The Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC) launched the report on a dairy farm at Hill End, in Gippsland, this morning.
The Sustainable Farm Profitability Report found that, «higher levels of farm profitability are generated when farmers are consistently good across most aspects of their business rather than being elite performers in one area of farm management».
«There is no silver bullet which ensures profitability and one size doesn’t fit all dairy farmers,» the report said.
«But there are areas of focus that can help all farmers achieve higher levels of profit. These fall under the broad categories of efficient use of inputs, a strong emphasis on cost control, and a sound management skill set.»
ADIC chair Noel Campbell said farmers had not always been as business orientated as what was required.
«[The report] is an enabler that says to farmers, ‘If I do something differently, what does that mean to my bottom line?’,» he said
«We want farmers to look at how other people do things, to look at what they can tweak.»
Mr Campbell said the report is a document to help farmers and their advisers identify areas for improvement.
«There’s profitable farms and not profitable farms…but we’d like to think they can benchmark themselves against the best operators,» he said.
«I think lots of farmers aren’t necessarily prepared to put their figures on the table. I think those that do are acting on behalf of the industry and it’s a very effective way of looking at our profitability.»
Source: ABC
