In Armidale, they decide to throw in their jobs, pool their talents and go it alone.

The insurgency by four former Landmark and Elders staff has given birth to a new agency, GrazAg, which has put more than 350 farm accounts on its books in the eight weeks since it opened for business in Armidale.

When GrazAg’s Armidale merchandise outlet held an open day a few weeks ago, more than 600 people paid a visit.

Co-founders, Jason Litchfield, former branch manager of Landmark’s Armidale and Guyra agencies, and Ben Foster, who held the same position a few hundred metres away at Elders, say the venture has already succeeded beyond their wildest ambitions.

With Phil Radburn, a former Landmark Armidale senior account manager, and Matt Foster, Ben’s brother and former Elders Armidale agronomist, they decided earlier this year there was a business opportunity in an agency that delivered back-to-basics service.

“The corporates are moving away from the traditional style of merchandise business, towards a greater focus on micro-managing the agencies from head office,” Ben Foster said.

“We wanted to continue running things the way we had done in the past – with the emphasis on service.”

He believes primary producers today have little interest in just picking up a few drums of product and driving home.

“The business of farming is getting more complicated, and people are hungry for information on how to do things better at the right price,” he said.

Mr Litchfield said the GrazAg team also saw value in combining their individual talents under one roof – a strategy that has given GrazAg two animal health specialists (Ben Foster and Phil Radburn) and an agronomist (Matt Foster) plus a business manager in Mr Litchfield, who is aided in the office by his wife, Kellie.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we couldn’t have done it without each other,” Mr Litchfield said.