Working with farm businesses Australia-wide · Regular farm visits on the east coast0412 759 847 · nick@farmcfo.com.au
Farm CFO by Clunes RuralCall 0412 759 847
Piglets in a shed under a heat lamp
Adding a new enterprise

Run the numbers before you build or buy

Adding pigs to a cattle place, cattle to a sheep run or livestock to a cropping farm can lift profit. It can also tie up cash for years before it pays. We budget the new enterprise beside the one you already run, so you can see both before you commit.

Talk to us about it

The questions to answer first

  • What will the new enterprise earn per hectare, per head and per dollar invested, compared with what you run now?
  • What will it take from the existing business: land, water, feed, labour, machinery and your own time?
  • How much cash goes out before the first sale, and how long until it pays its way?
  • What happens to the overdraft and the debt through the build-up, and will the bank be comfortable?
  • What if prices are lower, feed costs more or the build-up takes longer?
  • Which approvals, licences and biosecurity requirements apply, and what do they cost?

How we help

  1. A budget for the new enterprise, built from your figures and published benchmarks such as the NSW DPI gross margin budgets, with every assumption written down.
  2. A whole-farm budget with and without it, so you can see what it adds after sharing land, labour and machinery.
  3. A monthly cashflow through the build-up, three to five years out, showing the peak debt and when it turns.
  4. Downside tests: lower prices, higher feed costs and a slower build-up.
  5. A funding pack for the bank when you are ready to ask for the money.

Quoted as project work before we start. Run by phone and video, Australia-wide.

Start on your own

Free guides and calculators

Adding a new enterprise: the numbers to run firstA plain guide to testing a new line of production before you spend.Piggery feed margin calculatorFeed cost per pig, margin over feed and the breakeven grain price.Cattle trading margin calculatorMargin per head and the breakeven sale price for trading cattle.Sheep gross margin calculatorGross margin per head, per DSE and per hectare.Farm cashflow forecasterYour bank balance month by month against the overdraft limit.Enterprise gross margin templatesExcel sheets for a piggery, cow-calf, trading steers, Merinos and prime lambs.

Questions

Can you tell me whether to add pigs or cattle?

We won't tell you what to farm, but we will show you what each option does to your profit, your cashflow and your debt, side by side, so you can make the call with the numbers in front of you. Your vet, nutritionist, agronomist and stock agent advise on the production side.

What does it cost?

A new enterprise budget is project work, quoted in writing before we start, because a small trading steer operation and a new piggery are very different jobs. If you then need to ask the bank for the funding, the Bank Review Pack is $1,850 plus GST.

Do you handle the approvals?

No. Development consent, environmental licences and biosecurity requirements depend on your state and council, so check with them and get professional advice. We build the approval costs and timing into the budget once you know them.

Can you arrange the finance?

Farm CFO doesn't arrange loans. The budget and cashflow are yours to take to any lender. If you want help with finance, Levelhead Business Advisors, run by the same company, can arrange it, with any commission disclosed in writing first.

A gravel road running between paddocks under a wide sky

Thinking about a new enterprise?

Tell us what you run now and what you're weighing up. We'll say what the budget would involve and what it would cost, in writing, before we start.

Call Nick 0412 759 847Send an enquiry