DIGGING DEEPER - AG CHATS WITH AL
Real farmers, real conversations, practical insights and inspiring stories.
Join Al Micallef and special guests to help unlock your farm's production potential.
Whether it's in relation to drought or economic shifts, this podcast is your go-to for developing resilience in agriculture.
This podcast is made possible by the Future Drought Fund Regional Drought Resilience Planning Program co-funded by the Victorian and Australian Governments.
DIGGING DEEPER - AG CHATS WITH AL
DIGGING DEEPER - From Vet to Farmer: Rod Manning's Story - Part One
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Host Al opens 2026 by thanking listeners and outlining plans for more practical guests, more local producers, and monthly segments from Chelsea (Herd Solutions) on animal health and Morg's (Elders) on livestock markets. He then interviews Mansfield-based Rod Manning, a retired vet turned large-scale beef producer and consultant, who recounts starting a veterinary practice in 1973, surviving the 1975 beef collapse with government testing work, and learning to sell cattle when ready. Manning describes growing an 8,000-acre operation running about 2,400 autumn-calving cows plus 200–300 spring cows, focusing on better red-gum country. He discusses subclinical selenium deficiency and supplementation to reduce immune-related issues, improved low-stress weaning, and “More Beef from Pastures” findings on heifer development, six-week joining, critical joining weights, and using HACCP-style critical control points based on megajoules/day. He argues profitability hinges on throughput, feed allocation away from maintenance, achieving critical herd scale, and minimizing cost of production to manage price risk.
00:00 Welcome Back 2026
02:30 Meet Rod Manning
02:56 Vet Career Beginnings
04:39 Beef Crash Lesson
06:26 From Vet to Consultant
08:44 Scaling the Family Operation
10:01 Buying Better Country
10:21 Trees as Land Clues
11:53 Listener Question Selenium
14:09 Low Stress Weaning System
16:27 More Beef From Pastures
17:01 Heifer Development Focus
17:27 Heifer Weight Failures
18:06 Old Cows Low Retention
19:17 Shorten Joining Window
20:45 Grass Versus Supplement
21:07 HACCP For Cattle
23:17 Energy Targets Explained
24:44 Critical Mating Weight
26:59 Farmwide Control Points
28:21 New Country Crash Fert
29:51 Feed Allocation For Profit
32:36 Scaling Systems Up
33:36 Critical Herd Size
34:18 Cost Of Production Wins
35:42 Risk Proofing Profit
36:23 Final Takeaway