With agriculture in Western Australia currently enjoying a welcome injection of youth, an upcoming financial literacy workshop has been specifically designed to provide next- generation farmers with the financial management skills essential to managing a family farm.
The practical one-day Farm Financial Skills Workshop will be held across the state this month as part of a national rollout of the program, which aims to reach 5000 up-and-coming farmers by 2025.
Four interactive workshops, which are free of charge, will be run across the state by food and agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank with sessions on gross margin analysis, cash flow budgeting, interpreting financial statements and an introduction to succession.
Workshops will run in Newdegate on Monday, March 23, Tambellup on Tuesday, March 24, Coorow on Wednesday, March 25 and Perth on Friday March 27 2020.
An initiative of Rabobank's Client Councils – a group of the bank's farming clients who meet to discuss issues and implement initiatives to contribute to the sustainability of rural communities – the program has been designed to give the next generation of farmers access to financial education in the communities in which they live.
Rabobank Western Australia Regional Client Council member, Veronica Davies from "Tandara", Coorow said she hoped the next generation walked away from the workshops feeling positive and inspired to grow their business in the future.
"We are fortunate to have so many young ones returning to the farm in Western Australia, and this course will give them a really comprehensive overview of how to run the farm from a business point of view," she said.
"Our youth have the skills to operate machinery and work in the paddock, but a good knowledge of financial basics is imperative to a successful operation – you have to understand the business before you can grow it."
Director of Hudson Facilitation, Tony Hudson will present the workshops, along with a number of agribusiness banking and legal professionals covering issues from taxation through to succession planning.
Fellow Rabobank Client Council member Carl Letter, "Lyndhurst", Broomehill agreed that with the recent influx of youth into the Tambellup area, there was a genuine need for this workshop.
"Agriculture has moved well beyond the farm gate and it's imperative to understand the financial basics if we want any chance of keeping up globally," he said.
Mr Letter said the program content would also help put young farmers in the driver's seat when talking to their financial advisers.
"Having a greater understanding of your business when approaching your financier really helps when applying for any additional finance requirements or to fund a new venture," he said. "And this kind of information is real and valuable, as it is something you can walk away with from this program and use in the business," he said.
Rabobank head of relationship management, WA, Phil Edkins said the workshop content had been tailored to farming businesses in the region through realistic case studies.
"Through these case studies, the sessions will look at what makes up a balance sheet, profit and loss statement and cash flow," he said, "and then interpreting the financial ratios to make calculated business decisions.
"This then feeds into sessions on how banks assess a loan and the importance of developing a business plan as well as managing the business through adversity and positioning the business when the season improves."
Funded by Rabobank's Client Councils, the workshops are open to clients and non-clients of Rabobank and there is no cost for farmers to attend.
