Award-winning agri broker’s job starts with boots on the ground

00:02 We're dealing with families. We're dealing with multigenerational visions.

00:05 You've got to get that through real life experience. 00:11 Hello and welcome to MPA TV. I'm Kylie Spear and joining me today is Luke Radford, director at Homestead Agri Business. With a simple purpose to support farmers with financial guidance that truly makes a difference. Homestead Agri Business has been named as one of the winners of MPA's top commercial brokers for 2026. A very warm welcome to you Luke and thank you so much for joining us today.

00:41 Thanks Kylie. No, really appreciate catching up today. Well, firstly, Luke, congratulations on being recognized in MPA's top commercial brokers 2026 special report. In the context of your vision to be a trusted advocate for family businesses, what does this award mean to you personally and to the rural communities you support?

01:02 Yeah, look, I think personally this sort of validates the mission that we started out with Homestead was to really got a lot of passion for our rural communities and really trying to I guess get around and support them when it comes to their finance needs. And I feel in the finance industry obviously whether it's construction, home lending or commercial lending in general. There's obviously been a big push for several years and there's several outstanding firms out there that do the job. What we really wanted to do was to come in and give our rural communities, you know, that expertise, that advice, and really, I guess, give them the skills to scale up, better their businesses and give them that support. So, I guess this award really validates that that's coming together, you know, into fruition.

01:48 In the niche world of agribusiness finance, how does deep on-the-ground industry knowledge shape what you see as the hallmarks of a great agri finance broker or brokerage and how did that expertise influence the quality of deals recognized in this special report?

02:08 Yeah, look, I think in agribusiness, it's so specific. It's something that goes over multiple cycles. It's not something that you can look at in a 12 month view. It takes several years, takes a lot of understanding as to what the clients have done on the ground, what's happened in those specific areas that you might be dealing with, but also we're very vast here in Australia. We've got a very broad range of different rural industries and different areas. And you know, what might be happening in one area is very different to another. So, you know, what we really try and do is combine our 50 plus years with the team we've got here and experience in different areas and just really hone in on the fact that we've been through all the cycles. We understand that we have very big swings, we have very good ups and sometimes we have very big downs. But you really got to by being there and understanding the different areas and actually being out on farm is such a big part of what we do because it really gives us that deep understanding as to what they're actually facing because what transposes to what you present to a bank really starts on the ground because you don't get that out of a spreadsheet. You don't get that out of a set of financials. In the rural industry, it really is about actually being on ground and seeing what they're facing because so much of what we do is not just financial. It is a lot of personal. You know, we're dealing with families. We're dealing with multigenerational visions. So, you've got to get that through real life experience.

03:29 Luke, you've grown Homestead Agri Business from a startup to more than $2 billion in lending in just three years. How have your mission and values guided that rapid growth while staying committed to local employment and supporting rural and regional communities?

03:49 Yeah, look, I think the key to success here at Homestead is just that really that care factor. I mean, we're extremely passionate about backing our rural communities. We're very passionate about giving people the support that they haven't received before. We've just seen the benefit from getting behind these producers when they got no one to turn to. They know they want to grow. They don't know how to grow and we just see we get just as excited as they do going on the journey with them. So I think for us we really try and bring ourselves back down to the roots as to what we tried to do when we started this business which was supporting our rural communities, leaving no stone unturned, giving our clients that education, that expertise to really take control of their financial position. So I suppose everything that we've achieved is just the repercussions of trying to do that very well and executing that very well. We've been very fortunate with the team that we've had to support us as well within this business. So, to have that sort of level of expertise around us just really allows us to keep growing and achieving those great outcomes for our clients. But ultimately it comes down to very simple values that when you do it well and do it over and over again, it delivers results.

05:07 The top commercial brokers ranking focuses heavily on loan volumes and product mix. But in agribusiness finance, how does your role as a broker extend beyond the numbers into strategy, market insights, and long-term relationships with farming families?

05:25 In agriculture, we obviously deal with multiple different sides of the supply chain, right? If we're looking at beef producers, we're looking at those that are breeding animals. And then we've got clients we look after the other end of the cycle, right? And then we got the other ones that are marketing the product at the end. So our market insights allows us to go back to our clientele and just give them real world what's happening, give them understanding to what all different supply chains are facing. More specifically in the agri space, we're dealing with families, we're dealing with succession, we're dealing with the vision that these farming families have around multigenerational wealth and what we're there to do is help them map that out and feel confident that they can go through all the cycles to achieve what they ultimately want to because there is a real personal touch in the ag space that I suppose is different to the commercial world where it's a bit more cut and dry. We're dealing with a lot of emotion, a lot of history, I suppose. And yeah, so we're really able to refine and with our expertise focus in on that.

06:32 And finally, Luke, with your focus on helping farmers build a legacy and strengthening family businesses, how do you plan to use the visibility from the top commercial brokers 2026 recognition to deepen your strategic impact on the agribusiness and rural communities you serve?

06:49 Yeah, look, I think it's about just letting the communities know, letting the people out there that are looking for that guidance and advice know that there are experts out there. We do see ourselves as advisers in those fields. There's many others doing just as great a job as what we are. And just letting people know that they've got that support. Sometimes in these rural communities, they feel very isolated. They feel like they are a little bit forgotten about in some ways. What we're really trying to drive is a bit of a push to get back in the bush, get people supported again because we can just see what happens when you support these people. They're very good at what they do, but they need experts around them to achieve what they want to do. So, as much as it's great to get recognition for us, it's really about a bigger picture to go, there's a real opportunity here. If anyone's out there feeling as though they're struggling with which direction to go in, there's actually people out there that do care. They want to help them and there are services out there that they can obtain.

07:50 Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for your time today and congratulations once again to you and the entire Homestead Agri Business team, Luke. 08:00 No, thank you. Very much appreciated.

08:03 And thank you, of course, to our viewers for watching the latest episode of MPA TV. We look forward to seeing you again soon.