Based in Mount Gambier, South Australia, Wes is the Business Manager and Director of Mount Gambier Rural Supplies Pty Ltd. With a team of seven staff, the business serves the diverse agricultural landscape of the region, supporting dairy, beef, sheep, broadacre, forestry, farm contractors, and lifestyle farmers. 

In 2021, Wes led the development of a purpose-built store that expanded capacity, improved product presentation, and enhanced customer service through full driveway facilities. The business provides comprehensive on-farm support including pasture agronomy, nutrition and animal health programmes, and technical installations of livestock weigh equipment and electric fence energisers, complemented by regular delivery services throughout the district.

Wes began his career in 1997 with IAMA/Landmark as a trainee salesperson, progressing through junior sales assistant and field sales assistant roles before becoming Branch Manager, a position he held until 2007. He completed Certificates I and II in Sales during this period. Growing up with strong family connections to agriculture, Wes started farming in his late teens and purchased his first property in 2008, where he runs cattle, sheep, and lucerne hay production. 

Wes’s unique position as both an independent agricultural retailer and active farmer gives him rare dual perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing rural businesses. His expertise in building client-focused retail operations, combined with firsthand understanding of on-farm decision making and his commitment to community engagement, provides invaluable practical insight to the NRI Board. Wes’s dedication to the “one-stop shop” service model and personalised relationships exemplifies the values that strengthen independent agricultural enterprises across NRI’s network.