#92: Beyond the Family Farm: Building Businesses That Work with Jacob & Emily Turner
G'day and welcome to the A Place to Call Home Podcast, a podcast sharing the stories of people building a life in agriculture across rural Australia.
In this episode, I sit down with Jacob and Emily Turner from Sunnydale Farming Co, based near Corrigin in the Western Australian Wheatbelt.
I first met Jacob and Emily through the Farm Owners Academy, and I've always been interested in their approach to farming, business and recognising opportunities.
We start by exploring their family's succession journey, how they navigated some challenging conversations and how an early transition gave Jacob and his brothers the opportunity to establish their own farming businesses.
But what makes their story particularly interesting is what Jacob and Emily have gone on to build outside the farm.
From buying and selling more than 100 cars during COVID, to investing in property, starting and eventually selling a pest control business, and now growing their machinery hire operation, they've certainly never been afraid to have a crack at something different.
We dive into how they identify opportunities, make decisions around investing their money and time, and the importance of building systems and surrounding yourself with good people.
We also explore how they've structured their farming business to operate with a farm manager, allowing them to focus on growing other ventures while raising their young family.
This is a great conversation about successful succession, thinking differently, backing yourself and building businesses that create opportunities beyond the farm.
In this episode, we chat about:
🌾 Growing up in the WA Wheatbelt and navigating a successful family farm succession
🚜 Taking over Sunnydale Farming Co and building systems to run the farm differently
🚗 Buying and selling cars, investing in property and recognising opportunities outside agriculture
🐜 Starting and selling a pest control business and knowing when to change direction
🏗️ Growing CM Haulage and Hire from a single machine into a machinery hire business
👥 Building great teams, understanding your numbers and leveraging your time
🎥 The story behind Dirt Money and balancing business growth with family life
Learn More about Jacob and Emily and what we chatted about
🚜 CM Hire
Resources Mentioned
🎙️ Perth Entrepreneurs Pep Talk Podcast
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This season of A Place to Call Home is proudly brought to you by Rabobank Australia.
A big thank you to Rabobank Australia for supporting the podcast and helping us continue sharing the stories of people building their future in Australian agriculture.
At A Place to Call Home, we believe in the power of stories to connect, inspire, and shape a future grounded in purpose and place. These values guide everything we do — from conversations on the podcast to the community we’re building around it.