Edwina Warby
This article forms part of our conversational series, where we chat to some everyday country kids calling Regional Australia home. I wanted to put together this series to showcase some of the brilliant young minds making the active decision to come home and make a real contribution to the future of regional communities. To show it only takes a willing few to really make a difference to the prosperity of a region.
Edwina Warby is an incredibly impressive human. Smart as a whip, with three degrees and a knock out resume. She carries a work ethic she’s inherited from her family, as well as a deep love for the livestock industry. While Edwina has recently moved home to the family farm, she is also carving a future for herself as a member of the team behind AgTech start-up, Black Box Co. Edwina lets us know how it’s all been going since she moved home, we have a bit of a geek out about data and software, as well as chat about family legacy and how to make a future for yourself while still working to stay connected to your roots.
We’re here on your family farm, how would you describe where we are?
Some people say in the middle of nowhere but really we’re quite central to most places. We’re in South West Queensland, 40kms from Glenmorgan, 150kms South East of Roma.
You said your family has been here since your Great Grandfather was originally on this place?
Yes! You could say our family has been here for a while. When Mum and Dad first came home to the farm there was three generations all living here, well four when my brother Sam came along. It’s certainly always been a family affair around here!
When you first finished school you didn’t muck around, tell us a bit about what you first got up to in the big wide world.
I finished school and started a job working fulltime in an accounting firm in Dalby as an assistant accountant, while I was studying a dual degree in Business and Commerce externally. So I worked full time and studied fulltime in Dalby for two years. Then I landed a job as an accountant for a civil and construction company, FKG, in Toowoomba. Worked for them for two years and finished my degree. After that I realised I wanted a gap year, to do something completely different, but I guess in a way I kept studying. I spent a year at Marcus Oldham the Agricultural College in Geelong. Studying a Bachelor of Agribusiness, and I was able to do that in one year because I had credits from my other degree, which was handy!
That doesn’t sound like much of a gap year!
I know, it was just something I was really drawn to. Marcus has such a great reputation and the people I’ve met from my time there have had a real impact on my life. After Marcus I was awarded a scholarship to go to the States, through the BBM Global Industry Agricultural Scholarship. That was supposed to be a six month trip in 2020, obviously COVID had something to say about that. I didn’t really know what to do, I had my heart set on going overseas. It was such a disruptive time for everyone and I realised I wasn’t coping so well with the turbulence of all the changing plans. I went through a lot of personal growth at that time, learning to deal with the disappointment of it all. I had to come around to letting go of the expectations I had and to move onto something new. I came across a great job at Australian Food & fibre, in Moree and got some great experience there as an accountant.
How did you find yourself working at Black Box Co.?
I loved working for AFF, their business is so impressive and the cotton industry is such a fascinating one, but
beef and livestock is the industry that I really care about. It runs in my veins! I’d been following the work of Emma and Shannon, the founders of Black Box Co. and loved what they were doing. I ended up reaching out to them on LinkedIn and built a relationship over time. I just wanted to learn more about what they were doing. When the opportunity came up for me to join their team I just knew it was the right move. I’ve now been working with them in a client relationship management role for a year and loving it.
Can you explain a bit more about Black Box Co. and what they do?
Black Box Co. is a cloud-based software program that processes all of the raw data a farmer has access to and combines it with other data sets available from others along the supply chain. The software works with that raw data to give a producer an overview that will help them to make better on farm decisions. Black Box Co. is designed to help make the everyday producer make better management and genetic decisions to increase productivity and profitability. Our whole team work with clients all over the country and across all aspects of the supply chain. I work with some of the bigger pastoral companies right through to family businesses and studs. I’m now starting to work with some feedlots and abattoirs as well.
Can you give me a bit more of an understanding as to why a producer would use the software?
It depends what part of the supply chain you are a part of, but a producer on farm adds their own data to the software, like raw weights, breeding information and pregnancy test results. The software then displays the interpretation of that information clearly, with easy to read and interactive dashboards rather than just the raw data. That information can then be used to accurately forecast when cattle will be ready to go to either a feedlot or an abattoir for example. We’re forever hearing clients tell us that they’ve got all this data and they don’t do anything with it or they look at the feedback they’re getting and only see a few cents lost here and there. Collating all of the data available and formatting it in a way that people can actually understand and take useful insights from is really what we’re all about. It’s amazing to see how much of an impact that can have on an operations performance over a long period of time and throughout all aspects of the supply chain.
Huge problem with Agtech is often being able to get the on farm implementation right, a lot of the time people just don’t know how to get farmers to use their tech. Do you think your background in primary production has helped you be so successful in your new role?
It’s definitely an advantage and I think our clients all appreciate that everyone in the team has that background. I know how our clients work and the frustration of tackling all the office paperwork etc. I understand how tricky it can be for a producer when they get very little feedback from a feedlot or an abattoir. Our team is all regionally based as well which is super helpful. It’s easy for us to get out on farm and to actually help our clients on the ground. Not just have someone in their high rise office in the city trying to tell them what to do over an email. As a team of country people we just have an understanding of the landscape which makes our jobs easier but also allows us to build solutions that will actually work for our clients in their day to day lives.
So do you spend a fair bit of time with clients in person when you are initially setting them up or does it just depend?
