Why soil health and profitability are deeply connected, with Nic Kentish

With the surname “Kentish,” Nic carries his family’s potato growing legacy. While it's one of pride, the journey has certainly not been easy. After returning to the family farm in South Australia, he found himself confronting one of the biggest challenges many farming families face: how to build a profitable, sustainable business in an increasingly volatile industry.

In this episode, Nic Kentish unpacks his lessons learned from decades in farming, including a difficult transition into organic potato production that ultimately left the business carrying significant debt. Nic speaks candidly about the financial and emotional pressure that comes with succession, the realities of running high-risk agricultural enterprises, and why understanding your gross margins matters just as much as understanding your soils.

Now an educator with RCS’s Grazing for Profit program, Nic explains why he believes agriculture must be viewed as a connected system: where soil health, profitability, relationships, livestock management, and technology are all intertwined. The conversation explores regenerative agriculture, biological farming, and why Nic prefers to focus less on labels and more on outcomes.

Sarah and Nic discuss:

• Why “great technology” still has to solve real on-farm problems
• The lessons Nic learned from transitioning to organic farming
• Gross margins, debt, and the hidden pressures of succession
• Why soil health and profitability are deeply connected
• The role of observation and intuition alongside agtech
• Why family relationships are often the biggest risk, or strength, in farming businesses
• How farmers can build resilience in increasingly variable conditions

Useful Links:

• The Warble Podcast | RCS
• Change Agent: The maverick agronomist who changed grazing methods - ABC News
• Optiweigh
• Low Stress Stock Handling - Farmsafe
• Arden Andersen - Soil Learning Center
• Halter’s $2 billion question, with founder Craig Piggott
• Regen Ag Series
• Australian Rural Leadership Foundation

For more information and resources, visit our website.

The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

• [12:00:00] Sustainable farming has to be profitable.
• [00:23:00] Regen ag is about outcomes not labels.
• [00:37:00] Good tech supports farmer intuition