#128: How to Win the War for Talent on Your Farm, Even in the Middle of Nowhere with Kelli McDougall, Partner & Managing Director Agri Talent

What if the reason you can't find good people has nothing to do with where your farm is — and everything to do with how you're showing up? Finding and keeping top talent in agriculture is one of the most pressing challenges facing farming families today — and it's only getting harder. With a retirement cliff looming, a shrinking pool of skilled workers, and a generation that thinks and works differently than any before it, the old ways of hiring simply don't cut it anymore. But here's the thing: the farms that are winning this battle aren't necessarily the biggest or the best resourced. They're the ones who've figured out what great people actually want — and how to communicate it. In this episode, Ben Law sits down with Kelli McDougall, Partner and Managing Director of Agri Talent, a woman who grew up between Inglewood and Goondiwindi, built her own recruitment business at 25, and has spent the better part of three decades placing top-tier talent across the agricultural sector. She sits squarely in the middle of both sides of this conversation — hearing what farming families are frustrated about, and what high performers are quietly walking away from. What she's seeing should make every farming family sit up and pay attention. Kelli unpacks why over 80% of the best placements Agri Talent makes are headhunts — meaning those people weren't even looking — and what that tells you about where the real competition for talent actually lives. She gets into the uncomfortable truth about why good people leave good employers, and why it's rarely about money. She talks about what your housing says about your standards, why a half-billion-dollar farming operation with zero online presence is raising red flags with 30-year-old candidates, and what the difference is between telling people you're a great place to work and actually being one. There's also a conversation about the tectonic demographic shifts reshaping who's available to work in agriculture over the next decade — and why automation and authenticity may be your two most powerful recruitment tools going forward. Whether you're trying to attract your first farm manager or hold onto the best operator you've ever had, this episode will change how you think about the people side of your business.  🌾 **About Agri Talent** Agri Talent is one of Australia's most respected agricultural recruitment specialists. They place permanent and executive talent across the full spectrum of ag — from hands-on farm roles to senior leadership — and they bring genuine industry knowledge to every brief. If you're looking for the right people for your farming enterprise, they're worth a conversation.  👉 Learn more about Agri Talent here: https://www.agritalent.com.au/ 👉 Learn more about Global People Solutions here: https://www.globalpeoplesolutions.com.au/ If this podcast has ever added value to your farming business, we'd love for you to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. https://pod.link/1598835360 \----------------------- Ben Law is a coach to some of Australia's most successful farming families. He was raised on the land — three generations of farming in his blood — and has spent almost 30 years and more than 40,000 hours alongside farming families, first as their financial adviser and now as their coach. Along the way he learned the truth nobody talks about: what makes or breaks a family legacy isn't the money — it's whether the family can communicate, get aligned, and prepare the next generation before succession arrives. That's what this podcast is about. Each fortnight Ben sits down with farming families, trusted advisers and industry experts to unpack how to build a family that thrives across generations — strong in business, strong in relationships, and set up to hand over the farm without losing each other. *Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and for education purposes only. It is not financial advice. It is not legal advice. No one should act on the information without appropriate specific advice for your particular circumstances. Ben Law is a former financial advisor but is no longer licensed and cannot and will not give you specific or personal advice in this podcast. The Financial Bloke Group Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of reliance on the information in this podcast.* ...