Business management and marketing

Our business management resources are aimed at helping to improve your bottom line, whether by reducing costs, improving efficiencies or developing new markets.

Access free tools to support decision-making, details about upcoming industry workshops and the latest publications to enable you to evaluate and manage your beef business. Topics include: business management, domestic and export markets, marketing, managing through drought and natural disasters, statistics and forecasts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Regional Economics and Sciences.

Related links

• Livestock gross margin budgets, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries
• Investigate training options at FutureBeef workshops; Queensland Agricultural Training Colleges; private training providers; and local and online TAFE or universities.
• Beef industry newsletters and magazines
• Potential economic benefit of intensification of beef production in Australian rangelands: an operational case study perspective, eResearch Archive (eRA)
• Visit the Queensland Government Business and Industry website
• Keep your most valuable assets (you, your family and employees) safe and well – visit FarmSafe Australia and WorkCover Queensland
• Visit the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) website

Multimedia

The sky’s the limit… using drones in the grazing industry

Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are everywhere! There is talk about using drones to do almost everything… from delivering parcels to inspecting assess and infrastructure. What does this technology mean for graziers and how they manage their properties and livestock?

In the recording of this exciting webinar, Josh Keegan (Director and CEO of the World Drone Challenge) provides his insights into how drone research and technology can be used on properties to do everything from inspect water infrastructure (troughs and dams), to monitoring invasive pest species and crop health, to tracking and monitoring livestock.

Download a copy of the presentation slides (PDF, 1MB) or watch a recording of the webinar on YouTube (56:14 minutes | 20 October 2016).

It doesn’t rain money! Opportunities for restocking and recovery in Queensland

Craig Turner from the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) on this webinar recording talks about:

• financial programs available to assist with restocking or recovery from dry times through managing existing debts
• tips and tools to ensure producers do not self-assess and to encourage them to access programs that may be able to assist in rebuilding their enterprise.

For further information about this topic visit www.qrida.qld.gov.au. Download a copy of the presentation slides (PDF, 2MB) or watch a recording of the webinar on YouTube (49:43 minutes | 8 September 2016).

Building a multi-generational business

Farming in Australia is still a family business but having two or more generations working side by side seven days a week isn’t always a peaceful process.

Bringing new family members into the business can also call for some adjustments to be made. Having some tactics for talking and planning together can help meet these challenges.

Barbara Bishop works with farming families to develop tactics for talking and planning together to help create a thriving business and family environment.

In this webinar recording we discussed:

• Family, farm and future – Multi-generational Businesses
• Building a Multi-generational business, what does it take?
• Chances, choices and change – how do I cope?
• It is a “journey” how do we get everyone on board?

Download the webinar presentation slides (PDF, 1.8MB). 52:20 minutes published 25 February 2016 by FutureBeefAu.

Northern cattle producers: can money be made from the Emissions Reduction Fund?

Meat & Livestock Australia, with support from the Australian Department of the Environment, investigated the opportunities available to major Australian pastoral companies to participate in the Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF). The project examined five different methods for livestock producers to earn carbon credits:

1. reducing livestock emissions
2. increasing efficiency of fertiliser use
3. enhancing carbon in agricultural soils
4. managing savanna wildfires
5. sequestering carbon through vegetation and reforestation.

This webinar addresses: the opportunities in the ERF; how carbon markets work, and;how livestock producers can earn extra income from participating in the ERF. Download the webinar presentation slides: Can producers make money from the ERF? (PDF, 1MB) and Herd management method: carbon credits from cattle management (PDF, 3MB). 51:01 minutes published 23 July 2015 by FutureBeefAu.

Strategies to increase the profitability of extensive beef businesses

The findings of the Northern beef report (PDF, 5MB) show that there are some beef businesses that are currently highly profitable. These businesses are able to provide for the needs and aspirations of their owners now and into the future. They are, however, in the minority! There are significant opportunities to improve the performance of beef businesses across the northern industry. So what can you do to improve the performance of your business so that it can provide for the needs of your family?

