Effectively managing risk can be a real challenge for family owned and operated farm enterprises but it is something many family businesses are working hard to get better at. Risks in farming come in all shapes and sizes, but good planning can result in a better business outcome.
QFF is providing support for members through the delivery of a risk mitigation and business planning program designed for the family-owned farm. Increasing the capacity for farmers to manage ongoing risks is critical to ensuring business sustainability and the long-term, generational ambitions of the owners.
QFF's Family Farm Enterprise Risk and Resilience Program is jointly funded through the Australian government's Future Drought Fund and the Queensland government's Drought and Climate Adaptation Program. The program helps farmers work through the practical challenges of mitigating a range of risks such as generational transition, workforce, seasonal weather conditions, biosecurity, market fluctuations and industry reputational risks.
Of course, you cannot take risk out of a farming business completely but by building on the theme of continuous improvement in existing industry best management practices, a business resilience plan can definitely help farmers to prepare for future events such as drought or flood.
The plan can help farmers identify what resources they need to improve their response to seasonal and climate conditions. For example, a purchase of new infrastructure such as centre pivots or dam covers can be done with the confidence that the purchase is designed within a wholistic business improvement plan.
The QFF Family Farm Enterprise Risk and Resilience Program is available to a range of Queensland farming industries, including cotton, nursery, turf, pork, egg, chicken, sugar cane, dairy and horticulture. The program has incorporated a monthly webinar series called the QFF Farm Business Hour which is proving to be popular with farmers and businesses from across the supply chain tuning in each month to learn how to build their enterprise resilience.
To find out more about the Farm Business Resilience Program, https://www.qff.org.au/projects/farm-business-resilience-program/ or you can watch Episode 1 of the QFF Farm Business Hour, https://vimeo.com/705636530/a204bec7e7 and start building your business capability to manage risk.
