Succession planning is one of the biggest risks any farming family will face — and one of the most avoided. In Episode 12 of the Your Farm Business Podcast, host Tom Moir sits down with Mike Krause, founder and CEO of P2P Agri, for an honest conversation about getting the farm from one generation to the next without tearing the family apart.

Mike has helped around 20 farming families work through succession — with outcomes ranging from genuine success to outright disaster. He shares what separates the two: open and honest communication, a skilled third-party facilitator, and a willingness to name the "elephants in the room" before they detonate. He also explains why fair doesn't always mean equal — and why treating every child identically can be the very thing that ends the farm.

From the worst case he's witnessed (a son who gave the farm ten years, only to have his future end at the reading of the will) to the brothers who split a property and both thrived, this episode is full of hard-won, practical wisdom.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why succession is really about management and control — not just money
• Fair vs equal: how to keep the farm viable without leaving siblings behind
• The "hand grenade" facilitator — and why combative lawyers and accountants make it worse
• Mike's facilitation process: one-on-one conversations, setting the agenda, naming the elephants
• Why you don't have to hand over management and assets at the same time
• The "chequebook before 30" rule for bringing the next generation into decision-making
• Why passing on the farm with debt isn't a bad thing — if it keeps the farm's size
• How contested wills get divided equally — and why transferring assets early protects the farm
• Strategies for paying out non-farming siblings fairly
• How financial modelling shows the next generation exactly what they're walking into

CHAPTERS:

0:00 Welcome
01:20 How Mike fell into succession planning
04:09 Why it's the biggest elephant in the room
06:31 The worst case: a son's future ended at the will reading
08:26 Fair vs equal — and the emotional pull of the farm
09:06 How Mike facilitates a family meeting
12:23 What good succession planning looks like
16:43 Where to start if you've done nothing yet
18:59 One mouth, two ears: the facilitator's job
20:34 Modelling the numbers: the two brothers' story
24:08 Advice for families: go in with your eyes open
26:58 Splitting land: management matters more than acres
32:10 Strategies for paying out siblings fairly
35:37 Using the software to model the outcome
36:45 Wrap up

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Mike Krause is the CEO and founder of P2P Agri, an Australian software and training business that helps farmers analyse profitability, model "what-if" scenarios, plan succession and make confident long-term decisions. P2P Agri delivers training one-on-one and in partnership with TOCAL Ag College in NSW.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

• P2P Agri (free demo & Essentials tier): https://p2pagri.com.au
• "Farming the Business" by Mike Krause (GRDC)

SUBSCRIBE for more conversations with the people shaping the future of Australian farm business.

#YourFarmBusinessPodcast #P2PAgri #FarmSuccession #AustralianAgriculture #FarmBusinessManagement

Learn more about P2P Agri: https://p2pagri.com.au

What does it actually take to plan your farm's future with confidence? In Episode 11 of the Your Farm Business Podcast, host Tom Moir sits down again with Mike Krause — founder and CEO of P2P Agri — for a deep dive into the software itself: what it does, how it came about, and who it's built for.

Mike reveals what "P2P" really stands for (Plan to Profit), and traces the journey from building one-off Excel spreadsheets for every farm he visited, to the "Risky Business" farming game farmers refused to hand back, to a 200-farm benchmarking project that exposed a hard truth — benchmarks tell you how you compare, but they rarely answer the big questions. Like: should I buy the neighbour, and will the bank still love me if we hit two years of drought?

A practical look at how farm business modelling works — and why understanding your own numbers changes every conversation you have with your bank, accountant and advisors.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• What P2P Agri stands for and the real problem it was built to solve
• Why generic advice and benchmarking fall short — and what bespoke modelling does instead
• The "teach a farmer to fish" philosophy behind the training
• The three levers of every farm business: liquidity, wealth and efficiency — and why focusing on just one is a mistake
• How the bank, the accountant and the advisor are each motivated differently from you — and what that means for your decisions
• A walkthrough of the scenario analysis tool: modelling a drought, testing a land purchase, and reading your farm through your banker's eyes
• How AI and cloud tech (including Xero integration) have made the platform 5x more productive
• Who P2P Agri is for — and the free Essentials tier you can start with today

CHAPTERS:

0:00 Welcome
01:07 What "P2P Agri" actually stands for
01:46 The development journey: from Fortran to spreadsheets 05:14 More than advice: software built around your farm
06:20 "Teach a farmer to fish" — the training philosophy
07:37 How the training actually works
08:54 Technology adoption in farming: GST, cloud & Xero
13:07 The bank, accountant & advisor triangle
17:27 The three levers: liquidity, wealth & efficiency
20:16 Live software walkthrough: modelling a drought
24:03 Training 100 farmers a year with TOCAL Ag College
27:24 Who is P2P Agri for? 29:38 How to get started: free demo & Essentials
31:01 Wrap up

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Mike Krause is the CEO and founder of P2P Agri, an Australian software and training business that helps farmers analyse profitability, model "what-if" scenarios, plan succession and make confident long-term decisions. P2P Agri delivers training one-on-one and in partnership with TOCAL Ag College in NSW.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

• P2P Agri (free demo & Essentials tier): https://p2pagri.com.au
• "Farming the Business" by Mike Krause (GRDC)

SUBSCRIBE for more conversations with the people shaping the future of Australian farm business.

