Financial data guides confident planning
Based at the family’s 132-year-old home farm in Gormandale, Benn and his wife Peta now operate across four farms and a new fodder block, supported by 15 employees. Their rapid growth has been underpinned by one thing: a deep understanding of financial data.
“I understand my numbers very well and I just back them,” Benn says.
Always prepared to take calculated risks, Benn and Peta use farm data to make confident decisions and manage downside risk.
Benn’s strong interest in numbers has led him to participate in a range of Dairy Australia programs to strengthen his decision-making and improve profitability.
“Anything financial at Dairy Australia, I’ve probably done it,” he says.
“I’m a big believer in tracking performance and compare all the farms every year.”
Tracking and comparing farm business performance has become a key part of the Thexton’s long-term planning – something they’ve been able to do through DairyBase, Dairy Australia’s online tool that helps dairy farmers and advisors measure and compare farm business performance over time. But Benn says using it effectively takes time and perspective.
“The first time you do your DairyBase numbers, you never agree with the outcome because you think you’re doing a better job than what comes out,” he says.
“But over time, you make incremental changes like better feeding, stocking rates, looking at your shed costs – whether that’s solar or chemical costs, or whether you’d be better crushing your own grain or buy it straight from a feed mill. You notice where your cost control blow-outs are and ask questions where to make it better.
“Once you figure out what your long-term strategy is, DairyBase numbers make more relative sense because you’ve got a reason for chasing that return on asset and you’ve got an end goal.
“It’s important to watch trends and see how we can manipulate the numbers to improve our bottom line. It’s often about making sure we can minimise exposure to risks, like forage and milk prices. For example, our new land investment isn’t going to make us any money, but it’s going to secure feed.”
Benn and Peta have undertaken different programs to ensure they’re leading the business and the staff in the right direction, and they have been able to clarify their goals by completing Dairy Australia’s Our Farm, Our Plan program. This is a simple review and planning process that helps dairy farmers set long term goals, improve business performance and manage risk.
“That was very helpful,” Benn says.
“We’ve got the fundamentals of what we want to do from the governance programs and it’s good to put it into a dot-point format and put a timeframe on it.”
One of Benn and Peta’s goals is to have the farm available as an option for their three children.
“We’d like that if any of the kids want to come home, they don’t have to buy the farm for the sixth time. There’s no obligation on them, but we want to keep it going for the next generation,” Benn says.
Although the dry conditions have been challenging, Benn says forward planning has helped them manage through it.
“We’ve got irrigation on three farms, and we bought in a bit of feed earlier to cover off any exposure,” Benn explains.
“Not knowing what was going to happen, we felt like we should have some fodder coverage.”
All farms are seasonal calving, allowing options for reducing stock if needed.
“Planning in the office is the key to our success. If you’ve got the strategies in place and plan forward, it keeps you going,” says Benn.
Benn encourages farmers to consider Dairy Australia programs to support their business planning.
“During these uncertain times, the more time you spend planning on the business and about the next moves and decisions will only give you better options and answers.
“It’s good to keep talking to people, both to get a better understanding of business, but also for your own mental health.”
To find out more about how Dairy Australia supports farmers to enhance their farm business management, visit Farm Business or contact your regional office.