Several of our accepted on-farm practices are keeping many sheep and beef farmers in a state of low profit and lack of belief that they can generate any more profit than they are doing now. In fact these practices tend to be recommended to farmers with the belief that they are sound. However, there tends to be very little connection with long term use of these practices and the historically poor business results from farming that are keeping our farm businesses just off survival. Here are some examples:
The way we usually view our sheep and beef farms in New Zealand has unfortunately moved many farmers perspectives down a track so unhelpful that they are in danger of a life of hard labour and a challenging succession situation. This has become so dire that without knowing it many farmers are working hard for the interests of other organisations and are using their own energy, sweat and resources to do it. What really worries me is that to most it doesn't seem that bad and that reflects how insidious the problem really is.
As a sheep and beef farmer, have you ever stopped to ask yourself if you really know the pattern for generating profit from your farm business? Have you ever mulled over how it should be a lot simpler than our industry (and our annual results) seems to make it? Well, the good news is that creating profit from a sheep and beef farm business comes down to exactly that - keeping it simple!
This statement may seem a little obvious and I would agree. However many in the sheep and beef farming industry unfortunately tend to confuse to two concepts, often to a point where they are accepted as one and the same. Perhaps this is a big contributor to the lack of profitability in our industry?
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