Farm Business Models

The family farm business model, where the land is owned and operated by the family, has generally served Australian agriculture well. However, there are situations where internal contribution of the farm’s assets and operations will not deliver the best outcome for the business or the people involved.

Modifying the family farm model, or developing an alternative model to include some external contribution of assets and/or operations, can deliver greater flexibility and rewards. It may be as simple as tweaking the traditional family farm model to include contracting, through to developing more complex models such as joint ventures.

Successful farm businesses have two important components: they are profitable and, perhaps more importantly, they meet the needs of the people who own and operate them. Having the right farm business model in place is the first step to achieving success in both.

These GrowNotes aim to assist growers in assessing their current business model, including:

• personal and business circumstances and
• farm resources.

It then guides them through alternative business models to assess those that better suit their needs, based on the key considerations of:

• people
• finances
• resources.