In this episode of Selling in the Paddock, I’m joined by Jess Federow from Copper Creek Contracting in Central West NSW – a former primary school teacher turned rural contractor, systems thinker, and freshly minted Nuffield Scholar.

Jess and her partner Ross don’t just “put up fences”. They design whole-farm infrastructure that actually works in the real world – for people, livestock, seasons and the future of the business.

We dig into Jess’s winding path from:
Canberra kid ➝ NT station work ➝ primary school teacher ➝ DPI education ➝ rural contracting ➝ now shaping the future of farm design through her Nuffield research.

In this ripper chat, we cover:

• 🧠 Systems thinking in ag – why Jess struggled with a siloed ag degree, and how that “umbrella view” is now her superpower on-farm

• 🛠️ Copper Creek’s 5-part framework – Grow, Graze, Move, Handle, Feed – and how one missed “movement” detail exposed a blind spot (and led to a better method)

• 🚜 From “just build the fence” to solving the real problem – the questions Jess asks to get past “I need 500m of fence” and into what’s actually going on in the business

• 🤝 Building trust with clients – how she does it over the phone, when to lean in with ideas, and when to trust the farmer’s experience and simply execute

• 🧱 Values in business – why Jess and Ross refuse to sell projects they don’t believe in, and how they handle jobs where the “vibe” and values don’t align

• 📈 Measuring ROI on infrastructure – what Jess will be exploring through her Nuffield Scholarship and why infrastructure is an underrated lever for productivity, efficiency and resilience

• 🐴 Life outside work – getting back in the saddle after kids, riding with her daughter, and why the best pasture check is from the back of a horse

If you’re feeling overwhelmed about where to start with farm improvements, or you work in ag and want to think more holistically about your clients’ businesses, this episode will give you simple language, practical lenses, and a fresh way to see your farm as a whole system – not just a list of jobs.

👉 Connect with Jess & Copper Creek Contracting