Our guest this week is Louis De Jaeger, a landscape designer, author and filmmaker who believes that many of agriculture’s biggest problems start with poor soil. In this episode, he and Ferg explore soil as a living system. One that can reduce costs, improve resilience, and produce more nutrient-dense food when managed well.

They talk about building long-term fertility without synthetic fertilisers, how some farmers are fighting drought and climate change, and the link between soil microbes and human gut health.

If you’re curious about regenerative agriculture, sustainable food systems or how farming can work better with nature, this one’s worth a listen.

https://louisdj.com/en/home-2

Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited. We help livestock farmers get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best: info@nextgenagri.com.

Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex, and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand. Please consider them when making product choices, as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.

Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE

This week, Ferg chats with Greg Mirams, founder of Techion/FECPAK. What started as a tool to do worm egg counts on-farm has evolved into a digital platform that reads samples using AI, returns results in minutes, and is helping farmers tackle drench resistance head-on.

They cover the early days of FECPAK, how AI is speeding up diagnosis, what species ID could unlock for breeders, and why post-treatment testing matters more than ever.

• Why drench resistance is no longer a “maybe” and what farmers can actually do about it.

• How AI now reads worm egg counts in minutes.

• The upcoming ability to identify worm species, making treatments far more targeted.

• How egg count data is being used to track contamination, inform grazing plans, and map resistance across regions.

https://fecpak.com/nz

Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited. We help livestock farmers get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best: info@nextgenagri.com.

Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex, and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand. Please consider them when making product choices, as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.

Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE

This week, we have Charlie from Stonyhurst on the show. Charlie and Ferg have worked together for a long time, both passionate about breeding healthy, productive sheep. They discuss how Stonyhurst has managed to breed fine-wool sheep that don't need footrot treatment, are improving lambing and weaning percentages, and dropping their micron.

Charlie also discusses Stonyhurst's cattle and deer operation, and some of the 175 years of history his family have there on the property.

If you breed fine-wool sheep and you've been wondering how to fix your footrot woes, this podcast is the one for you.

Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited. We help livestock farmers get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best: info@nextgenagri.com.

Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex, and Heiniger Australia and New Zealand. Please consider them when making product choices, as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.

Check out Heiniger's product range HERE
Check out the MSD range HERE
Check out Allflex products HERE