“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” This is a quote from Dwight D Eisenhower who was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe in WWII and also the 34th President of the United States. What he as saying is that a plan is a guide that can often change in the heat of battle, but because there is a plan it means different risks and scenarios have been thought through, you know what your resources, risks and goals are and having thought all this through you now have a foundation or base level that sets out your direction and you can use and adapt this when things change. In the case of a Farm Business Plan, it is also an excellent document to have when communicating within your business and to external parties such as advisers and financiers.

My guest this month is Jess Bell, Senior Project Officer with NSW DPIRD’s Farm Business Resilience Program who has co-authored a book called Farm Business Planning which has been published by Tocal College and is also available online. We discuss the importance of a Farm Business Plan, when you should develop one, who should do it, what it contains, why you should have one and how it can be used, as well as providing you with lots of resources to help you through the process and set your business up for future success.

Useful resources related to this podcast:

·       Order your “Farm Business Planning” book and access free templates

·       Dairy Standard Chart of Accounts

·       Dairy Cash Budgeting Tool | Dairy Australia

·       Farm Business Resilience Program

This podcast is an initiative of the NSW DPI Dairy Business Advisory Unit – further information and resources are available here - Dairy | Department of Primary Industries

It is brought to you in partnership the Hunter Local Land Services

Please share this podcast with your fellow farmers and colleagues and feel free to contact us with suggestions or comments via this email address [email protected]

Further NSW DPI Dairy channels to follow and subscribe to include:

NSW DPI Dairy Facebook page

NSW DPI Dairy Newsletter - Connect with us | Department of Primary Industries 

Transcript here

Produced by Liam Driver

The information discussed in this podcast are for informative and educational purposes only and do not constitute advice.