#YourFarmBusinessPodcast #P2PAgri #AustralianAgriculture #FarmBusinessManagement #AgTech

Learn more about P2P Agri: https://p2pagri.com.au

What does it really take to help Australian farmers make smarter financial decisions? In Episode 10, host Tom Moir sits down with Mike Krause — agricultural economist, author, and founder of P2P Agri — to unpack his journey from wheat-breeding glasshouses at Roseworthy Ag College to building one of Australia's most trusted farm business modelling platforms.

Mike shares the full story: growing up the son of a wheat breeder, studying agricultural economics at the University of New England, completing a Masters in computer simulation at Lincoln University in New Zealand (back when he was coding in Fortran), and cutting his teeth as a government ag economist in the Riverland. From there it was four years inside a bank during one of the toughest periods Australian farmers have faced — when keys were being taken off properties on Eyre Peninsula — before a move into ag insurance consulting and eventually launching his own farm business advisory practice.

A conversation packed with practical wisdom for any farmer thinking seriously about profitability, succession, expansion, and long-term resilience.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why financial literacy is the single biggest lever most farm businesses are underusing
• The "Risky Business" simulation workshop that proved farmers love what-if modelling
• Two real case studies — a citrus grower's seven-year forecast that hit "to a T," and the farmer who bought the neighbour at auction, weathered two droughts, and didn't lose a night of sleep
• Why benchmarking against other farmers can do more harm than good — and what to do instead
• The story behind "Farming the Business," the GRDC manual now in its 7th reprint (and how dyslexia helped Mike write it simply)
• Mike's outlook for 2026: how AI, drones, satellite imagery and virtual fencing are reshaping farming — and how P2P Agri has 5x'd its development speed using AI
• Advice he'd give his 20-year-old self about building a career in agriculture

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Welcome & what is P2P Agri
02:23 Growing up at Roseworthy Ag College
03:27 University, Fortran & computer simulation
06:11 Government, banking & the keys-off-farmers era
10:07 Closing the farm business knowledge gap
12:08 The Risky Business workshop that changed everything
14:08 Why P2P Agri was born
15:47 Real client stories: the citrus grower & the drought question
20:37 Writing "Farming the Business" for GRDC
23:00 Dyslexia as a gift for simplifying complexity
25:21 Advice to 20-year-old Mike
27:36 AI, drones & the future of Australian agriculture
30:00 Benchmarking vs modelling: what actually works
32:07 Wrap up

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Mike Krause is the CEO and founder of P2P Agri, an Australian software and training business that helps farmers analyse profitability, model "what-if" scenarios, plan succession and make confident long-term decisions. P2P Agri also delivers financial literacy training one-on-one and in partnership with TOCAL Ag College in NSW.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

• P2P Agri: https://p2pagri.com.au
• "Farming the Business" by Mike Krause (GRDC) — available in print or free on iTunes with 50+ embedded training videos

SUBSCRIBE for more conversations with the people shaping the future of Australian farm business.

#YourFarmBusinessPodcast #P2PAgri #AustralianAgriculture #FarmBusinessManagement #AgTech

Learn more about P2P Agri: https://p2pagri.com.au

What is the economic outlook for 2023 and how may this impact Australian agriculture?
In 2022, farmers experienced significant increases in interest rates, important input costs, particularly fertiliser, chemical and fuel, and changes to their commodity prices. While changes to these important components of the farming business are common, we haven’t experienced these large increases for some time.

It’s important to be informed on what changes might be expected in 2023 so that we can be proactive in our planning for the coming season. Darryl Gobbet is an experienced economist with the rare ability to communicate clearly on these complex issues. He will provide you a background to what is driving these changes and what 2023 may hold for us.

Learn more about P2P Agri: https://p2pagri.com.au

This week's Your Farm Business Podcast focuses on the impact of recent significant geo-political events in Ukraine, as well as the ongoing pandemic, on Australian farm businesses.

Darryl Gobbett, currently a Visiting Fellow at the SA Centre for Economic Studies at the University of Adelaide, shares his thoughts on these two significant developments, particularly their impact on commodity prices, input costs, interest rates, inflation, and the value of the Australian dollar.

Learn more about P2P Agri: https://p2pagri.com.au

Peter Aikman began his journey toward greater understanding of his farm business by trying to discover the information behind his financial data.

“I wanted to improve my knowledge. I wanted more confidence in my numbers. I wanted more accuracy, transparency with business partners, whether that be people in your business or your banks and to enjoy it.”

This has given Peter confidence in not only understanding his own data, but also empowering his business planning and decision-making.

Learn more about P2P Agri: https://p2pagri.com.au

Phil Dibben, owner of Financial Services South Australia, shares with Mike Krause the benefits of good farm business management and using the P2PAgri software to help his business and his clients. He highlighted several key advantages:
Using P2PAgri is easy
Using P2PAgri saves him suffering from 'death by Excel'
Clarifying the farm business performance for the client and their bank
Being able to use Scenario Analysis to answer 'what-if' questions is the unique advantage for farmers and advisers in using the software

Find out more about Phil and his services from his website:
https://financialservicessa.com.au/

Learn more about P2P Agri: https://p2pagri.com.au

Judy Wilkinson and Mike Krause continue their discussion on Farm Succession Planning in this third podcast in the series.
This podcast focuses on how important it is to not be put off by some farming families' negative experiences. These can sometimes deter people in farming families from beginning the process. Mike and Judy stress how this should instead highlight how critical it is to use the right process to achieve positive outcomes, rather than avoiding action at all.

Learn more about P2P Agri: https://p2pagri.com.au