Our Farm, Our Plan
Our Farm, Our Plan is a new program developed by Dairy Australia with support from the Gardiner Dairy Foundation and DairyNZ. It is designed to equip farmers to clarify their long term goals, prioritise and identify actions needed, and to better manage uncertainty and risk.
Having a clear view of long term business and personal goals helps to make better decisions, especially the big decisions. Our Farm, Our Plan keeps it simple and takes long term plans and ideas from dairy farmers' heads and gets them down on one page. The ‘Plan on a Page’ requires agreement, is able to be shared and enables farmers to track their progress.
Get started
Below are the key documents which can be downloaded to get started on the Our Farm, Our Plan program. Dairy farmers can take a self-assessment using the Farm Fitness Checklist, plan it out in three easy steps with the QuickPlan and commit and share with others the Plan on a Page. A free Our Farm, Our Plan folder can also be ordered online free of charge containing all three documents.
Farm Fitness Checklist
The Farm Fitness Checklist is a ‘self-assessment’ tool to measure for farmers to measure where they are at now and to identify opportunities for improvement. Each section of the checklist will prompt thinking and discussion about different aspects of the farm business.
QuickPlan keeps it simple
The QuickPlan uses a three-step process to take the ideas and plans in farmers' heads and develop a clear understanding of long term business and personal goals. It can be used by anyone and is used in Our Farm, Our Plan workshops, which are ideal for discussion groups.
Plan on a Page
The Plan on a Page allows farmers to agree on what’s important, share their plan and track their progress. The Plan on a Page enables farmers to be confident they have a shared vision and long term goals – both business and personal, can communicate their vision and plan with other people and refer back to their plan to track progress and be accountable.
Risk Register
The Risk Register is a simple tool to think about risks to your business and how you will manage them. Remember, it's about mitigating any downside and capturing any upside that a risk might bring. The Risk Register is used in workshops and provided with Our Farm, Our Plan folders for farmers to identify risks, prioritise those risks and document mitigations strategies.
Workshops and support
Group workshops are being delivered by our regional teams to take farmers through the Our Farm, Our Plan process. Follow up one-on-one support is provided over 24 months to participants. These workshops are ideal for discussion groups.