In this webinar recording, Ian McLean describes strategies that can improve the performance of extensive beef businesses. He details some of the key findings from the Northern Beef Report. In particular, what determines the performance of a good beef business as outlined in the booklet Improving the performance of northern beef enterprises (PDF, 865KB).

Ian works with beef producers across northern Australia. His focus is to help producers understand and improve business performance. Ian was the lead author of the Northern Beef Report and leads the delivery of the Business EDGE workshop across northern Australia. Download the webinar presentation slides (PDF, 1.19MB) and the Summary document (PDF, 95KB). 5:19 minutes published 24 June 2015 by FutureBeefAu.

Adult equivalent methodology and tools: MLA project B.NBP.0779

In this presentation, Shane Blakely and Ian McLean from Bush Agribusiness discuss their findings from an Meat & Livestock Australia funded project researching a new approach to adult equivalent methodology. For your convenience, here are the webinar presentation slides (PDF, 791KB). 50:30 minutes published 19 June 2014 by FutureBeefAu.

Beef up your Twitter effectiveness

How does Twitter work and what opportunities does it present for the beef industry? Hear in this webinar recording how the beef industry is using Twitter and learn about how you can ‘beef up’ your influence beyond the farm gate. In this webinar you will learn:
– What Twitter is and how it works
– How different beef industry stakeholders are using Twitter to achieve goals
– How to get involved in an AgChatOz on Twitter
– Tips to ‘beef up’ your Twitter effectiveness.

Join our presenters as they discuss these topics in this webinar recording. For your convenience, here are the webinar presentation slides (PDF, 2.24MB). 57:10 minutes published 28 March 2013 by FutureBeefAu.

NLIS as a management tool

See how Australia’s National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) can be used as a management tool to improve Australian livestock enterprises. Read more about the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS). 6:33 minutes published 13 January 2012 by MLAfeedbackTV.

Opportunities for irrigated agriculture

The production and economic context of beef production in northern Australia has been seriously challenged over the last decade. A recent CSIRO-Meat & Livestock Australia scoping study assessed a range of development scenarios that offer potential to significantly improve industry productivity and profitability. One scenario examined with major implications for the property feed base was irrigated forage crops. Project leader Dr Andrew Ash outlines the findings from the project and compares and contrasts these findings with other analyses of the benefits of irrigated forage and agricultural production. Also available are the webinar presentation slides (PDF, 2MB). 54:06 minutes, published 30 July 2014 by FutureBeefAu.

Practical options for the paddock – the why, the how and the what

As presented at Northern Beef Research Update Conference 2013, Ian Braithwaite (Veterinary Surgeon, Mt Isa) discusses the management of our beef businesses and some of the new ideas being implemented into businesses across northern Australia. Topics covered include management systems, innovative operational concepts, optimal calving, herd dynamics and many, many more. 31:29 minutes published 6 February 2014 by FutureBeefAu.

Scoping opportunities for future investment

As presented at the Northern Beef Research Update Conference 2013, Andrew Ash (Research Scientist, Climate Adaptation Flagship CSIRO) reviews the current issues and challenges facing the Australian beef industry and what might be achievable in productivity gains. Topics covered include increasing cost and debt, where can productivity gains be made, research and development, pastures and legumes, and nutrition. 31:36 minutes published 6 February 2014 by FutureBeef Au.

Using NLIS and herd recording software

In this video Alan Laing, formerly Queensland Government, outlines the advantages of using NLIS together with herd recording software to record pedigrees and lifetime performance of cattle. 4:50 minutes published 3 May 2012 by FutureBeefAu.

Using records to better define beef cattle production

In this presentation, Lee Taylor (Senior Veterinary Technical Manager, Livestock Extensive – Zoetis), outlines the fundamentals in using on-farm records to better define beef cattle production. Topics covered include – defining the problem, who is affected, what is the syndrome, where and when is it occurring, and many more… 21:46 minutes published 6 May 2013 by FutureBeefAu.