Top 20 Under 40: Peter Greensill, 37, from Greensill Farming Group

This Queensland family has been in farming for three generations but it’s what this innovator and his brother are doing now that has launched their name on the international stage.

The Greensill clan have been farming in the Bundaberg region for three generations, but Peter Greensill and his brother Lex have taken the operation to a whole new level.

Greensill Farming Group now covers more than 2000ha of cultivation of sweet potatoes, water melons and other crops spread across four main sites with a geographic spread of about 80km, and their business runs 24/7.

Greensill farms employs 90 staff, most of them locals.

To further bolster their operation, Greensill Farming has an ongoing partnership with fellow Bundaberg sweet potato grower David Holt which strengthens their ability to provide continuity of supply and mitigates climate, pest and mechanical risks.

Peter and Lex Greensill. Picture: Hollie Adams

Greensill Farming, in partnership with Halt for Holts, exports throughout the Asia-Pacific region, sells through major supermarket chains and does fresh market sales nationally. Peter is also a director of UK-based Greensill Capital, founded by his brother Lex in 2011.

Lex, a senior adviser to the UK government on supply chain finance, established the business after seeing first-hand the impact of late payments on small businesses through the pressure his parents experienced supplying multinationals from their small sugar cane farm.

Greensill Capital has been a huge success.

The brothers were ranked 54 and 55 in The Australian’s list of the 250 richest people in the country earlier this year.

They have an estimated combined wealth of $1.52 billion.

Greensill Capital has a team of 160 people globally, providing more than one million small and medium sized enterprises with access to ultra-low-cost credit.