Humans of Agriculture

(Image: Supplied)
In this episode of Humans of Agriculture, Oli and Mick Corcoran sit down with Angus Street, CEO of Zentera (formerly New Zealand Merino), for a full-circle conversation on leadership, legacy, and the future of wool.

From growing up on a farm in northern NSW to navigating job loss during the GFC, launching startups in China, and leading major ag businesses, Angus shares an honest reflection on a career shaped by curiosity, risk, and relationships.
Now at the helm of Zentera, Angus unpacks the company’s evolution from a grower-led wool collective into a global, purpose-driven brand focused on traceability, sustainability, and premium markets. He explains why the wool industry must fight for relevance in a synthetic-dominated world, and how consumer trends in Europe, China, and the US are creating new opportunities.
The conversation dives deep into leadership, what it takes to step into an existing culture as CEO, why “discovery before diagnosis” matters, and the importance of putting people at the centre of transformation.
This episode is equal parts strategy, storytelling, and self-reflection - grounded in agriculture but globally relevant.
Key insights from the conversation
Angus Street’s journey from journalism to global ag leadership
Lessons from failure and starting businesses in China
The evolution of New Zealand Merino into Zentera
What “whakapapa” means in a business context
How wool is competing in a synthetic-dominated market
Leadership lessons: curiosity, culture, and managing change
Why the future of wool depends on collaboration and storytelling
Chapters:
00:00 Intro & Why This Conversation Matters
02:10 Meet Angus Street
03:50 Early Career, China & AuctionsPlus Journey
08:00 From NZ Merino to Zenterra: The Rebrand
11:30 What Zenterra Does & Global Brand Partnerships
14:40 Moving to NZ & Leading an Existing Team
18:05 First 90 Days as CEO: Curiosity Over Action
21:00 Culture, Change & Leadership Lessons
26:40 Global Wool Demand & Market Trends
30:45 Premiums, Growers & Industry Challenges
33:40 The Future of Wool: Niche or Opportunity?
35:20 Dream Job, Family & Life on the Land
38:40 Wrap Up

Atlas Grazing:
This episode is brought to you by Atlas Grazing.
If you run livestock, you know the results come from countless small decisions made
in the paddock. Season after season. Experience and instinct guide those calls, and
nothing replaces that.
There's a new tool called Atlas Grazing worth taking a look at. Developed from more
than a decade of working alongside graziers and supporting real farm businesses, it
brings your livestock records, paddocks and rainfall together in one place.
The right tools don't replace what you already know. They give you the clarity to act
sooner, with more confidence. See what's happening across your operation at a
glance, adapt as conditions change, and keep work moving wherever the day takes
you.
Atlas Grazing. Clear records. Confident livestock decisions.
Start your free 30-day trial at AtlasAg.com/grazing

What happens when you put nature first in a cattle business?
In this episode of Humans of Agriculture, Oli sits down with Carly Baker-Burnham from Bonnie Doone Beef in Queensland’s North Burnett. Together with her husband Grant, Carly has helped reshape their grazing operation by focusing on landscape health, intensive rotational grazing and long-term stewardship.
That shift eventually led them to take part in one of Australia’s early soil carbon projects, resulting in one of the country’s largest issuances of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). But beyond the headlines, Carly shares what actually matters: improving soil, increasing biodiversity and building a business that works with nature.
This conversation explores the realities behind soil carbon, the importance of measurement and scientific rigor, and why observation of the land remains one of a farmer’s most powerful tools.
Key insights from the conversation
Why shifting to a nature-first approach transformed productivity and nearly tripled production on the same land base
The practical changes behind their grazing system: more paddocks, rest for pastures and better data
Inside one of Australia’s early soil carbon projects, including the measurement, audits and long timelines involved
Why Carly welcomes scepticism around carbon claims and the importance of science-backed results
The role farmers can play in removing carbon from the atmosphere through healthy soils
Why observation and connection to the land remain critical for better decision making

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and life at Bonnie Doone
 03:58 Family history and finding their path in agriculture
 08:19 Succession, family business and hard decisions
 13:22 Moving from reactive farming to strategic business thinking
 16:13 Practical grazing changes and adopting a nature-first approach
 21:26 Inside Bonnie Doone’s soil carbon project
 29:02 Carbon claims, scepticism, and scientific rigour
 33:08 Involving the next generation in environmental stewardship
 35:05 Where farmers can start with soil carbon thinking
 37:57 What Carly is most proud of today

Atlas Grazing:
This episode is brought to you by Atlas Grazing.
If you run livestock, you know the results come from countless small decisions made
in the paddock. Season after season. Experience and instinct guide those calls, and
nothing replaces that.
There's a new tool called Atlas Grazing worth taking a look at. Developed from more
than a decade of working alongside graziers and supporting real farm businesses, it
brings your livestock records, paddocks and rainfall together in one place.
The right tools don't replace what you already know. They give you the clarity to act
sooner, with more confidence. See what's happening across your operation at a
glance, adapt as conditions change, and keep work moving wherever the day takes
you.
Atlas Grazing. Clear records. Confident livestock decisions.
Start your free 30-day trial at AtlasAg.com/grazing

