Who is really in control in your farm business?

Posted by Brendon Walsh on 12 December 2016

It’s a question that comes up time and again, yet it is seldom answered or is ignored until it absolutely has to be dealt with.

I bring this up because of the continued poor results from our sheep and beef businesses in general, as well as the sheer amount of inaccurate industry rhetoric that has been flying around for 30 years (that I am aware of anyway) about how to fix it.

Enough! If nothing changes, nothing changes! If you as a farmer do not take responsibility for the business you own, nothing will change for you regardless of industry rhetoric. That applies to all of us who own businesses, not just farmers, but let’s focus on farmers here because we need to have this conversation for them to move forward.

I was on a coaching call with one of my farmer clients recently, who is having a great year by the way. Their scanning and lambing percentages are up 19% this year while the district average is down 6 - 7%. They have excellent condition on their stock and liveweight gains are rocking. Options from here on are many. Lambs are better than ever and so is their confidence in their abilities and in their future. They are loving it! So what? Well, the general voice from farmers in their area includes the following: “It’s the meat company’s fault,” “we don’t have any grass” (yes, it’s true), “we really need $100-$120/head for our lambs,” “next year will be better,” and so on. Unfortunately, this is a classic case of not taking responsibility for their own businesses. And this is not good!

One of these voices lives next door to my client. You wouldn’t see a better example of chalk and cheese in how the farms and the animals look! There is 2100 kg DM/ha pasture cover (of great quality) on my client’s property yet there is very little on the neighbouring farm, which doesn’t bode well for a successful lamb weaning. This is not a location effect but rather a management effect.

As my client said, if you want to hit a certain pasture cover for key times to fully feed during profit periods you have to set up for it in advance. You start from where you start from in terms of pasture cover and what adds to that cover until the target date is pasture growth. What removes from that cover until the target date is animal intake. By working those two together well you can arrive at the target date with around the desired pasture cover and whammo! - you’re in business to fully feed your profit animals during the profit period. Which of those two factors do you have no control over and which do you have 100% control over? Pretty obvious, isn’t it?

Of those two factors, you have complete control over animal intake. Stocking rate and feeding levels contribute to this. You alone choose those levels to impact on your pasture covers for feeding at key times. Don’t blame meat companies, the weather, the prices or the year. They do affect the business but that’s just what happens whether you like it or not. It’s what you decide and how you proactively respond that makes the difference.

Granted, some farmers have never heard of profit periods and the system behind them and therefore don’t operate that way – I get it! But know this farmers – you don’t have to be in that situation if you don’t want to. You can choose otherwise, just like you chose to be in that situation, by default.

It starts by taking responsibility for your business as a business owner, not as a farmer. Get clued up on what it takes to run a profitable sheep and beef farm business. From there, the actions taken (which include pasture covers, stocking rates, feeding etc) are focussed on achieving the business results you want. I know, I know – you hear that all the time and yet the results stay the same. Well, ensure you seek out how it’s really done and then get on and do something about it. Be in control. Don’t sit there waiting for someone else to turn up and do it for you! You will be waiting a very, very long time.

The profit way forward is being used by farmers around NZ right now, regardless of the season or markets. You have a choice and an opportunity just like them – will you make it or will you squander it?

If you are curious about how the GrowFARM® System can help sheep and beef farmers generate the profits they really want, contact me here.