From the Branch: Ravensthorpe, WA

WA Branch Interview – Tom Major & Renier Grobler

Tom Major is the Branch Manager and Renier Grobler is the Merchandise Manager at the Ravensthorpe branch in Western Australia. Ravensthorpe is 500km southeast of Perth or 200km west of Esperance. This branch services a large sale broad acre cropping system as well as sheep and cattle production systems.

 

With harvest around the corner, how are conditions looking this year?

Well we certainly wouldn’t say no to a little bit more rain! Unfortunately we had quite a dry start to the year with almost no summer rain to build up moisture reserves in the ground. Growers were optimistic when the season finally broke in July, but we’ve quickly come to an early finish again. Overall the canola and barley that was seeded at the beginning is looking pretty good, but the wheat would have performed better with a bit more rain.

We expect to see growers harvesting within the next month, there’s already a few starting to desiccate their canola. It is a little earlier than normal for this region, however we’re still expecting a good result considering the season we’ve had.

 

What does a typical day look like for a Branch Manager?

Tom Major - Branch Manager, Ravensthorpe

Everyday is different and that’s probably one of the parts of this role that I like the most. My team would say that I spend most of my time on the phone. We are only a small branch of four staff, so a lot of the day-to-day jobs are shared within the team. From sweeping the shed floor to loading trucks and serving at the front counter, we all do our part. At the moment I’m starting to talk to our clients about their plans for next year before they get too busy with harvest. Farms in this area only seem to be getting bigger so ensuring that we have the right products available for our clients at the right time is critical for them to ensure their cropping and production plans are on time.

 

What does a typical day look like for a Merchandise Manager?

Renier Grobler – Merchandise Manager, Ravensthorpe

My main role is to make sure the day-to-day operations run smoothly. We’ve often got a lot of orders going out to clients on the truck or even moving product around between neighboring stores. We work closely with the Esperance branch which helps both locations control what stock we have on hand and when we need it. I also help Tom with the planning side of the business. Once we understand what the client needs for the next season, I start forecasting what we will need to order and deliver and roughly when this will happen. Obviously if we get an early rain event or other out of character seasonal condition this process can be affected, however we like to think that if we’ve started this process early enough, we’ve got a bit of a buffer in place when the client is itching to go spraying for example.

 

Ravensthorpe is an isolated town with a small population, how does the community keep its spirit alive?

We think that agriculture has a big part to play in keeping small towns alive. Recently we’ve had our two local mines go into care and maintenance with many of those workers living in the shire now looking for other opportunities. Mining is good while its operational, but we don’t think that it should be relied on as a long-term solution. Agriculture is constant and will always be in this region. We are located in a great broadacre farming region & I believe we play an integral role in ensuring that there is a productive future ahead. I (Tom) have also recently taken on the Shire President role which is an opportunity to give back to the community and make sure our community survives and thrives. We have so much to offer in terms of a great place to live with some of the best beaches in the country, employment opportunities and community spirit, its hard to see why you wouldn’t want to live here.

The other big factor keeping the community alive is regional sport. Everyone in the community is involved in sport one way or another. It also helps that there’s always a (friendly) rivalry from the neighboring teams to keep things interesting. I (Renier) thoroughly enjoy being part of the footy team and its great to see everyone on the weekend supporting this as a player, volunteer or part of the crowd. This is such an inviting community for young families, my kids are also coming up through the junior ranks and the team player skills they are learning are invaluable. Having come from South Africa a few years ago, this was exactly the change we were looking for.

 

Interview took place in October 2024.

Pictured L-R: Renier Grobler, Brianna Finlan, Tom Major, Paul Webb