Using the NSW DPIRD budgets

NSW DPIRD publishes free gross margin budgets for beef and sheep. They're one of the best starting points for your own budget, as long as you use them the right way.

Where to find them

They're on the NSW DPIRD livestock budgets page. When we checked in October 2026, it had two sets of beef budgets, from June 2026 and July 2025. It also had sheep budgets from July 2025, updated in July 2026. Pick the one closest to what you run, or plan to run.

What's in a budget

Each budget has the same parts.

• Assumptions. The farm the budget is built on: the number of stock, the hectares, weaning rate, deaths, sale weights and prices.
• Income. Every sale line, with the number sold and the price.
• Variable costs. Animal health, feed, pasture, shearing, replacement stock and selling costs.
• The gross margin. Usually shown in total, per head, per DSE and per hectare.

For example, the 2025 first-cross ewe budget assumes 1,000 ewes on 299 ha at 10 DSE a hectare, with 118% of lambs weaned. It prices replacement ewes at $248 a head.

Treat it as a guide

NSW DPI strongly recommends treating its budgets as a guide only. Change them for current prices, the season and your own farm.

How to make it yours

Work through the budget line by line and change anything that doesn't match your place.

1. Stock numbers. Scale the budget to your flock or herd size.
2. Weaning rate. Use your own average over three years, not your best year.
3. Sale weights and prices. Use your own sale dockets and what your agent expects. Lean a bit low.
4. Costs. Check each one against your invoices. Freight, for example, depends a lot on how far you are from the saleyards.
5. Anything missing. Add any costs you have that the budget doesn't.

Then compare your answer with the original. If yours is very different, find out which lines cause the gap. That's often where the opportunity is.

Keep the original

Keep a copy of the DPIRD budget next to your own. It's a handy check. If a lender asks why your figures differ, you can show them line by line.

The enterprise gross margins spreadsheet is set out so you can enter your own figures beside a published budget. Our guide to sheep budgets for wool and lamb works through a full flock.