AFTER more than 20 years in the capable hands of three locals, Casterton Agricultural Machinery has been handed down to its third generation of local ownership – a fifth-generation Casterton resident.

Giles Kent has returned to town and is preparing to take on the business from Neil Richardson, Brian Burns and Gavin Lowe.

Mr Lowe said selling the business was a great opportunity for a young local to take on providing local service.

“The business is here and established – all you’ve got to do is carry it on,” he said.

“I’m sure someone like Giles has got some good ideas to bring into the business.

“At the moment, he’s hoping to carry it on just the same – things aren’t really going to change, except there will be a new owner.”

Mr Burns also said it was about handing the business on to the next generation, as two thirds of the ownership was looking to retire.

“That was our whole idea, when we were putting it on the market, hoping we could find some young local bloke to take over,” he said.

Mr Richardson will continue to work at the business while Mr Burns and Mr Lowe have their retirements planned.

Mr Kent said Casterton Ag would see a steady evolution outside and inside over the coming years.

“This is a good little business that has supported three families out of it for the last 22 years, so there’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing,” he said.

“Take it on and try and keep the service in town for the option of parts and sales and that … and then put a bit of spin on myself over the next little while.

“People will gradually see a little bit of change come through.”

Following his heart

ALTHOUGH he’s been here, there and everywhere, Mr Kent’s history and his heart, lie in Casterton.

His grandfather, Jim, was a noted local historian with several books written on the town.

“You just grow up with it and you know your grandad was always a figure of town,” he said.

Mr Lowe said there was an old story of Mr Kent’s grandfather and others who would regularly occupy a particular seat in town for casual conversation.

“Every day, they used to meet there in his older age about half past four in the afternoon,” he said.

“People in town used to call it the ‘seat of knowledge’ – you drive up the street and every afternoon, you’d see them there.”

Mr Kent’s family also boasts a history of business ownership in Casterton, tracing back to the 1920s and a location just a few doors down, when his great-grandfather, Barry Kent, partnered with the Little brothers in a motor vehicle sales and repair business at 1 Henty Street.

Three generations later, the son of James and Lyn Kent, Giles was raised in Casterton and completed an apprenticeship in Mount Gambier, before setting his sights on exploring further afield - most recently spending seven years in mining work in Western Australia.

“It was always a thing to get out and about and have a look at Australia,” he said.

“It wasn’t going to be a forever sort of job over there – it was to set yourself up in life a bit more and come back here to open something up myself or take something on.”

Aside from his family connection to Casterton, Mr Kent has had heavy involvement in the Australian Kelpie Muster across the last 20 years, taking on committee work in the last six, coordinating the set up of the Australian Premier Working Dog Auction.

Even when he was away in the far west of the country, digital connection allowed him to manage what he could.

“From many years of doing it, you just know who to call,” he said.

“And because it’s been run for so long, when you do call people it was just like, ‘We’re ready to go again this year’.”

He was also the first recipient of the John McGrath volunteer award, recognising his contributions to the Muster and although he was “chuffed” with the honour, he said he preferred to see others receive their awards.

“I get more of a kick out of seeing other people succeed than myself,” he said.

Third-generation local business

CASTERTON Ag started up as the 1990s were getting underway and Mr Lowe said the business followed on from the sale of Ford vehicles and other machinery under the now-defunct Ansett identity.

He, Mr Burns and Mr Richardson were all working at the business at its old Murray Street address under the late Ian Sims, who operated Casterton Ag for 10 years.

After running it on behalf of Mr Sims’ wife for the first few months, the trio bought it outright and put their marks on its evolution.

“We changed from being around in Murray Street as solely a repair workshop, to a shop frontage in the main street,” Mr Lowe said.

“We decided we wanted to buy a shop frontage in the main street to develop our shop.”

It was in those 22 years, the range of services expanded to include hardware and additional machinery in their second building across the street.

“What we have in the shop out the front and over the road, we never had any of that,” Mr Lowe said.

He also said the business had been more successful in recent years during the Covid-19 pandemic, owing to people who did more shopping locally after being unable to travel further afield such as across the border into Mount Gambier.

“They realised that it’s no dearer to buy here and you get local service,” he said.

“Someone comes and buys something – a ride-on mower or a lawn mower or a tractor off us – I always say to people, ‘If something goes wrong with it, you ring me up’.

“You get that personal service.”

Casterton Ag will begin operation under Mr Kent following today's Melbourne Cup public holiday.