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20/05/2026
Jeremy and Alec Pengilley, Blackville, navigate farming and family for business success.
Business partners and brothers, Jeremy and Alec Pengilley work in lock-step on their family’s intergenerational family farm, and in life.
Both with young families of their own, the nuances of working so closely with family is not lost on the progressive duo, yet they insist that respect, and clear communication is the key to a thriving relationship – and farm.
“As brothers, we know exactly what to expect from each other, which helps, yet it’s the respect we have for one another that I believe underpins a strong business partnership – without respecting each other’s options, decisions don’t get made.”
Likewise, Alec believes there’s enormous value in gaining differing perspectives from each other.
“We both know how to operate the farm, but together we can do it better – we have different skills and we appreciate each other’s perspective, which is important.”
The Pengilley brothers, together with their wives Eleanor and Emily, run a dynamic dryland cropping operation at Blackville on the fertile Liverpool Plains, and their focus is squarely on improving efficiencies for greater productivity, profits, and lifestyle.
“Like everyone on the land we walk a tightrope between family and work, and investing in more efficient, and larger, machinery means a job that once took 18 hours, now takes 12, and every hour back that we can spend with our young families is so valuable,” Jeremy smiles.
Broadacre spraying is a constant year-round task, with the brothers investing in optical spray technology for effective weed management, and lower input costs.
A move to 12 metre planting settings has also improved timeliness in the paddock, and precision planting ensures optimal seed depths and spacing for higher yields.
With a focus on sorghum in the summer, and wheat, barley and faba beans in the winter, one of the greatest potential costs to the business is machinery downtime, a risk minimised by investing in good machinery.
“You can’t make money when you have a breakdown, and that timeliness cost can be really significant in a cropping operation – we put all our eggs in a five month window, so timing is everything,” Jeremy says.
“Breakdowns put pressure on us, and pressure on our service provide, so we’re very conscious to work with machinery manufacturers who are knowledgeable and timely getting our gear fixed and back on track.”
Jeremy Pengilley is excited for his family's farming future.
With a progressive eye on the future, Jeremy says he’s watching the AI space with interest, yet concedes that the commercial benefits of AI robotics in cropping systems have a long way to go.
“At the end of the day, we keep our operation fairly simply – it’s easy to overcomplicate things, but our focus is on improving efficiency, and productivity and we’re excited by the progress we’ve made so far.”
Getting the keys to the farm
With their parents, Trevor and Jeanne, retiring to Coffs Harbour in 2018, the boys were given independence to run the fourth generation property on the eve of one of the worst droughts in history.
Despite their challenging launch, the brothers endured the drought, leaning on their life, and farm experience – Jeremy trained and worked as an accountant before returning home in 2008, and Alec jackarooed in the Gulf and studied at Marcus Oldham, moving home in 2014.
Having enjoyed a run of good seasons in recent years – the brothers recently harvested their summer sorghum which yielded 6.5 tonnes on just 152mm of in-crop rain – they’re grateful to be farming in such a productive region.
“Dad comes out every harvest and helps us out, he’s an incredible sounding board, and this area has given us so much opportunity, we’re looking forward to doing this for our own children,” Alec smiles.
“Farming for us is a business, but it’s also a lifestyle, Mother Nature is our main business partner, and when things are going well you can’t ask for anything better, it’s so exciting for us, and our families,” Jeremy reflects.
Rabobank support, season after season
Whether it’s their machinery dealer or bank manager, the brothers place great appreciation on old-fashioned customer service, and believe their Rabobank rural manager, Tom Wythes out of the Tamworth team, is a case-in-point.
“Tom isn’t afraid to jump in the car and travel an hour and a half just for a look around the paddock, or even just for a cup of tea and chat in the kitchen – and that’s something we value,” Jeremy smiles.
“In farming it’s crucial you understand the person, not just the balance sheet – the time and energy we put into running this place can never be depicted on paper, and Tom’s been with us for 20 years, and enjoyed a strong relationship with Dad also, so he knows all the nuts and bolts of our business, and family.”
Jeremy and Alec with Rabobank Tamworth’s Kevina Sleiman and Tom Wythes.
And despite “what’s going on behind the scenes within the bank”, the brothers appreciate that Rabobank makes their growth feel simple.
“The Tamworth team never makes things complicated for us, whether it’s drought or wet seasons, there are many unforeseen circumstances that can impact our cash flow, and as a bank dedicated to agriculture Rabobank understands this, and supports our growth through the seasons.”
“The fact we’ve been with Rabobank for over 20 years, and with the one manager no less, speaks volumes,” Jeremy smiles.