agriculture

When to buy land is always a contentious question. The answer is invariably - it depends. For tightly held areas where opportunities rarely come up, the answer will normally be yes. We have seen an [...]

A simple business model does not mean it is easy to execute - these are two different things. Recently, I had a farming business explain to me how it goes about things. It was easily [...]

A recent topic of discussion was whether benchmarking reports added value to a finance proposal presented to a bank. My answer was a resounding yes, with the caveat that proper explanation needed to accompany the [...]

Recently, I heard a great podcast on Head Shepherd in relation to running a high-performing farming business. One topic that piqued my interest was the conversation around external advice, which was termed as buying brains. [...]

No one needs to be reminded how much rain fell in 2024, but it is interesting to think about what production would have eventuated if farming techniques were the same as 25 years ago. I [...]

Most farming businesses have a banking relationship. Some may have a closer connection than others, depending on the needs of the operation and the proactivity of the farmer and bank manager, or agri-broker. But as [...]

The question of whether farmers are entrepreneurs or business owners can be argued either way. My view is a smaller cohort are entrepreneurial, and a larger percentage are business owners, with many exceptionally good operators [...]

Recently, I read a book by Cowell Clarke lawyers that is targeted towards advisors in the agricultural sector. It's a comprehensive publication full of practical information, written with non-lawyers in mind. I am concentrating on [...]

Collaborative farming takes many forms. The boots and all method consists of tipping land and equipment in together and farming as one operation. There are people that have quasi share-farming/collaboration arrangements, and others that syndicate [...]

Earlier this year, I attended a farm conference in Victoria, which was put on by a business called Farm Tender. The format and presentation style were one I hadn't seen before. Firstly, it was held [...]

A recent article from the Farm Owners Academy really got me thinking about diversification. Their benchmarking had shown those farmers with fewer enterprises were, on average, generating a better return on assets managed than farming [...]

I recently had a conversation with a farmer I have known for many years. The family are widely admired, humble and do great things in the community - the quintessential quiet achievers. There are a [...]