A pilot for business planning for young farmers and partner in the sugarcane industry : final report ACF002

Abstract

Through ACFA’s Next Gen program, it was identified that given the aging demographic of cane farmers it is important that young farmers, the future decision makers of the industry, are provided with the tools and skills needed for them to succeed in their farming businesses. This need was echoed through the Next Gen regional representatives and a desire was expressed to ‘up-skill’ to ensure that they have the tools required to run a profitable cane farm business. The Business Planning & Cash Flow Management courses were run in six locations from Mossman in Far North Queensland to Ballina in Northern New South Wales and were open to all young cane farmers looking to create or work on their existing business plan. Other topics included in the workshops were fixed & variable expenses, break-even analysis, insurance requirements, business structures, SWOT analysis as well as income & cash flow projections. The courses were delivered by Ray Dukamp of Basic Training Solutions, who has 15 years’ experience in training in Business Management and had previously successfully run similar programs in the grazing industry.