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Well it’s been a funny old November hasn’t it? A later than expected start to harvest has been followed by some wet weather. Around the country there has been flooding in some regions, drought breaking rain in others and hail in some places. It can be pretty stressful, even if you are feeling reasonably confident…

Mobile phone use at harvest time is a big issue, whilst they can be great, there is a lot of potential for accidents, injury and poor performance related to phone use. There is a lot of talk on social media about it,  and a lot of frustrated bosses and staff. WHAT YOU NEED TO SAY…

Power down your power bills. Saving money on fixed costs is one of the things I like to push in our Farm Budgeting Masterclass. Why? because it often takes just a little time in the office and has no impact on the productive capacity of our farm businesses. Over a decade, the savings can really add…

THE ONE KEY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GOOD INVESTMENT AND A WASTE OF MONEY There is a lot of difference between a great investment in machinery or infrastructure and a bad investment. We can get quite technical and look at measures such as return on investment, labour hours saved and total cost of ownership (the lifetime maintenance…

The on farm off farm work conundrum…. It’s a topic I have written about before, however I have been thing a little more about it lately following the WoTL Conference in Wagga and a series of Women in Ag workshops I have put on for the Local Lands Services. Some of the discussion at the…

Interest rates are at the lowest point on record, however for many businesses, cash could well be close to the lowest point on record too.  Just a little reminder about interest costs with a few examples of how managing cash can reduce your overall interest cost. In these examples we assume an overdraft interest rate…

Account categories, also known as the chart of accounts are the categories we sort our income and expenditure as well as assets and liabilities into. At the beginning of the financial year it is a good exercise to review them to see if they are fit for purpose.  It’s a bit like a goldilocks scenario.…

It is a pretty typical practice to develop a strategy position on crop insurance. Some people fully insure all crops every year. Some people always partially insure, perhaps choosing only some paddocks or some crop types or under insuring their maximum yield or price. Some never insure, in effect self-insuring, the money saved in premiums…

The more variables at play, the more chances of things not going exactly to plan.  So what does this mean for our farm businesses? What adjustments and preparations can we make? In the yards – Allow more time for stockwork, it’s always going to take longer than you think. Always pack the marking gear in…