Felicity Hennessy- Regional Manager for AgFarm | Careers in ...

Name Felicity Hennessy

Twitter @fliss0909

Age 29

Location Adelaide

What part(s) of the industry do you work in? I currently work in grain marketing where I work with farmer?s to maximise their profits via offering them a managed grain marketing program that is independent, Australian owned, simple and secure. I sell farmer?s grain for them on their behalf whilst providing a number of different cash flow options to suit their needs. The Australian grain market has only been deregulated for a few years now and grain marketing has become a significant cause of stress for the general farmer. If I can relieve some of that stress and give long term solutions that allows farmers to stay in farming for generations then I know I am making a positive contribution to Australian agriculture.

Job title Regional Manager

What does your company/ business do? Agfarm is a fully independent grain marketing organisation, with a national focus and regional presence. We provide a comprehensive range of services allowing growers the flexibility and security to obtain the best price. By offering broking, logistics and managed grain marketing programs we can oversee the entire transaction, allowing growers to get on with farming.

Agfarm has developed innovative systems to ensure our clients are the most up to date and informed in the industry, through the provision of market updates, news, information and analysis to keep you in touch. We are continually investigating new markets, further ensuring our growers access to every available opportunity.

Describe your job on the average day An average day will start with a hook up with all of our offices across Australia to give an update on pricing at all ports and delivered markets, crop progress and update on projects. I then spend time benchmarking our sales that we have made for our growers against the best bids in available in the market to ensure we exceed growers expectations. I then set out a plan to ensure my team and I can get i front of many growers as possible to build relationships and make sure what we are offering growers is what they want and adding value. I am lucky to work in a company that never sit stills and always constantly looking to build and deliver better solutions to our clients, the farmer.

How did you get involved with agriculture? I grew up on the land until a family tragedy meant a move to the city in my late teens. When I finished school I went worked in the Flinders Ranges and at the time thought I wanted to be an accountant but quickly realised I wanted to be back on the land where my natural passion was. I then changed my study to be in International Agricultural Business, got a job in State Parliament for the Opposition for Ag and Rural Affairs. Once I completed my studies I asked for a job in Elders Ltd and got one trading derivatives. Elders gave me experience across all commodities, supply chain and Australian producing regions.

Education I specialised in Agri-Economics, Operations, Commodities and Trade. My experience includes grain marketing across six properties, trading derivatives, international commodity and foreign exchange markets.

If you studied/ trained in agriculture, why did you choose that degree/ certificate? I chose a Bachelor of Economics in International Agricultural Business as it was the only business degree that had an agricultural slant without doing a science degree.

What are/were you plans after school/TAFE/university? When I left uni I got a job in Elders Ltd head office which really set up my career due to the wide experience it gave me.

Job history?

Regional Manager ? Agfarm Pty Ltd ? Current

Operations Manager ? InterAg Services ? 2010, managing farms across Australia for a US Pension Fund

Elders Ltd for 4 years. This involved a few roles starting at trading derivatives, managing a wool futures book to create physical forward products to putting in place a new Key Account Management structure nationally.

Trainee for Opposition for Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Undergraduate at Ferrier Hodgson.

What are your interests? I love travel, constantly learning, meeting people, being active, camping, water skiing, wine and a great bbq or dinner party.

What is your favourite thing about the industry? Working with farmers. I am passionate about the life on the land and ensuring that generations to come can grow up on the land as I did.

Best experience in agriculture? I have been very lucky to have so many but I would have to say getting significant support from South Australian grain growers in our product Agfarm Advantage for part of their grain marketing strategy. It is now a pleasure to deliver the results to them that will ultimately will really show over the years as we are giving a growers a solution that is risk adverse, provides consistent cash flow and takes away the anxiety of the ?when to sell? question.

Worst experience in agriculture? I really can?t say what my worst experience is but perhaps the reason why I left working for the US Pension Fund, which was the fact that the goal posts kept moving and ultimately I realised that I couldn?t put my hand on my heart when speaking to farmers and completely trust what I was offering to them because at the end of the day the US could change the situation at a click of a finger. This lesson has made me really value working for Agfarm as we have one client the grower so everything we have to do has to benefit the farmer if it doesn?t we don?t do it.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges of the agricultural industry in the future? I think infrastructure is a massive challenge for us. We are a small producer in comparison to other international regions. Therefore we need to be the most efficient. The lack on investment in trains and road for trucks only makes us less inefficient and therefore impacts on the price the farmer receives. We also need the best infrastructure for inputs such as water.

Why do you think less people are becoming involved in agriculture? You can earn more money in mining quickly however, there are so many opportunities in agriculture if you are patient and get the experience. You can be promoted far more quickly than other industries.

What advice do you have for people thinking about getting into agriculture? When you first start I recommend working for one of the larger agri- businesses and ensure you get experience in a few of the different business areas. This will set you up with great experience quickly but also allow you to decide which area you like working in the most.

How important do you think an agricultural background is to become involved in the industry? It is important however, certainly not everything. If you can have empathy then you are half way there no matter what your background.

What do you think is the most common misconception about agriculture? That it is backwards.

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