My health crashed in 2019 and Mrs W and I went on our "Food Healing Journey". We went right down the rabbit hole and decided to start growing our own chemical free, pasture raised, wholesome food. Guess what? It works. The symptoms went away, and so did the 3 script medications that I was on.
People starting asking us for our beef, pork, chicken & lamb.
We started an agriculture food business, by accident... and popular demand!

I scoured the internet. I read every book. I watched the YouTube videos. I went to the workshops and I joined the Facebook groups.

Something was missing. The pencil wasn't being sharpened properly for the 21st century market that I found myself in. My peers were dropping off the radar one after another. I bought a butchery and started custom processing for all my local 'competitors'.

Over 4 years I've custom processed for 14 local farmers who sold direct to market.
All sold at a heavy market premium - and sold out. 
2 of these farms still sell direct to market - the rest quit.
Where was the missing link? What was "Minimum viable scale"?
And why was no one talking about it?!

In the midst of trying to acheive multi species regenerative perfection, I saw the golden eggs.
There are SO MANY opportunities - big opportunies - in agriculture. Everyone is busy chasing record yields (regardless of the inputs), the "perfect aesthetic" and bragging rights, while leaving money, production and consumer satisfaction on the table.

Retired dairy cows provide EXCEPTIONAl meat. I found this out because I was curious, and tried it. While conventional operators scalded me for "ripping people off" and selling "worn out milkers", I was value adding to retired jersey milkers by grass finishing them and the customers LOVED IT.

Dehydrated chicken as pet treats is far more profitable than a human enterprise.
I was retailing a pastured chicken for $35, while organic chooks at ColesWorth were $20 and the rotesserie pre-cooked bird was $10.
I chopped my raw chicken into approximately 20 pieces and dehydrated it.
It was now shelf stable and retail value for market pet treats put it at around $115.

African genetics THRIVE in Australia's envorionment. These animals are overlooked by commodity producers, because saleyards and buyers are obsessed about black cows and white sheep, dismissing everything else.

I was able to leverage this as I am a price maker, not a price taker. Sourcing incredible, resilient and fertile African genetics, I can utilise these fit for purpose animals (often purchased under market rate) that thrive in Australia's climate and sell them to people who appreciate the value these animals bring.

So, do you want to start a direct to market farm business?
You want to sell BEEF, not cattle.
You want to sell LAMB, not sheep.

You want to be a price maker, not a price taker.

I get it, I'm here too.
It pencils out really well on your first try. Then you get into it and you get wrecked, like everyone else.

When I started my Regen journey I joined all the Facebook pages - a disheartening waste of time.

Every now and then you'd find a diamond in the rough, but it's largely unsophisticated people crying about why their pig living in filthy squalor got sick. I exited pretty quickly, as there is real work to be done and I knew I'd have to keep looking for value elsewhere.

But I did see that there were some really sophisticated innovators in the space, providing tremendous value. Or watching for the sidelines. 
People that I wanted to network and work with.
How can we engage them in good faith? How could I leverage their knowledge and experience?