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Legal

Focus: Manage all legal issues related to operating the business

Considerations:

What are my legal requirements?
What is my legal exposure/risk?
What are my insurance requirements

Typical Activities:

Select a legal supporting service
Select insurance agent and policy
Deal with legal services

IT & Tech

Focus: Effectively manage the IT infrastructure to Support the business execution

Considerations:

What technology does the business require?
What new tech is out there that can deliver efficiencies and cost savings?
Networking requirements

Typical Activities:

Maintain technology
Visit Trade shows
Ensure technology support

Compliance

Focus: Effectively manage the finances of the business

Considerations:

What QA system is required for the market I want to supply?
What are my compliance requirements? (e.g. Freshcare, SEDEX, etc.)

Typical Activities:

Maintain QA records & Certification
QA Audits
Employment Compliance
Water compliance

Financial Management

Focus: Effectively manage the finances of the business

Considerations:

Do I know my true costs of production?
Set budgets?
Tax Optimisation?
What are the key financial performance measures?
Financial Accountability within the business – who can spend what?

Typical Activities:

Set budgets
Financial analysis – inputs, use,
Benchmark
Tax returns
Bookkeeping
Accounting
Payment management

Purchasing

Focus: Cost effective purchasing of all key inputs

Considerations:

Inventory of all inputs – monthly, seasonally, annually
How do you make your purchasing decisions?
Stay with one provider or ‘shop around’/ mini tender?
Bulk purchase or Just in time?

Typical Activities:

Order key inputs – chemicals, fert, seed,
Tender process
Fixed costs items
Review costs periodically

Machinery maintenance

Focus: Effectively and efficiently maintain machinery to execute to maintain production

Considerations:

Lease or own?
When do I service? Service Plan
Who is managing repairs?
Onsite or off-site maintenance?
What spare pairs should I carry?
All associated costs

Typical Activities:

Machinery maintenance
Calibration
Staff training

Manage People

Focus: Effectively and efficiently manage people to execute the business

Considerations:

How many people do I really need? Cost Projection?
Direct contract v labour hire v Seasonal worker program?
Seasonal demand?
Do I pay myself or take drawings?
What skills do I need in employees?
Training requirements?
Selection criteria?
How do I retain staff?
How can I review the effectiveness of employee deployment?

Sell

Focus: Sell Crop

Considerations:

What are your sales channels and the costs involved in each?
How do you manage credit risk?

Typical Activities:

Negotiate price
Liaise with selling agent

Transport

Focus: Transportation of the crop to end market

Considerations:

What’s the best way to get your produce to market?
Can you justify/cost analysis of owning and running your own truck(s)?

Typical Activities:

Identify carrier / transport company
Transport to market
Sales inventory – consignment notice

Marketing

Focus: Marketing the crop for sale

Considerations:

What are the market options for your crop? (retail, wholesale market, direct to customer, processor, export)
What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
How do you promote your produce and brand?
Who is my competition and what scale are they growing to?
Gauge and investigate demand for product? And seasonal fluctuation across state?

Typical Activities:

Identify market opportunities
Promote produce
Market development

Process

Focus: Process the crops for the purpose sales

Considerations:

How much cost/value am I adding to the product?
What QA/food safety accreditation do I need for processing?
Should I process myself or can someone else do it for a similar cost
What format should I sell in? (loose, prepack, ready to eat, value added)

Typical Activities:

Process crops, or send to pack house

Crop care

Focus: Assist the Crop to Grow

Considerations:

Fertilizer application – fertigation, foliar spray, granular application
Chemical application
Pest and disease pressure on crop

Typical Activities:

Check crops
Maintain Chemical and Fert Records for Financial Mgt and QA purposes
Agronomy nutritional requirements
Pest and disease chemical resistance

Harvest

Focus: Harvest the Crop

Considerations:

Labour required
Machinery / equipment required
Packaging required
Post-harvest chemical application
Post-harvest storage

Typical Activities:

Harvest
Equipment registry
Maintain labour records

Planting

Focus: Plant the crop

Considerations:

Straight seeding or seedling transplant
Variety choice
Post-plant nutrition

Typical Activities:

Planting
Maintaining crop and input records
Crop assessment
Nutritional requirements

Prepare the ground

Focus: Ground preparation ahead of planting

Considerations:

Weed management
Pre-plant inputs
Soil health inputs
Nutritional inputs

Typical Activities:

Ploughing and general ground prep
Agronomy assistance

External communications & stakeholders

Focus: Manage communications with external stakeholders that may impact the business

Considerations:

Who are all the external bodies that can impact my business, its operation and its performance?

