2013 Nuffield Scholar Lachie Seears addresses the 2025 Nuffield Australia National Conference held in Adelaide in September. Photo: Nuffield/Frankie The Creative

Lachie Seears AdDipFM’01 was always going to be a farmer, though he didn’t anticipate some of the challenges he would face along the way.

Despite the hurdles, Lachie’s never-say-die attitude, persistence and curiosity have propelled him on a lifelong quest to be a better farmer, employer and industry advocate.

Third-generation mixed farmer Lachie Seears raises sheep and cattle, and produces grain and fodder crops, southwest of Lucindale, in the Lower South East of South Australia.

Lachie farms across 6000ha of land at Conmurra under the name, Boonderoo Pastoral Company, with his wife Rebecca, children Hugh and Anneliese, and parents, Peter and Helen.

It’s no surprise to learn that as a little tacker, Lachie had set his sights on being a farmer just like Dad, who established Boonderoo on 600ha in 1977.

Keen to ensure their son had a good education, Peter and Helen sent Lachie off to boarding school at St Peter’s College in Adelaide at the age of 11.

They also insisted he pursue tertiary studies, initially a Bachelor of Science, majoring in geology, at the University of Adelaide.

“Dad said, ‘Go and get qualified in something else before you come back to the farm’,” Lachie said.

“I got into the start of second year, and I said to the folks, I don’t think this university thing’s quite for me. I’m coming home.”

While Peter didn’t have the opportunity to attend Marcus Oldham College, many of his friends had and the College had a solid reputation for preparing its students for successful careers in agriculture and agribusiness.

So after 18 months of industry placement at Boonderoo, Lachie headed off to Marcus in 1999.

He is grateful for the experience, which gave him a deep dive into business fundamentals and broadened his horizons with a “prac year” that he spent working for the Mann family on their cropping and vegetable farm in England.

There he learned hard-won lessons about perseverance.

“I probably didn’t enjoy it much at the time, but I did actually learn a lot, and I still am in contact with the Mann family all these years later,” he said.

Lachie also credits his time at Marcus with giving him the skills and confidence to take on leadership roles in the business and industry, as well as bonding with a group of “mates for life”.

Lasting friendships include Glenn Smith FM’01 and Viv O’Dwyer FM’01, who were groomsmen at his wedding. Lachie also keeps in touch with other Marcus alum – sharing banter through WhatsApp chat groups – and his cohort is planning a celebration next year for the 25th anniversary of their graduation.

Leadership

Lachie became the youngest chair of MacKillop Farm Management Group at the age of 26, embarked on a Nuffield scholarship in 2013, and was judged winner of the Kondinin Group 2017 Award for Excellence in Technology – in recognition of his early adoption of agtech to improve farm efficiency.

With full responsibility for the family farm business, Lachie has developed centre pivot irrigation for producing pasture and fodder for their 6000 composite ewes. He has also installed 7500 tonnes of grain storage to ensure cash flow and help manage seasonal risk.

In 2021, he doubled the size of the enterprise, with the purchase of a 3200ha former blue gum plantation, Elad, 25km from home.

Since then they have sown 2700ha of perennial pastures. With new laneways, paddocks, troughs and state of the art cattle yards, they are on track to join more than 2000 Angus breeders next year.

Lachie has made a concerted effort to make his business a ‘destination farm’ for employees, concentrating on facilities, culture, flexibility and building skills as his pillars.

He has invested in building his workers into a high-performing team, empowering them to take ownership of their roles.

As an example, Marcus graduate Billy Laurie AG’16 joined Boonderoo last year and quickly worked his way up to managing Elad, where he lives with his partner Imogen.

Team cohesion is fostered through regular staff social events, “green shirt Fridays”, post-harvest lunches and community involvement. Employees are provided with their own work ute and ATV.

“I’m nothing without my staff,” he said.

“The whole aim of my job is to make myself redundant, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Harvesting Hope

After the suicides of two local men earlier this year, Lachie helped promote a get together at the Furner Sports Club. It was inspired by the #6Bs, whose founder Brad Millsteed he had met during a Grains Social Leadership course run by GrainGrowers.

About 80 people attended the informal gathering, sharing open conversations about mental health and how they dealt with the pressures of living and working in a rural area where most livelihoods – directly or indirectly – depend on agriculture.

As a relatively new member of the Livestock SA board, which he joined last year, Lachie hopes to use that position to advocate for livestock farmers, demonstrating social and environmental responsibility, “so we can continue to do what we love to do”.

This article appeared in the December 2025 edition of MOCOSA, the Marcus Oldham College alumni magazine.