John Hickson is a third-generation farmer at Boomi, New South Wales. After completing a rural science degree at the University of New England, he went on to achieve a PhD in sheep genetics. His love of and expertise in sheep genetics have been a key part of his work for his family business, Eural Pastoral Co.
John returned to the farm in 1996, with unpleasant memories of drought in the 1980s and a will to find a better way as input costs kept rising. In the early 2000s he changed the structure of the business and farm infrastructure to focus on time-controlled grazing to increase groundcover, reduce farm inputs and give him more time with his family.
John credits the RCS Grazing For Profit School with opening his eyes 20 years ago to new ways of farming, and he's not done yet. He's still learning, looking for improvements and working with other like-minded farmers to share the secrets of his success.
