Tom & Mick: Livestock, Markets and the Power of Relationships with Michael Spencer

Michael Spencer has spent more than 30 years across livestock agency, corporate agriculture, cattle processing and pastoral operations, including roles with Elders, AACo and Bindaree Beef before helping build Adcock Partners.

In this episode of The Tom & Mick Show, Michael joins Tom and Mick to unpack what good livestock agency actually looks like, why Adcock Partners deliberately operates under the radar, and what he is seeing across cattle markets from northern Australia through to the eastern states.

They discuss:

•  Michael’s unconventional path through Elders, AACo, Bindaree Beef and into Adcock Partners 
•  Why relationships and people remain the foundation of a strong agency business 
•  Building a business around agility rather than corporate complexity 
•  Why Adcock Partners has deliberately stayed relatively quiet and selective 
•  How livestock agency has changed over the past 30 years 
•  What good service looks like when clients span enormous distances 
•  Seasonal conditions across Queensland and the Northern Territory 
•  Why producer confidence can move cattle prices quickly 
•  The relationship between live export and domestic cattle markets 
•  Why live export remains critical to northern Australia and Indonesia 
•  What Michael expects from cattle markets heading through spring and into 2027

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Michael Spencer and Adcock Partners
05:24 Michael’s path from Melbourne to livestock agency
12:41 From Elders and AACo to Bindaree
18:05 Building Adcock Partners and the business philosophy
23:34 What good livestock agency service looks like
29:48 Seasonal conditions across northern Australia
35:12 The cattle market and influence of the farmer
40:36 Live export, Indonesia and changing cattle markets
46:18 What happens next for the cattle market
50:20 The Charbray question and wrapping up