Typical Activities:

Industry bodies: vegetablesWA, Ausveg
Local Government
Shire Council
Department of Water
Fellow growers

Annual growing plan

Focus: Growing plan for the year ahead that also includes the growing process that repeatedly delivers to quality

Considerations:

Supply / Demand Analysis
Crop yield/ demand / profitability analysis
Just because you can grow it, should you?
Crop / climate suitability
Crop and variety selection
Water access / suitability
Irrigation system suitability
Soil health and carbon content

Typical Activities:

Previous year analysis
Consumer demand research
Market research
Agronomy assessment
Hydrology assessment
Soil assessment

Land management, water & biosecurity

Focus: Actively manage the land and water to support the business’s longer-term plan

Considerations:

What land and water management issues and risks that could impact my business?
What is the value of managing the land, water and biosecurity impacts of my business? – short term and long-term basis
Are there any grants/assistance in place?

Typical Activities:

Cost/benefit analysis of land, water and biosecurity risks
Soil testing
Water testing
Agronomy assessments
Soil health inputs
Sustainability plan – longer term land, water plan and biodiversity

Business Reputation & Risk

Focus: Actively manage the reputation of the business and any risks to this

Considerations:

What is my brand and how do I protect it?
Do I need more than one brand (ie for export markets)?
What are the business and reputational risks that I am exposed to?
What would happen if an event damaged my reputation? (ie food safety, employment scandal etc.)
What industry or community activities could I undertake to promote or support the reputation of my business (sponsorship, school or community engagement etc.)
Are you known as a good employer?
Social licence
Leverage any ‘doing the right thing’ ness
Community engagement

Typical Activities:

Develop risk register
Create brand or brands
Choose appropriate business structure and ownership of business to protect from potential business risks
Code of conduct

Manage Capital Assets

Focus: Manage the capital investment assets to provide the best returns to increase business wealth

Considerations:

Have I invested soundly?
Am I generating the greatest returns for my capital investment?
Have I increased my business wealth over time?
How do I plan for my business growing (ie more land, bigger machines, more processing capacity)

Typical Activities:

Land Acquisition
Land Improvement
Capital asset purchase (e.g. tractor, etc)
Capital asset disposal/replacement
Off farm investment
Plan requirements for expansion – growing and processing plant, equipment and land

Strategy and Plan

Focus: Set a clearly defined strategy and plan for the purpose of the business over the 3-, 5- & 10-year time horizon

Considerations:

What is the way of life that business needs to support?
What is the purpose of my farm business?
What’s the long-term plan for the farm?
Who will inherit the farm, if something happens?
How do we intend to achieve?
What type of finance/capital model business do we want to be?

Typical Activities:

Set up most effective business structure (family trust, company etc.)
Identify scale of production required to meet financial goals
Identify crop opportunity or niche (why do you decide to grow what you do and which method do you use – conventional, organic, protected cropping etc.)
Understand cost of operation and production
Put legal succession plan in place

Ask the Experts

Strategy And Plan

Focus: Set a clearly defined strategy and plan for the purpose of the business over the 3-, 5- & 10-year time horizon
Considerations:
– What is the way of life that business needs to support?
– What is the purpose of my farm business?
– What’s the long-term plan for the farm?
– Who will inherit the farm, if something happens?
– How do we intend to achieve?
– What type of finance/capital model business do we want to be?
Typical Activities:
– Set up most effective business structure (family trust, company etc.)
– Identify scale of production required to meet financial goals
– Identify crop opportunity or niche (why do you decide to grow what you do and which method do you use – conventional, organic, protected cropping etc.)
– Understand cost of operation and production
– Put legal succession plan in place

Profitable Vegetable Growing

Effective Cost Management

Building Business Wealth

RESOURCES

WATER MANAGEMENT

SOIL MANAGEMENT

CROP MANAGEMENT

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

BIOSECURITY

VIETNAMESE RESOURCES

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Perth Royal Show wrap-up | Thank you for supporting WA vegetables and the pledge for more veg

Crop Health Resources Available Through Soil Wealth ICP

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VIDEOS

LATEST NEWS

Perth Royal Show wrap-up | Thank you for supporting WA vegetables and the pledge for more veg

Crop Health Resources Available Through Soil Wealth ICP

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