Business skills development
Objectives
- to improve the financial literacy and business skills of sheep farmers leading to more profitable and economically sustainable businesses
- to build business confidence to maintain and attract additional investment
- to enhance capital availability and innovation in financing to increase industry growth.
Activities
- Enhancing capital availability and innovation in financing:
- Concepts for alternative investment and financing models to expand sheep production in WA report (October 2015) – report examined 19 different financial models available to investors and producers
- workshop on alternative investment and financing models (October 2015) – hosted in conjunction with the Sheep Alliance of WA and industry
- Sheep industry business model development report (June 2016) – explored four of the models in the ‘Concepts for alternative investment’ report in more detail.
- Building business skills for producers:
- producers' business skills events – utilised the commissioned reports from the Barriers to adoption activity including the price cost analysis for out-of-season prime lamb production, cost of getting into sheep analysis, the comparative enterprise economics, understanding the business of 25 top sheep producers and the opportunity for growing out of season lambs, presented at 100%+ Club Dinner, 2016 Agribusiness Sheep Updates and Processor and Live Exporter Alliance workshops
- feedlotting decision workshops delivered to more than 100 participants at Darkan, York, Katanning, Moora, Esperance and Merredin.
- Building business confidence:
- utilised the study from Grain and Graze 3 on risk management by David Cornish to build confidence in the sheep industry with a presentation at Agribusiness Sheep Updates
- conducted a professional development day for consultants and agronomists on pastures.
4. Investigated the opportunities for building a profitable value chain via dedicated feedlotters and backgrounders.
- the economics of establishment of a commercial scale feedlotting enterprise.
- the opportunities for backgrounding operations to support out of season lamb
Outcomes and achievements
Financial literacy was improved through a series of 5 webinars focussing on farm business performance. These webinars are now available here (insert link). A study into alternative investment and financial modelling was finalised along with a sheep industry business model report. Business confidence was improved through workshops focussing on producing viable business model alternatives, sheep feedlot performance and understanding the business of top 25 sheep producers.