RiskWi$e podcasts are back!

After a welcome burst of rain across the Eyre Peninsula, the Riskwi$e podcasts are back for 2026. Jake Giles, EPAG Research, interviews farmers across the EP to get their take on the coming season.

Featuring West Coast farmer Jim Evans, talking about the journey of building a farming business from the ground up. After starting out in contracting—running spray rigs, headers and trucks across the country—Jim made the move into farming in 2000 following the ’99 drought. Jim shares how long-term planning, disciplined decision-making and careful cost management have helped the business navigate rising input prices and the challenges of farming in a marginal environment. They also discuss machinery replacement strategies, the role of lentils in the rotation, and how recent rainfall is shaping decisions as the new season approaches.

Jake also interviews third-generation Wirrulla farmer Andrew Watson to talk about what it takes to farm in a marginal environment. Andrew runs a mixed farming operation of around 15,000 acres of cropping alongside a growing feedlot enterprise — a shift that has helped the business navigate tough seasons, rising input costs and volatile grain prices. With some significant rainfall recently falling across the region, the conversation explores how that moisture could shape decisions heading into seeding.

Coming soon: Paul Schaefer, Buckleboo farmer.

Check them out via the RiskWi$e project page, scroll down to the ‘podcast’ section. https://airep.com.au/research/riskwise-national-risk-management-initiative-action-research-groups-eyre-peninsula/

Produced as part of the GRDC-funded RiskWi$e project.