Episode Details

In this episode of Agsolutely Fabulous, Katja speaks with Rachel Gordon, a cattle producer near Oberon in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales who runs about 300 breeders with her husband, Andrew, across owned and leased country. They discuss why it’s important to give city kids opportunities in agriculture to bridge the urban–rural divide, including Rach’s experience hosting a motivated Sydney school student for three weeks of work experience after seeing his detailed Facebook post. Rach describes ensuring the arrangement was genuine work experience rather than free labor by exposing him to varied tasks such as cattle work and attending major cattle sales to learn about markets and buyer preferences, and notes the experience reinforced his interest in a cattle career. The conversation also covers ways to find similar young people (including speaking with agriculture teachers), perceived hurdles to hosting work experience, and a focus on farm safety practices. In the second half, they explore matching skills to roles on the farm, including using an organizational chart even in a two-person business; Rach and her husband define roles (CEO/business management versus operations) to improve decision-making, communication, and accountability, using market information, weight gain estimates, and financial considerations to guide sell/hold decisions. Rach also urges people outside agriculture to be curious, seek factual information over inflammatory headlines, and engage in open conversation—particularly around livestock—while encouraging producers to welcome genuinely interested visitors to better connect people with how food is produced.

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00:28 Meet Rach

00:59 Why City Kids Matter

01:57 A Sydney Student Story

03:45 Making Work Experience Real

05:37 What Stood Out in His Post

06:58 Takeaways and Next Steps

09:59 Safety and Farm Readiness

11:42 Match Skills to Roles

13:46 CEO vs Ops on Farm

19:36 Curiosity About Agriculture

23:26 Closing the Urban Rural Gap