Telum Talks To... Tyson Cattle, Editor, Stock & Land

The Australian agricultural and agribusiness industry is one of the country's largest, but may not always get the headlines it deserves. This week I spoke with Tyson Cattle, the very appropriately named Editor of Stock & Land - a more than 100 year old title. For more interviews like this delivered straight to your inbox, sign up to the Telum Media Alerts.

Stock & Land has been around since 1914, but for the uninitiated can you tell us a bit about the title?

We celebrated our centenary a few years ago, but since then we have undergone fairly significant change. Historically we are an agricultural publication, and more specifically, we cover anything with four legs: cattle, sheeps, bulls and goats for example, and look at what is happening in the market for those commodities from genetics, to sale trends, to shows, etc. Since our centenary, we are now making a greater push to be across other broadacre commodities such as grain, property and machinery, with a niche and strength in livestock coverage. We target the growers and producers and aim to provide them with news and information to help them with their on-farm decision making and hopefully, improve their bottom line.

What are the issues that really matter to your readers and that you’ll be keeping an eye on over the coming months and years?

The number one question we ask ourselves is: what does this mean to a producer and to their bottom line? We look at market trends and a lot of that is around the farmer’s cost and the market price of what they’re going to receive for what they’re growing or producing.

In terms of the sale side of things we look at the supply of cattle on a national level and what’s happening through store markets.

We’re looking at how the cattle price has fallen right off over the past few months after experiencing never-before-seen highs, which was a good result for producers who were able to take advantage of it.

We’re also looking at how people are selling their livestock these days. There’s a big digital push. The livestock market is a pretty traditional market, but what we’re seeing now is a lot of growth in digital, which means there’s the potential for more buyers and sellers in the sales process.

Do you think that rural and agricultural issues get enough air time in the metro and national media, and are there any issues you think are under-reported?

I would love to see more agricultural news in the metro papers, but it’s the nature of the beast: if an editor of a metro wants an ag story, it’s usually because there’s been too much rain, or there’s not enough rain. I think The Australian Financial Review and the business section of The Australian have been looking more at agribusiness over the past few years, and that is largely to do with larger banks and funds starting to look more heavily at agriculture.

But, there’s still very much a lack of understanding of what a farmer might be going through, for example, and how it all works in terms of producing a decent price for a farmer.

The big issue that usually makes it into a metro title is around a negative: a drought or a farmer doing it tough. Saying that, I think since the live cattle export ban to Indonesia, there’s been a lift in the agricultural industry promoting itself a bit better and being willing to tell the positive stories.

How did you get into agricultural journalism?

I’m from a little town called Lake King in the south east of Western Australia and I grew up on a sheep and cropping operation. I was always passionate about journalism and sport. I went to uni and soon found out you can’t play footy as well as cover footy. From there I fell into agriculture. One of my football coaches was my first Editor. It was a natural fit thanks to my background in ag and working on a farm. I enjoyed the writing and media aspect and was able to find a balance.

Has anything surprised you as an Editor of an agricultural title?

Given I studied journalism and I was passionate about the media, the thing that really surprised me is the lack of confidence people in agriculture have in dealing with the media. It maybe goes back to the fact that most of the coverage of farmers is pretty negative. I think the average farmer or producer is really hesitant to give an honest viewpoint because they don’t want to be portrayed in that negative light. But since the live cattle ban the industry has been a lot more proactive in training people in the industry to work with the media and promote the industry more generally.

Any beefs with the PR industry?

Because of the type of publication we are I don’t think of myself as part of the media industry, but also, I’m not part of the agricultural industry. There are topical issues that make the news, like animal welfare, which are driven through organisations like the RSPCA and PETA, which I understand will always be there. But I think the industry has actually gotten better at promoting itself and has an opportunity to do better at its own PR.

Coffee, lunch or drinks?

Drinks

Most memorable story you’ve been involved with?

Very early in my career, as a junior journo, after the live cattle export ban I managed to get the first interview with [former Senator] Joe Ludwig. At the time he was avoiding all media but I managed to track him down when he was in Perth.

If you could have a superpower what would it be?

To predict the future