IN A modest office round the corner from Mansfield’s High Street, one man’s dream to revolutionise farming is gathering momentum.
It was three years ago that Nathan MacPhee’s aspirations to become a farmer were thwarted by the realisation that his recently purchased country lifestyle was not large enough to run cattle in numbers that would provide anything other than small change.
And so the frustrated farmer set about realising his dream of becoming a beef baron, with a vision to invest in livestock producers, and in the process he discovered a love of all things agriculture.
Nathan now has farm assets across the continent, having bought into a variety of commodities - everything from ginger to pineapples, watermelons, beehives, fat lambs and the occasional goat.
Nathan’s own personal farm-in-his-pocket provides an example of what investors can achieve, with the Invest Inya Farmer (IIF) app giving everyday people the opportunity to invest in what is grown on-farm and in turn support the amazing people who grow it.
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It’s effectively share farming reimagined for a digital age.
And the initial dream has now grown into a team of seven, with the crew recently returning from Sydney, one of three finalists in contention for the title of best regional start-up in the Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards.
“The original idea was purely that,” said Nathan when discussing the Invest Inya Farmer journey.
“It took a year to formulate the concept, researching and talking to farmers and finessing the details.
“The concept revolved around investors buying into a crop or animal at the start of its growing cycle.
“Farmers then grow out items as they always have and when the product is harvested and sold, the resulting profit is shared between the farmer and the investor.
“I had to understand the challenges farmers faced and whether there was a demand for this sort of consumer-sourced capital to improve cash flow on-farm and minimize risk, and whether the proposed investment model was viable.”
Once confirmed, the team developed a prototype of the app and began a rigorous round of beta testing, before being side-lined for the best part of a year working on the legal, taxation and technical aspects of the concept.
“We applied the model to a variety of commodities across the country from oysters to cattle, apricots and black rice, and the take away was that we could support all levels of agriculture.
“Once we had that farmer support and had developed investor interest we knew we could take the concept to the next stage - effectively doing it for real,” Nathan said.
“It was then about ensuring that IIF could be delivered and was compliant at scale,” he said.
It required the team to embrace a model of farming that has been around for centuries – the co-operative.
“Traditionally it was a means for individual farmers to reach consumers through working together to achieve a shared goal.
“We flipped the structure so that individual consumers could join forces to effectively become farmers,” said Nathan.
“Invest in Farming Co-operative is owned by its members, and as a member you can participate in our regular share farming opportunities, buying and owning real assets,” said Nathan.
“Members are informed when a new crop or product becomes available and given the choice to buy in, with no minimum spend set.
“So whether you want to purchase a couple of dozen oysters and have them grown out over six months, or you’re in the market for young lambs, or have the desire to invest in the upkeep of a dairy cow or two and profit from milk production, it’s all possible.
“We have partnerships with farmers across the country and in New Zealand, bringing unique opportunities in livestock, broadacre, horticulture and aquaculture.”
For farmers it represents an opportunity to improve cash flow and access capital.
“And as it is not debt and doesn’t compromise farm ownership, the model is great at providing liquidity for farmers who want to grow their operation and investments,” Nathan confirmed.
“The best farming stories are when early investment in a future harvest allows a grower to buy in bulk inputs (urea as an example) when the prices are low, reducing overall operating costs.
“The model is less suited to producers who just want to maintain the status quo, however it also minimises risk as producers only pay back the value of the season, with investors sharing the bounty in the good years and wearing the loss in the bad years.”
Nathan said that the model also delivers ‘profit with purpose’ for investors, fostering a strong connection between producers and their consumers who are invested - both emotionally and financially – in the success of the crop and the enterprise.
“It’s a powerful way to build a brand as consumers have a tangible relationship with the farming operation,” said Nathan.
Nathan cites interesting investor demographics, with a disproportionate number of women investing on the app.
“It is an investment that is not only interesting, it also has meaning,” he said.
“So for these investors it may be more about the journey, and enjoying the idea of owning a beehive.
“Then we have a lot of younger investors due to the apps accessibility.
“They can start up a farm for less than $100.
“About 30 per cent of our farmers also use IIF to diversify their own farms, taking the volatility out of production by spreading their risk profile across a variety of sectors and geographies.
“Smaller farmers can be confined by their fence lines, and other producers like that safeguard of having that broader portfolio, so a grazier with sheep in central New South Wales might diversify into pineapples in north Queensland.
“We do have a certain cohort who are very much return-driven, and approach investing with that due diligence.
“However when we have a limited supply of an asset and demand that is subject to seasonal limitations, excitement can play a big part in investing.
“Whereas before it might take a week to sell a crop, opportunities now go in minutes."
As the app also offers diagnostic tools to monitor the health of each virtual farm encouraging diversity across states and sectors, all investments represent a calculated risk with investors guided to do so smartly.
“We will keep investing when the opportunities makes sense,” said Nathan, with IIF enforcing a strict policy of supporting farmers with strong proven track records.
“We may absorb risk, but that does not mean we are reckless,” he added.
One of IIF’s main challenges is to cultivate and maintain the diversity within its holdings.
“However last month alone we welcomed eight new farmers on board, which was a record for us,” said Nathan.
“And within that there were a number of firsts.
“There was our first mustard crop and now we have lupins on offer.”
At the moment membership in IIF is driven primarily by referrals and word-of-mouth, with the team elevating farming stories to build engagement.
Providing ongoing transparency, farmers are encouraged to provide regular on-farm updates, sharing both the good and the bad and keeping investors informed
Creating that connection is perhaps the apps greatest success, with the team finding a mutually beneficial way for consumers to participate meaningfully in agriculture.
“We are now the most diverse farming operation in Australia,” said Nathan.
“As a collective, we have invested in millions of oysters, thousands of sheep, hundreds of cattle and beehives and many hectares of cropping and fruit production.
“We currently own 50,000 pineapples, have over 30 tonnes of ginger, 4000 pecan trees and 750 goats, and we operate in every state of Australia with investors across the nation.”
It’s been an upward trajectory for Nathan and his team since that first inkling of an idea, just on three years ago.
After extensive consultation and rigorous testing, the app has only been live since August of last year with the team opting for a soft launch and contained growth to ensure all objectives are met.
There is already strong international interest in the concept, with a plan in motion to expand into North America.
IIF’s business partner in Canada believes the initiative has the potential to “revolutionise farming on a global scale”.
Nathan is also spending his time commuting between the High Country and Singapore, as he works to take the initiative into South East Asia.
For a man who initially wanted to run a few cattle on his Mansfield block, Nathan MacPhee’s farming dream has expanded and evolved.
He has managed to tap into the psyche of a demographic who wants to farm, but who previously didn’t have the opportunity to do so.
And he’s strengthened that connection between paddock and plate that goes beyond provenance to a place of understanding, empathy and emotional investment.
