For decades, growers across Australia have recognised the benefits of planting vegetation on the least profitable areas of their farms. These areas might be considered marginal or unarable, but they can still positively contribute to your bottom line. Vegetation can...

In the world of grain marketing, we have experienced high volatility for some time, especially since the Ukraine–Russia war in 2022, and while the extreme volatility has decreased somewhat, it appears more uncertainty and ongoing volatility lies ahead for the grains...

Are you a head down, bum up type of farmer? You work pretty hard alongside your team and family members, reward yourself and the team for their hard work with a shared beer at the end of the working week, and then return on Monday to do it all again next week. You...

We are in a time of significant change that brings a level of high volatility and uncertainty. This is currently most prominent with the US Trade Tariffs, which are on again, off again, depending on who has the ear of the US President. However, over the past few...

One thing that often gets overlooked is the measurement of seed size to calculate the optimum seeding rate based on desired plant densities. Seed sizes vary substantially from year to year, which means our ideal seeding rates should be adjusted accordingly. By using a...

In Australian agriculture today, farm owners are typically asset-rich and operate increasingly valuable and complex businesses. With soaring land values and strong business growth over recent times, these enterprises often represent a significant pool of family...

Have you ever opened a spreadsheet to extract some meaningful information from it, only to become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data points? You are not alone! A lengthy datasheet is a common output from farm management software or other data collection systems...

Accounting software is crucial for managing financial transactions and ensuring compliance. Xero and Agrimaster serve different markets: Xero is a cloud-based solution for small to medium-sized businesses, while Agrimaster specialises in farm accounting. This article...

In 2025, running a horticulture business is about more than producing a great crop. It's about building a thriving, profitable enterprise—where strategy, data, and smart decisions matter just as much as the weather. Today’s growers are balancing rising costs, market...

Corporate farms with the big bucks from superannuation funds is one answer. Mining magnates is another. Small family-owned farms? Yes, but… You need to have your ducks in a row first. Everybody knows that farmland values have increased substantially in recent years....

I have three words for you to describe the current state of the world’s commodity markets: uncertainty, uncertainty, uncertainty. It’s become the one constant. Our recent article, Trump 3.0, could be updated daily with the new policies, policy changes from the US and...

Twenty-one years ago, I joined 11 others at Planfarm. Apart from me, only Graeme McConnell remains, and there are now 50 team members at Planfarm. I was encouraged to join the team by Walter Milsteed and Andrew Rintoul at the Narrogin office (back room of a shared old...