Dynamic farming duo Mark and Narelle Bettini, from Western Australia’s Pilbara, are the first husband and wife team to walk away with the highly-esteemed annual Rabobank ‘Dr John Morris’ Business Development Prize.
The Bettinis were presented with the award in front of their fellow graduates of the 2015/16 Rabobank Executive Development Program for the strategic business plan they completed to boost the productivity of their expansive cattle operation through the development of an enhanced HR (staff management) policy and an infrastructure project to improve pasture efficiency.
Mark and Narelle each completed individual – yet complementary – projects as part of attending the Executive Development Program, an intensive ‘mini-MBA’-style course for progressive Australian and New Zealand’s farmers. Undertaking the program together enabled them to “return home on the same page with a clear plan for the future direction of their business”, Narelle said.
Receiving the $5,000 cash prize presented by Rabobank Australia chief executive officer Peter Knoblanche at this year’s Executive Development Program graduation dinner in Sydney, Narelle said their joint-award reflected the importance of good partnership in business, with Narelle overseeing the HR side of the business and Mark, business development, operations and financial management.
The Bettinis who run ‘Degrey Station’, part of the family’s beef operation east of Port Hedland, said their projects essentially stemmed from a “light-bulb” moment on the first module of the program, where they were made to question, “are you doing the best in your business with what you’ve got?”.
“This made us have a long, hard look at ourselves and our business to ensure we are playing to our strengths and utilising our core assets,” Mark said.
For Mark, this entailed “extending and defending the core business” by looking to improve pasture utilisation by reducing grazing radiuses and sustainably increasing stocking rates in an effort to increase scale and kilograms of beef produced.
