Farmanco Facts July 2020

Farmanco Facts – July 2020

The July Editorial is written by Management Consultant Greg Easton. Greg consults to clients throughout the northern, central and southern wheatbelt of WA. See excerpt below:

Educated growers are aware of a greater number of innovations, including new management practices and strategies. Although formal education is important, ongoing training and attending events such as field days and training days have been shown to be the biggest driver for increases in farm profitability.

Larger farm businesses are likely to invest more in training and field days and this increases with the scale of the business. 80% of Australian farm businesses participate in training. A third of these businesses only attend field days as their main form of training. The most profitable businesses are more likely to participate in seminars, workshops, conferences, industry meetings and courses.

July key points:

Bookkeeping July 2020 (Eve Kent)
Bookkeeping to do list	Tax Rates: Covid-19 impact on business	Work from home deductions
Instant asset write-off for eligible businesses

Pasture legumes in the dryland regions of WA (Peter Borstel, Agronomist)
Early flowering variety selection is essential	Select paddocks with a controllable weed spectrum suitable for the legume pasture	Be mindful of input costs ensuring that grazing value or nitrogen input will cover this cost
Hard seeded varieties will persist better than soft seeded varieties	Plant species suitable to soil type and pH

Update on harvest weed seed control tools (David Cameron, Agronomist)
A large part of the cost of Harvest Weed Seed Control (HWSC) is associated with the nutrient loss or distribution	The harvester mounted mill solutions are becoming more affordable	There are mills accepting lower levels of control and providing cost and operational benefits

Sham contracting: What is it and how to ensure your business isn’t at risk (Stacey Bell, Management Consultant)
Having an ABN or issuing invoices doesn’t automatically make a person an independent contractor	Sham contracting can be done intentionally or carelessly by an employer. Regardless of how the arrangement comes about, it is illegal	The difference between an employee and an independent contractor is based on many different factors, not just one singular marker

Is India a new market for our Malt Barley? (Mae Connelly, Grain Marketer)
China’s 80% tariff on Australian barley effectively blocks us from our biggest market	India has been suggested as a replacement malt barley market	The potential growth in Indian beer consumption, and therefore malt barley demand, is exciting
However, the market will need to be developed from a low base and is expected to take years to reach a 500,000t target

Cover Cropping & Companion Cropping (Eric Nankivell, Management Consultant)
They are two distinct practices	Both have advantages and disadvantages	Cover crop – generally better in lower rainfall zones
Companion cropping – generally better in higher rainfall zones and mixed farms	These systems can be more productive but don’t necessarily apply everywhere

Every Farmanco Facts edition includes the WA Wool & Livestock Market and NSW / VIC Wool & Livestock Market Reports.

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