Like the majority of farmers you are probably someone who is so committed to the daily tasks of growing, handling and marketing that there are never enough hours in the day to work on the business, rather than work in the business.
Benchmarking is a learning process, which involves looking at a few key indicators of performance and seeing how you compare with others. It is important because it helps you gain an understanding of how your business is performing, and is an important step in business planning and making decisions.
Our experience in benchmarking with a wide range of agricultural industries shows that farming families will get enormous benefit from benchmarking if it is kept simple and is used to answer the important questions: Should we buy the block next door? Can we bring other family members into the business? Should we replant with new varieties?