GROUNDED Live - 2025: Jeff Pow & Michelle McManus - Hope, Grit & Joy; Realities of Small Scale Farming

In this episode of GROUNDED Live, we share another unedited session recorded at GROUNDED Festival 2025, on farm in Bridgetown, Western Australia.

One of the things we love most at GROUNDED is storytelling — especially when farmers are given space to share the real, lived journeys behind their farms. This session features Jeff Pow and Michelle McManus, who joined us fresh from a rare holiday and straight into the speaker tent.

Jeff and Michelle run Southampton Homestead, a vertically integrated, pasture-raised chicken farm. On their farm, they raise the birds, process them on site using a micro-abattoir, and sell directly to families, restaurants and retailers. Over the years, they’ve processed around 80,000 chickens — building a business rooted in transparency, animal welfare and local food systems.

Their story is honest and unpolished. It’s not all smooth sailing or easy wins — there have been significant challenges along the way. But it’s also a story of persistence, ingenuity and hope: what’s possible when farmers commit to doing things differently, even when the path isn’t straightforward.

It’s a generous, grounded conversation about resilience, small-scale processing, and the courage it takes to build something meaningful from the ground up.

Settle in and enjoy this session with Jeff Pow and Michelle McManus on GROUNDED Live.

GROUNDED Festival is a cross between a food festival, a farming conference and a field day. It combines science and technology with ancient wisdom, provides a respectful place for lively discussion, an audience as interesting as the speakers and an excellent menu of local food, drinks and music, all on a beautiful, regeneratively-managed farm.

GROUNDED is also Australia's only annual, roaming food and farming festival, held in a different farm location every year, so each festival is a unique, unmissable event celebrating local expertise and culture with an inspiring line up of speakers.

In 2026, with the support of the local Upper Barwon and Central Otway Landcare Networks, following successful festivals in Tasmania and Western Australia, GROUNDED FESTIVAL will be held at leading regenerative farm, Yan Yan Gurt West, in the Victorian Otway Ranges, two hours from Melbourne in an area renowned for regenerative agroforestry, tourism, local hospitality and great food and wine.

Tickets are on sale now - head to the GROUNDED website for information on speakers, the location, and to secure your spot today.