As fuel pressure builds across parts of regional Australia, we wanted to step into the conversation in a way that is clear, factual and useful. Not to add to panic, but to help our audience understand what is actually happening, what it means for agriculture, and what bigger questions this moment is exposing around resilience, preparedness and national priorities.
And when it comes to conversations like this, Andrew Henderson is one of our go-to voices.
Andrew is the founder and principal of AgSecure and has built his career working across biosecurity, national resilience and the vulnerabilities that sit inside the systems agriculture depends on. He brings a rare combination of strategic insight, practical understanding and calm analysis, which is exactly what a topic like this needs.
In this episode, Andrew helps unpack the current fuel challenge facing Australian agriculture and Australia more broadly. He explains how the fuel system works, why regional areas are feeling the pressure first, what the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act means, and why this is about much more than a temporary supply scare.
This is a conversation about fuel, but it is also a conversation about resilience, leadership and the reality of operating in a world that is becoming less stable, less predictable and more exposed to disruption.
In this episode, we cover:
Why the fuel challenge matters to Australian agriculture right now
Why Andrew Henderson was the right person to help unpack it
How Australia’s fuel system actually works
Why regional Australia feels these pressures first
What the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act means in practice
Why this moment is exposing bigger resilience gaps in the system
What farmers and agricultural businesses should be thinking about next

Atlas Grazing:
This episode is brought to you by Atlas Grazing.
If you run livestock, you know the results come from countless small decisions made
in the paddock. Season after season. Experience and instinct guide those calls, and
nothing replaces that.
There's a new tool called Atlas Grazing worth taking a look at. Developed from more
than a decade of working alongside graziers and supporting real farm businesses, it
brings your livestock records, paddocks and rainfall together in one place.
The right tools don't replace what you already know. They give you the clarity to act
sooner, with more confidence. See what's happening across your operation at a
glance, adapt as conditions change, and keep work moving wherever the day takes
you.
Atlas Grazing. Clear records. Confident livestock decisions.
Start your free 30-day trial at AtlasAg.com/grazing

A short sharp and quick chat with the 2026 Zanda McDonald Award Winners.
2026 Winners:
Karn Dhaliwal (NZ): Founder and owner of Ohinewai Harvest Ltd and Dhaliwal Ag Ltd in Waikato, recognised for his entrepreneurial approach to horticulture.
Bryce Neyland (AU): A civil engineer for Select Harvests in New South Wales, focused on large-scale, transformative rural developments and almond orchard infrastructure.
Bryce Neyland, 35, from Gol Gol in New South Wales, is a civil engineer for Select Harvests, leading projects across their almond orchards and processing facility. Combining a farming background with strong engineering and project management expertise, he manages large scale, transformative rural developments.

Karn Dhaliwal, 32, from Te Hoe in Waikato, is the founder and owner of Ohinewai Harvest Ltd and Dhaliwal Ag Ltd. He has built a diverse horticultural and cropping business and is recognised for his entrepreneurial approach to growing, leadership within the vegetable industry and commitment to creating opportunities for the next generation in horticulture.
Zanda McDonald Award Chairman Shane McManaway said both winners demonstrated outstanding leadership and a strong vision for the future of the primary industries.

Atlas Grazing:
This episode is brought to you by Atlas Grazing.
If you run livestock, you know the results come from countless small decisions made
in the paddock. Season after season. Experience and instinct guide those calls, and
nothing replaces that.
There's a new tool called Atlas Grazing worth taking a look at. Developed from more
than a decade of working alongside graziers and supporting real farm businesses, it
brings your livestock records, paddocks and rainfall together in one place.
The right tools don't replace what you already know. They give you the clarity to act
sooner, with more confidence. See what's happening across your operation at a
glance, adapt as conditions change, and keep work moving wherever the day takes
you.
Atlas Grazing. Clear records. Confident livestock decisions.
Start your free 30-day trial at AtlasAg.com/grazing

Johno Mackay grew up remote in the Northern Territory, shaped by hard work, risk-taking parents, and a deep love for the bush. In this conversation, Johno shares the path from School of the Air and station life to building a contract mustering and fencing business in Northern Australia, before an accident in his team pushed him into an entirely new chapter: ag tech.
What followed was the creation of JobSafe Pro, a practical safety and compliance platform designed to help agricultural businesses simplify paperwork, think more clearly about risk, and build stronger safety systems without adding more complexity.
This episode is about far more than an app. It is about backing yourself young, learning to lead, finding opportunity in tough moments, and recognising that agriculture today can open more doors than ever before. Johno also shares his belief in the value of the North, the importance of mentors, and why the people who get ahead are often the ones willing to work hard, show initiative, and keep having a crack.
It is a grounded and forward-looking conversation about agriculture, ambition, safety, and building something meaningful from the bush.
In this episode we cover
Growing up remote in the Northern Territory and the influence of family
Life after School of the Air and heading to Emerald Ag College
Starting a contract mustering business at 21
Building a life and business in Northern Australia
The opportunity that still exists for young people in the North
Lessons in work ethic, leadership and earning trust
A serious workplace accident and the reality of risk in agriculture
Why farm safety needs more attention across the sector
Turning a hard experience into the idea for JobSafe Pro
What Johno learned through Farmers2Founders
Building partnerships with AgForce and Elders
Bringing Patrick into the business after a life-changing accident
Why the future of agriculture will belong to people willing to learn, move and adapt

Atlas Grazing:
This episode is brought to you by Atlas Grazing.
If you run livestock, you know the results come from countless small decisions made
in the paddock. Season after season. Experience and instinct guide those calls, and
nothing replaces that.
There's a new tool called Atlas Grazing worth taking a look at. Developed from more
than a decade of working alongside graziers and supporting real farm businesses, it
brings your livestock records, paddocks and rainfall together in one place.
The right tools don't replace what you already know. They give you the clarity to act
sooner, with more confidence. See what's happening across your operation at a
glance, adapt as conditions change, and keep work moving wherever the day takes
you.
Atlas Grazing. Clear records. Confident livestock decisions.
Start your free 30-day trial at AtlasAg.com/grazing