Farmers across New South Wales have the chance to expand their knowledge, free of charge, at a series of Rabo Client Council workshops designed to help provide the financial skills essential to managing an agricultural enterprise.
The practical Financial Skills Workshops – providing primary producers with an opportunity to both upskill and network – will be held in Cooma, Dubbo, Forbes, Inverell, Nyngan, Tamworth and Wee Waa in September.
The initiative has been spearheaded and funded by food and agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank's Rabo Client Council, a group of the bank's farming clients who volunteer their time implementing programs that contribute to the sustainability of rural and regional communities.
Offered at no cost to participants, the interactive workshops provide practical, hands-on advice for understanding financial statements and banking requirements and explore topics such as taxation versus management accounting, essential business management ratios and understanding key components of a business's financial profile.
Rabobank Central & Northern NSW Rabo Client Council member Cindy Job said financial skills "are critical for our farmers and the next generation of farmers".
"During this series of workshops, we will be delivering a combination of Module One and Module Two content in key locations across NSW," Ms Job said.
"We are looking forward to being able to offer farmers the opportunity to take the first steps in developing their financial skills through attending one of the Module One workshops.
And, after successfully delivering the first module of the workshop program in various locations earlier last year, Ms Job said the Rabo Client Council was "excited to also be able to return and provide farmers with the opportunity to take the next step on their financial educational journey". "Although participating in one of the previous sessions is not a pre-requisite to attend Module Two," she said.
Ms Job said in the first module, participants explore financial reports – "one of the most useful and underutilised reports for many farming businesses".
"Module One will help you gain an understanding of how to read, interpret and use these reports for your business," she said
"In the second module, we take an enterprise-focused approach, separately looking at grains and livestock enterprises. We will consider cash flow implications of a variety of enterprise choices. The module will also focus on preparing annual cash flow budgets."
Ms Job said understanding gross margin analysis is a critical step in farm planning and decision-making.
Rabobank head of relationship management Central & Northern NSW Craig Croker said since commencing these workshops in 2018, the Rabo Client Councils had delivered this learning opportunity to more than 3,300 farmers across Australia and New Zealand.
"Attendees at previous workshops have told us the content provided through the workshops is real and valuable – meaningful information they can walk away with and use in the business," he said.
Mr Croker said, for farmers, having a better insight of their business when approaching financiers can also help when applying for any additional finance requirements or to fund a new venture.
"If you're interested in these workshops, keen to meet other progressive farmers in the agri sector and increase your financial literacy and skills – confirm your place before the courses are fully allocated," he said.
The workshops – which will be limited to 30 participants each and are not restricted to the bank's clients – will be presented by director of Hudson Facilitation, Tony Hudson.
Workshop dates and locations are:
- Monday, 4 September 2023 – 8:30am – 3:30pm – Nyngan (Module 1)
- Tuesday, 5 September 2023 – 8:30am – 3:30pm – Wee Waa (Module 1)
- Wednesday, 6 September 2023 – 8.30am – 3.30pm – Inverell (Module 1)
- Thursday, 7 September 2023 – 8.30am – 3.30pm – Tamworth (Module 1)
- Tuesday, 19 September 2023 – 8.30am – 3.30pm – Cooma (Module 2)
- Wednesday, 20 September 2023 – 8.30am – 3.30pm – Forbes (Module 2)
- Thursday, 21 September 2023 – 8.30am – 3.30pm – Nyngan (Module 2)
- Friday, 22 September 2023 – 8.30am – 3.30pm – Dubbo (Module 2)
To register to participate, please click here
Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea catering will be provided.
