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Benchmarking for production, performance, profit at Hicks beef, Holbrook, NSW

Benchmarking helped a Holbrook beef operation turn it’s business performance around, raising production, profits and long term sustainability. See how.

Benchmarking his business against others felt a little intimidating at first for Tom Hicks, but the long term benefits of taking the step have been invaluable.

The stud beef producer from Holbrook, NSW, joined a benchmarking group on the southwest slopes near Coolac, NSW, eight years ago as there were none closer at the time.

The group of 10 to 15 people meet three times a year to go through each business case study.

“It is daunting when they are looking at your business,” Tom said.

“It can feel intimidating at the start but if you don’t challenge yourself in that way, you won’t get very far.”

Benchmarking analyses the productivity of the whole farm business and individual enterprises within the farm.

The results and their financial consequences are compared to the results of other farms ranked average and top 20 per cent.

Agrista consultant Ellie Hays, Wagga Wagga, NSW, said benchmarking was a valuable tool for understanding production costs and assessing business performance.

She cautioned against viewing it as a direct comparison, which could be unhealthy.

Instead, she said benchmarking allowed producers to gain insights into industry practices, evaluate if they were on track and identify areas for improvement.

Agrista benchmarking consultant Ellie Hays, Wagga Wagga, NSW.
Agrista benchmarking consultant Ellie Hays, Wagga Wagga, NSW.

Ellie said the groups offered a platform for like-minded individuals to engage in open conversations and discussions.

“Whether benchmarking individually or collectively, these groups help businesses stay accountable, uncover practical improvements, develop clear strategies, and facilitate learning from the experiences of fellow producers,” she said.

“Sometimes clients start when they have a family member who joins the business, some start because they are looking for accountability and are keen to learn and interact with like-minded farmers, some are looking to become more profitable, and some are ready to make changes but need direction and ideas about the best way to do this.

“Our benchmarkers are, on the whole, similar types of people – they are keen to learn, they are motivated and they are open to learning and listening.”

Tom said benchmarking had helped weigh up their business performance and profitability, identify areas of improvement and provide strategies on what to change, when and how.

“Our cost of production was too high because our production was too low,” Tom said.

“We didn’t need to go in and cut more costs, we needed to get the production side of it going.”

The Hicks’ increased their stocking rate and focused on selling more bulls.

Through goal setting and performance indicators, bull numbers were gradually increased from 50 to 500 a year, selling higher volumes to large scale commercial operators.

“As a business you have to weigh up performance otherwise it’s just a hobby,” Tom said.

“Benchmarking really helped us know where we were up to and where the low hanging fruit was and what we could change in what order.”

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Original URL: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/livestock/benchmarking-for-production-performance-profit-at-hicks-beef-holbrook-nsw/news-story/f8966d68ef0825dfcc564fc9e4beedc1