager at the time, Cieran Maxwell, who just stepped right up and stepped right in to help me. We’d tried phoning Tim. He wasn’t available immediately, which was fine, because we had it. But Tim’s Dad was just there the whole time, helping with decisions. Okay, what do we need to do now? What needs you know, working with the fire department, working with the EPA, because we had so much water and things going everywhere. It was right opposite a nursing home and hospital at the time. So there was a lot going on, a lot. It was a really big fire. It just resonated how important it was to have that support at the time. Because it would have been really easy just to sort of fall in a bit of a heap and not really know what to do or what where to go, but just having that family support and the team support at the time, and by the time Tim and I did connect. It was all in hand as best it could be with the big fire shed fire. That was an amazing example of, yeah, Tim’s Mum just stayed did kid stuff, which allowed me to take control of the situation with the support of our General Manager, and get on top of everything. Which was, which was good, really, really good at the time, really dramatic. We look back at it now and think, ‘Well, you know, it was all handled really, really well’. And I think part of the reason it was really handled well is because I was just fully supported. One classic example, I think, of the support we’d had from family over the time when the kids were really young. Tim did it. Was doing, doing the, you know, we were doing the hard yards. There was a lot of travel involved. You know, I talked about when Annabelle was born in ’05. It was drought years, and like, my mum just sort of arrived, which was amazing. And Tim’s parents, I sometimes I wouldn’t even know they’d been and I’d come home and the lawn was mowed, and there was just food in my fridge, casseroles and stuff. And it was just amazing, because it was a really busy time. You know, we had four small kids. Tim was on the road a fair bit. We were building our business. And as anyone knows, when you’re in the thick of it, there’s a lot to do and not enough hours in the day. I think one of the keys to our business surviving and thriving was having the family support. I don’t believe we would have been able to build the business or have the growth rate without that family support. I’d be quite sure of it.

Jon Paul Driver 12:52
Let’s switch gears here and talk about your connections with other women in ag.

Megan Ford 12:58
Yes, for me, and I think I’m just going to say that I think women are really great networkers, and it’s something where most it comes naturally to a lot of women, perhaps more naturally than men. So over the years, I have really continued to network and be involved with different groups. It’s something that, even with the challenges of our business and when the kids were little, maybe not as much as I would have liked, but it was something that’s always been really important to me. Early on, when we very first started our business, I was exposed, or introduced, I should say, two really amazing ladies. They really got me involved in the industry on, you know, on a women’s in agricultural industry. Introduced me to two groups, in particular, the Queensland Rural Women’s Network, as it was known back in the day, and the Australian women in agriculture network. And I was just embraced. I suppose I was a little bit younger than most of their members. It was an amazing opportunity to just see things and see what these women’s groups were doing. And I think it was my first exposure that, apart from the CWA, which is the country Women’s Association, which I attended with my grandmother as a young child, and have really fond memories even of the CWA meetings, because, you know, it wasn’t just about the cup of tea and scones. It was about what they were doing and organising and supporting in their local communities, but it was my first exposure into organised groups within an industry, and it was just amazing. And it was just, you know, just this powerhouse of women having discussions and supporting each other and learning things and learning new skills getting involved in the industry. I was really lucky to get involved in that in my early 20s. For me, it’s just something that really instantly was drawn to. So I’ve tried over the last 20 years to really stay involved as much as possible. Of course, when the kids were little and you’ve got your hands full, there. Wasn’t as much, but certainly in more recent years, I’ve sort of maintained attending conferences, networking and events, and one of the things these, both of these groups in particular, have managed to do is up skill people in the industry, and you know, myself included, through leadership courses through different education, things in the industry. And it’s just an amazing thing that we have these groups, and it’s, you know, it’s important to be part of them. And I do think for me, they’ve been part of my journey in terms of meeting some amazing people, listening to some amazing stories, but learning just really, learning lots about the industry, and learning new skills and upskilling all the time. So yeah, it’s been great. And I think those things when you’re young, particularly in those early 20s, really make a really make a difference. I’m already starting to encourage my girls to really look outside their school and university networks. And you know, what else? What else might you be interested in and surrounding themselves with good particularly women, to make sure that they’re getting some great advice and influence. For sure.

Jon Paul Driver 16:13
That’s exactly what I was just going to head towards. What advice would you give to a young woman in agriculture today?

Megan Ford 16:21
Look around and get involved. I think there are some amazing groups doing some amazing things. You might not know anyone, but just go along anyhow, because I think women in agriculture are just so supportive and so interested in seeing the next generation do better and have better resources. So I think it’s just really important that the young people don’t be frightened to go along, even if you don’t know anyone, we’re really good at networking and getting stuff done really. So the more I think women are involved in agriculture too. I feel like maybe some more stuff in some areas will will really go ahead and leaps and bounds. So definitely, for those younger generations get involved, and it doesn’t have to be women’s groups in agriculture either. Like, there’s plenty of groups in all different areas of agriculture, but certainly, you know, I find the women’s the Women in Agriculture and the Queensland Rural Women’s Network, and I know there’s other networks in different states, you’ll learn something, and you’ll meet some amazing people.

Jon Paul Driver 17:32
I want to hear your thoughts about the transition to LocalAg and what that looks like from your perspective.

Megan Ford 17:38
So LocalAg has been quite the journey for us. While we’ve only just launched it this year, it’s been in progress for a couple of years. I think for us, it’s the next part of our business model, the next part of how we can really support our farmers and customers. For me, personally, like it’s been something really exciting to embrace the technology and just sort of see it come along and evolve out of feed central from a need, really. That’s how the first conversation started, talking with our farmers and customers and like, oh, we wish there was this. And it was like, ‘Oh, okay’. And then, you know, having that conversation a little bit more and going well actually, there’s probably is a pathway for us from Feed Central to LocalAg, why would we wait for anyone else to do it? You know, it’s a really natural progression for us. It’s a wonderful way, I suppose, to support our customers and and give them, you know, the opportunity, the power in their own hands to look after their own farm and marketing, one of the things we’re finding constantly with farmers and customers is that their business is ever evolving as well, and they’re just incredibly business savvy, smart people. Providing a platform for them really wasn’t a difficult decision, if that makes sense, it’s been an exciting journey, really, to see another part of the business come along and evolve.

Jon Paul Driver 19:13
Megan, this has been a wonderful discussion.

Megan Ford 19:15
Thanks, Jon Paul .

Jon Paul Driver 19:16
Megan, I’ve enjoyed hearing your stories, your trials and tribulations, and your advice is no doubt well founded.

Thanks for having me. Jon Paul, I’ve enjoyed it today.

Again, I’ve been joined by Megan Ford, one of the owners at LocalAg and Feed Central. Megan, again, a big thank you to you. This podcast is proudly presented by LocalAg and Feed Central. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes.