As an initiative of Meat and Livestock Australia, the Profitable Integration of Cropping and Livestock project will help identify what it takes to successfully integrate cropping and livestock enterprises.

The project aims to define the unique profit drivers in mixed farming systems. The project will also explore the influence of enterprise mix on the risk profile of businesses and utilise a qualitative survey process to identify the management traits that are common within successful mixed farming systems.

All data contributed will be treated as confidential. 

“In recent years we’ve seen cropping expand into traditional livestock areas – the cropping footprint has expanded,” project leader Simon Vogt said.

“Running a mixed farming system, it has greater complexity than if you were running a pure livestock business or a pure cropping system.”

To start that conversation, Mr Vogt said, “we need to start with good data.”

Participating producers will receive:

-An on-farm visit to help you collate the financial and enterprise information.

-A detailed benchmarking report on your financial performance.

-The benchmarking reports will be explained in detail at a group workshop, where producers will have an opportunity to explore some of the profit drivers and insights. 

Data collection is underway, and will conclude by late June 2017.

For more information, or to get involved, contact Natasha Searle via email at nsearle@ruraldirections.com