Earlston Pastoral Co is a family-owned mixed farming operation located near Gravesend in northern New South Wales, covering approximately 1,800 hectares.
I (Adrian) have been full-time farming for 16 years. I am a 4th generation farmer currently working alongside my parents and brother – Ken, Eleanor and Renn. I spent 2 years after school landscaping in Sydney, eventually realising the city was not my thing. I returned to the farm and have been here full-time since.
Mum and dad moved to NSW in 1985, where both of their families had farmed for generations. Seeking a new opportunity in a different region, they settled in the Moree area, purchasing a farm and making the significant move north. In 2003, that property was sold and we purchased our current farm, which provided greater opportunities for growth and diversification.
Our operation includes breeding self-replacing Merino ewes, fattening and selling Wether lambs to suit the market, and producing quality Merino wool. We also run a winter cropping program consisting of cereals, legumes and canola, with rotations to lucerne for stock feed.
Farming has been in the family for generations, and it remains an exciting industry with continual advances in technology. Implementing new tech within our business helps simplify processes and improve what we do. Every day is different, and it provides a real sense of achievement when you look back at progress you have made – for example, replacing an old, falling down fence with a new one, planting seed and then harvesting the crop it produces, or selling fattened lambs that you’ve watched grow from birth.
Within our local area, there are very few farmers running a mixed farming and Merino sheep operation, which makes what we do quite unique. They play an important role within the farming, as we grow lucerne for feed, but it is part of a cropping rotation too. They also help with weed management in summer stubbles through effective grazing.
Uncertainty in the season ahead is always a challenge for us, as it is for any farmer. Using budgets within Phoenix allows us to create multiple scenarios with different outcomes, helping us prepare for emerging situations and keep the business ahead.
We have been using Phoenix Financials and Budgets for a long time. In 2025, we activated the Cropping, Livestock and trial Mapping modules. The Mapping module was the starting point for creating a farm map, which then flowed into the Cropping and Livestock modules. The Cropping module has been excellent for record keeping and has been a significantly cheaper alternative to the previous program we were using. We are still setting up the Livestock module, but it will become an excellent way to manage stock movements and health records, accessible to our whole team through the Phoenix Live app. This will replace the old method of writing in a book and lots of conflicting information.
One of the biggest benefits we’ve seen from using Phoenix is improved organisation and ability to produce reports on basically anything. My favourite feature within Phoenix Financials is the “Fill” button – it has saved a lot of time when doing bookwork. Reporting across all modules is excellent and easy to create.
Phoenix has been a part of our operation for many years. Customer service is excellent, and within a business day I can have any help I need or issues sorted. AGDATA has continually improved the program for simplicity and ease of use, with significant enhancements driven by customer feedback and ongoing collaboration with clients. With the expansion of extra modules in our business, Phoenix is now the backbone of our operation – keeping everything in line, organised and a tool to provide a clear path to where things can go throughout the season and years ahead.
