Management decisions that involve taking a chance on future weather conditions can be challenging.
Plans require specific information from your farming business such as feed on offer, stock numbers (and condition), class of stock to be carried through the summer, fodder and grain stores, water stores and potential cash flow. Planning will prompt you to consider timeframes and triggers around feed levels, potential feed costs, stock weights and classes and other variables.
Most effective plans make many small adjustments rather than waiting to be forced to make large, more radical or costly decisions.
From a mental health point of view, once a decision has been made, right or wrong, you have more clarity about what you’re doing and it often feels like a weight has been lifted. Think about the following livestock requirements:
Estimate your feed base using known growth rates. Be conservative as pastures in dry times are less dense and sometimes lower in quality. There are simple tools to help, such as the MLA Pasture ruler.
List the stock numbers, their feed demand and condition score. Rank each class or mob that is essential for the medium to long-term recovery from the dry. This will help determine any livestock that can be sold immediately. This information can also be used in a feed budget.
Record the amount of hay, silage and grain you have on hand. Test all feed so you can confidently allocate the right feed to the right class of stock.
Determine the quantity and quality of water on hand. Determine stock water requirements for the next the six to nine months. Making the commitment to feed stock through the summer could become very expensive and add work and stress.
Talk to your accountant and bank about cash flow so you are aware of the options and lead in times, if action is required.
Use the information to develop trigger points within your plan. These trigger points will be unique to each farming business, based on your situation and the level of risk you are prepared to take under different scenarios.
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