Mainstay Mike

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By Dwain Duxson.

Mainstay Mike - Mike Stephens is one of those people in Agriculture who have achieved so much. He has been around a while and is still doing the speaking circuit, as I have heard him twice in the last 2 months.

He founded the Ag consultancy business Meridian Agriculture, which offers a wide range of services to Farmers. The first of the two times I heard Mike speak was in Ballarat, and he spoke about succession, something we consider one of the biggest issues in Agriculture. Mike is a veteran in this field and has helped many Farming families get through this ordeal. When moderating/facilitating a succession plan, you have to be a deep thinker, as no two plans are the same, and there are plenty of curving outswingers bowled up. Mike is one of those deep-thinking types.

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Just recently, he gave a fascinating talk at the PAC conference in Wagga Wagga on Corporate Agriculture. He delved into the history of who has been, taking their capital gain lick of the ice cream and drifting on into the book of corporate Farming history. There are numerous, and some are household names. According to Mike, most of these Corporates have been successful in doing what they set out to do: buy at "X", then sell at a higher "X" and take home the difference. When you look at it over the last 20 years, it has been a pretty safe bet.

Even if we get a levelling out in prices, I think they will keep getting similar results; they might just have to wait a bit longer or work on their timing. Mike is also a renowned poet, which I didn't know. Do you have a Mike Stephens story? Reply to dwaind@farmtender.com.au

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