16/07/2026
National Youngstock Conference 2026 🐮✌🏼💻
The year Calf to Cow got a table 🥳
What a great networking day it was yesterday! Met some great farmers, made new industry connections, and caught up with the best industry friends 🫶🏻 and some interesting bits of information to take home!
But the biggest thing I have reflected on from the conference, and something I’ve really appreciated since going self-employed, is that I don’t feel that same commercial competition that I did before.
I think when you work for a business, you can embed yourself quite deeply into it. Its values. Its day to day pressures. It’s commercial aims. Its vision.
But, speaking from experience, you can also lose yourself in that process. You become more defensive. Other people rub off on you, and not always in the best way. You become more critical of others in the industry. There’s internal competition as well as external. You constantly feel the pressure of targets that you need to meet. You lose your core self, your core beliefs, and the ability to appreciate that there is space for everyone.
I certainly did. And I know others feel the same too.
But my journey has also taught me that…
1) The industry is small. You never know where you will end up. You may think that you will work in your current business forever, but that is rarely the case. Often at industry events you see the same people, but the badges on the chest change. Be respectful of your competition, as they may end up your employer.
2) Just because you work for a company, no matter for how long or how much you have contributed, that company is not yours and you are not that company (unless you own it, of course). Unfortunately, the friendships you’ve built within the company may not stay with you when you leave, and you will go as quickly as you came.
I often look back and regret how I got sucked into it all. But life is full of lessons, and sitting here 12 months in to Calf to Cow has shown me that being my true and authentic self connects me to the right people. I’m so grateful that its allowed me to build genuine friendships and working relationships in the industry. My soul is finally finding its tune again ♥️
