When ordering the next drum of chemical, tonne of fertiliser or other farm input, how much thought goes into the decision? What is the cost? What is the return? Is it really worthwhile? Do you know how to measure this?

For many farmers, such decisions are made with little analysis, the monthly bill gets paid and the season rolls on. The average farm spends several hundred thousand dollars on fertiliser, chemical and fuel each year with little question of the cost.

Why is the mindset so different when faced with a decision around the cost of education and training? As an industry we have been incredibly well supported by state and federal governments and industry bodies - aiming to improve resilience and sustainability across the sector to maintain the rural lifestyle. This seems to have led to a sense of expectation that training and education costs are met by third parties rather than the businesses which directly benefit from attending the training. This trend is particularly obvious for non-production related education.

We typically see farmers who have greater knowledge of farm business management making more informed decisions which generate significant financial returns year after year for their business, helping to grow the balance sheet and reduce their business risk, year in, year out. They do not question the value of such education, as applying sound farm business management thinking has become deeply ingrained in how they run their business.

So when considering the cost of your next Farm Business Management training opportunity, maybe ask yourself: What is the cost? What might be the benefit of improving your farm business management decision making? What is the risk of doing something? What is the risk of doing nothing?

How much more positive might you feel if you better understood your business?

Until next time, Tony.

To get in touch with Tony for more information click here to be redirected to his Financial Wellbeing page!