We’ve obviously had to do a lot over the phone and via zoom over the last few years but our farmers and producers have adjusted so well to that. They’ve become more familiar with doing things that way. It allows us to move a lot faster in our work when we can jump on a video call in five minutes, share our screens and fix a problem really quickly. In saying that there is nothing like a face to face relationship and now that we’ve been able to get out and about a lot more it’s had a huge impact. With anyone who has been a bit on the fence, you go and visit them, work alongside them, set up templates and workflows that work for them and they’re sold. Helping clients face to face is a game changer for our relationships. Initially I do work with each client a lot to get them all set up, doing an audit of their existing data and adding that all into the system. Then go back and teach them how to use the dashboards and access all of that data. Once it’s all set up they can generally manage it themselves from there quite easily. But if they have any issues, it’s my job to be there and help them out, whether than needs to be in person or if we can sort it out virtually.
Do you see yourself being with the company for the foreseeable future?
Definitely, there is so much opportunity and room for growth. The software and the company is just starting to hit its strides. I’ve been so lucky that the girls have thrown me at any opportunity that comes up. I believe there’s no better way to grow, within the company and within myself. I definitely see myself in the company for a long time yet and hope to keep making a difference to the future of the company and the industry.
Being able to work remotely is such a massive perk of the job. Did it play a role in your decision to come over and join the team?
Yes and no. The flexibility is so good and so exciting but sometimes it can be awkward because you don’t actually have to be based somewhere specific. The enjoyable part of being able to be on your family place is being able to help out where you can and on the weekends, being able to get out and about on the place or to get up and jump on a horse first thing in the morning before I head into my little home office. It’s just the best. Getting back into the industry that I love was the real driver for me, I’m just grateful to be able to do that in a way that also allows me to just live life more as well.
What advice would you give to someone who is dying to work for a company like
Black Box Co.?
These progressive companies that we admire, like Black Box Co., need people who are outgoing and hardworking and willing to have a crack, so you should always reach out if you’re interested in being a part of someone’s team. You never know what stage of growth they’ll be at. If they’re looking for someone or not, at least you’ve given yourself a chance to express your interest, let them know you’ve been following their work and you’re passionate about it. You might not get a job or opportunity from them right away but if you put in the effort and you’ve made them see that you understand their business and what they’re trying to achieve then you’re going to be the first person they think of when they are looking for someone. A lot of young people cringe at the thought of networking but it’s honestly so valuable. Some of the best things for me have come out of just walking up to a random group of people at an event and making an effort to get to know the people there.
You’ve been home for nearly a year, what has it been like?
It’s great, the absolute dream, being able to be around the family but also work on something else that I really care about. Mum and Dad have helped me set up my own little office area over in the old quarters. I think mum secretly likes that now she has someone to hand off some of the boring office jobs to when she’d rather be out in the paddock with everyone else! The phone service can be pretty sketchy out here and I had a few teething problems getting that sorted initially, but after a quick upgrade of our booster I’ve been able to work from here without any issues. We all go off and do our own thing during the day and then at night you get to catch up and hear what’s been going on outside my office all day. Even though it’s not unusual that I have loaders, trucks and tractors outside the door making plenty of noise. My sister is home as well at the moment so getting to spend time with everyone, everyday is just the best.
You’ve moved back here after a few big years in some pretty social towns, and you’re a very social person. Have you found the isolation tricky at all?
It’s been kind of nice not being roped into going out every night of the week! Like everyone that lives remotely you just travel a lot for social occasions and my family are all very social, we always have something on. I do sometimes miss being so close to everyone but its all only ever a few hundred kms away.
Can you give me a run down of the operation here at home?
These days we just run cattle, and do a bit of cropping. We do trade some cattle but mostly we have breeders, and we breed some composite bulls that we sell straight from the paddock and most of those are heading straight to cattle places in Northern Queensland and the Territory. We’ve got a few places, here at Glenmorgan, Surat and Augathella. So we shuffle between them all a fair bit.
Do you think about your family legacy, what do you think that means to you?
I think about it all the time. Mum and Dad have always been my biggest mentors and supporters. Dads’ taught me everything I know on the ground and I don’t see anyone that works harder than him. They’ve always taught us to take the time to do things right and you’ll only have to do it once. To me, continuing our family legacy means doing my best to continue that strength of character. I guess in terms of the farm, my brother has come home, Sam and his wife are here building it to be bigger and better alongside Mum and
Dad. My grandparents and great grandparents are such an important piece of the puzzle
as well. We’re all building on what they made possible. My brother, sister and I were always encouraged to go off and do something else but that we could always come home too. My brother went and worked away for a few years before coming home, and my sister is about to head to the Northern Territory to work as a nurse for a while. It’s a real privilege to be able to have the best of both worlds.
It’s really hard for all of us farmers’ daughters because we do feel this really strong connection to this place that raised us and has been our home for such a long time, in a lot more ways than it just being a house that we lived in when we were young. I often feel that it doesn’t necessarily make sense for me to feel so connected to the family farm, to want to be a part of its future but its a tricky one isn’t it, to try and navigate all of these things.
I guess the goal I have at the moment is for me to build something of my own, because it gives you options later. There are other ways for us to explore how we can continue to make a contribution to the family farm that isn’t just coming home and working the farm day to day. I might not have all the answers right now but I’m doing what I can to be in the best possible position to do what’s right for everyone in the future.
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