GTS Ag Supplies owners Paige Wade and Jordan Souter didn’t have to smile for the camera, they couldn’t get the smile of success off their faces.
Photo by
Andrew Mole
The look on Jordan Souter’s face said it all.
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Gobsmacked.
Sitting in Rich River Golf Club’s Tatalia Room he and partner Paige Wade had already heard their Tongala-based business GTS Farm Supplies named agribusiness of the year in the 2026 Campaspe Murray Business Awards.
Now they had just been crowned business of the year and Jordan turned to Paige as if to ask if he had, they had, heard right.
“We were stunned, just blown away,” Paige said.
“We have done a lot of hard work, and this has been a huge commitment, so for us to have this honour is just amazing,” Paige said.
“When we took over the business in 2021 it really was a big leap of faith for both of us, we were young, we had a young family and it was a big step,” she said.
“So when we looked around the room the other night and saw all the amazing businesses who were there as nominees and winners, well to hear our name called out was just incredible.
“Just to have made it to the finals was fantastic recognition of what we have done, and really, it has been our staff, our families and our customers who have got us here.”
Paige said pre-GTS Farm Supplies Jordan was a tradie and farmer and she was an accountant – a combined skillset which seemed to fit the brief.
She said he didn’t really want to become a fulltime farmer, and she was always looking for a challenge.
“When this opportunity came up, we thought we could give it a go and grow it by doing new things, different things,” Paige explained.
Team GTS takes the stage for the second time on the night after being named the best business in the business awards business.
Photo by
Andrew Mole
“Such as our meat business. There is no butcher in town, and no-one sold meat locally, so we approached Greenham’s and now we stock a range of their prime cuts, which you don’t usually see in the average ag services or hardware store,” she grinned.
“We have gone from us to four other staff, and some juniors help us out on weekends.
“And yes, we have thought about opening a second store, but we also want to have a life – we love it here in Tonny, but I still play netball and Jordan’s in football, and we still have a young family. We don’t want to run ourselves thin.”
Clearly the couple are amongst the world’s best time managers because alongside clever innovations such as the butcher business, they have aligned with major buying groups Total Timber and Hardware and AIRR (Australian Independent Rural Retailers), a movePaige said had given them access to some serious buying power.
She said they have also significantly grown the seed business (that’s how she described it) with Jordan developing a much wider business footprint stretching from Tongala to Melbourne.
“Jordan gets the day off to a start, he’s always up early and then I get there once the kids are in school,” Paige added.
“Getting into the buying groups has been a gamechanger for us, it lets us offer our local customer base a great range of products at competitive prices – what we really like, and what we think our customers like, is our country service. It always comes with a smile, and if we don’t have something you’re looking for, we can get it for you.
“That has been a huge part of our success and we want our business, and all the businesses in our town, to be successful and we thank everyone who supports us, and who supported us into these awards, we are so grateful.”
GTS Ag Services is open seven days a week, Paige is also the social media maven, she hopes a website is coming soon, and no, they didn’t have to toss a coin to see who would do their victory interview.
“Jordan already had an appointment to go and get a silo, so it was another job for me,” she laughed.
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