About this course

This course has been delivered for both young and experienced farmers and advisers, with excellent feedback on content, ease of learning and learning outcomes. Go beyond traditional learning styles by using your own farm data and ignite your learning of farm business management.

Designed by highly experienced agribusiness professional and author Mike Krause (P2PAgri), the course is delivered by Mike and Tony Hudson, an experienced agribusiness adviser and past Director of Farm Business Management at Marcus Oldham College. The course will teach you how to:

  • Understand financial literacy and improve the financial management of your farm business.
  • Understand what is, and what is not, making money in your business.
  • Improve your management of business risks.
  • Answer those ‘what-if’ questions vital to your business into the future.

At a glance:

Course duration: 10 weeks: 4 X 3-hour interactive Zoom sessions PLUS 4 X individual (confidential) Zoom sessions with your coach (Mike or Tony)
Start date: Multiple intakes - see below application
Number of units: 3
Indicative fees: Nil to eligible applicants
Accredited Course: Yes

This course has been made possible through funding from the NSW Government’s AgSkilled™ program.

Trainers

This training is being conducted by experienced agribusiness trainers:

Photo of Mike Krause

Mike Krause

One of Australia’s most experienced agribusiness professionals, Mike Krause has 40 years’ experience in farm financial modelling, sensitivity analysis, farmer agri-business training, farm business consulting, and agricultural risk management. He is owner of P2PAgri and is a published author in farm business management. One of his books ‘Farming the Business’ (published by GRDC) is going to its 5th printing in 6 years and forms the text for this course.

photo of Tony Hudson

Tony Hudson

A passionate member of the agricultural business community, Tony is committed to helping rural businesses improve their profitability, resilience, and overall business performance.  Tony has been Director of Farm Business Management at Marcus Oldham College (Geelong) and now manages his own farm management consulting company, Hudson Facilitation. He is also the senior trainer in farm finance for the Rabobank Financial Skills course run by the Rabobank’s Client Council.

Details

The online course aims to develop knowledge and skills to:

  • Understand the following terms:
    • Variable costs for each enterprise
    • Estimated Gross Margin for each enterprise
    • Cost of production
    • Key business ratios: Return on Assets Managed, Return on Equity
  • Understand what banks need to know about your business
  • Estimate the current season’s key performance measures of profit, equity, key bank ratios and business efficiency
  • Develop an estimated monthly cash flow for the current season
  • Develop ideas for improving profits and / or reducing debt
  • Conduct scenarios analysis to assess the ‘what if’ questions of the business, such as successful business growth, the financial effects of drought and good seasons, and buying the neighbour’s farm.
  • Develop a business plan for the next three to five years.

This course is fully subsidised by AgSkilled for eligible participants.

The course duration is 10 weeks with the following structure:

Week 1

Mail out of books and getting you started online

Week 2

Group interactive Zoom session – Monday or Tuesday  9am to 12pm

Week 3

Individual Zoom one-hour coaching session with your trainer

Week 4

Group interactive Zoom session – Monday or Tuesday  9am to 12pm

Week 5

Individual Zoom one-hour coaching session with your trainer

Week 6

Group interactive Zoom session – Monday or Tuesday  9am to 12pm

Week 7

Individual Zoom one-hour coaching session with your trainer

Week 8

Group interactive Zoom session – Monday 9 or Tuesday  9am to 12pm

Week 9

Individual Zoom one-hour coaching session with your trainer

Week 10

Wrap up and submission of any remaining assessments

To enable you to get the most out of your training experience, you will need to commit to completing approximately two to four hours homework each week in addition to the group and individual zoom sessions.

For this course we are using Zoom, a virtual classroom through your computer. Don’t worry if you haven’t used this before as many previous participants hadn’t, and they really enjoyed the convenience! We are using Zoom for both group sessions and one-to-one sessions.

We will also be using P2PAgri (Plan2Profit Agri), easy to use and innovative cloud-based software.

We recommend everyone on your farm management team!

You will need to have prior experience in financial transactions and budgeting.

NB: This is not an entry level course.

This course is aligned to the following national units of competency:

  • AHCBUS517 Monitor and review business performance
  • AHCBUS516 Develop and review a business plan
  • AHCBUS518 Prepare and monitor budgets and financial reports


Additional Information

Absolutely! It’s very important you learn using your own business information - this information will remain in strict confidence between yourself and your trainer.

For information on students rights and responsibilities, and the Tocal College Code of Practice see Student policies.



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