BY STEFF CARSTAIRS, PROJECT MANAGER, PLANFARM

The 2025 AUSVEG Sentiment Survey indicated that 40 percent of vegetable growers across Australia planned on exiting vegetable production in the next twelve months. That is two in every five growers, an alarming number.

Decision-making isn’t easy at the best of times, but when you and those around you are under incredible stress and workload, at what point do you call it, and how do you remove the emotion to ensure that you are making the right decision for you, your family, and your business?

The Level Up Hort program is designed to provide vegetable producers with an advisory service to assist business owners and managers. Our role as advisors is to use your data to support complex decision-making through understanding what’s really going on behind the numbers and to inform in an independent and unbiased way.

Our role is not to tell you what other growers are doing – that goes against everything we stand for – but there is a degree of high-level knowledge that the advisor brings to the table to guide the diagnostic process and establish a path forward to provide a stronger footing tailored to you and your business.

You may find that you have a profitable business that requires some adjustments to improve cashflow and efficiencies to get through these challenging periods, rather than an exit strategy.

Understand your true position

Knowing your true financial position is an important first step in moving you closer to confident decision-making. There are a number of key ratios that measure business performance and looking at these within a historical context allows you to assess whether this is a trend or a one-off occurrence.

These include:

• Operating profit, measured as Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) per hectare ($/ha)
• Profit Margin (EBIT Margin), expressed as a percentage, reflecting income relative to expenses
• Return on Assets Managed (ROAM), expressed as a percentage, reflecting return on investment
• Equity, expressed as a percentage, relevant to those who own the land that they farm, reflecting balance sheet strength

Tracking these ratios and understanding them within the context of your own business is key to gaining a sound knowledge of your financial position and your business resilience – the ability to withstand shocks, adapt and continue to move your business forward.

Diagnostic techniques

Benchmarking your figures against other vegetable businesses enables you to gain further insight into your financial position – are your costs higher or lower than other businesses, is your income average or below that of other businesses, or are some cost lines blown out?

No one’s figures line up exactly with the benchmarks, but the comparison highlights areas where your business varies considerably and where there may be opportunities to gain some ground on efficiency and productivity. Just as a soil test highlights which nutrients need addressing, benchmarking spots areas that need attention.

Looking at your figures with an external advisor can help identify what the real issues are within your business and help explain the ‘stories behind the numbers’ to draw out any issues that might be lurking below the surface. Without that they are just numbers on a page, and it is the knowledge and understanding of your business which helps advisors and other professionals supporting your business to tailor advice and tools specifically to meet your business needs, and to be able to advocate on your behalf. Ultimately, we are all there to gain a better outcome for you and your business.

Consider options

Once you have established your true financial position, and looked at what’s driving the numbers, you can then consider whether to sail on, or chart a different course.

There are a number of factors to take into account:

• Are you willing and able to address the issues that have risen to the surface?
• Do you have, or can you tap into alternative income streams?
• Do you have the resources (finances and skills) or desire to transition into another enterprise or income stream?
• Is the risk versus reward adequate for what you are doing and, if not, what can you do to manage it?
• Is everyone on board and aligned with the direction of the business?

No matter which direction you decide to take, you don’t have to face it on your own. Reaching out to a trusted advisor – whether that’s your accountant, bank manager or farm consultant – can give you the clarity and confidence you need.

Take the first step and ask for support. The right guidance can make all the difference for you and your business.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Please contact Level Up Hort Project Manager, Steff Carstairs
0428 712 852 | steff@planfarm.com.au | leveluphort.com.au

Twin Lakes – the decision to leave

Twin Lakes grew their last crop of broccoli in 2025. It wasn’t an easy decision to transition out of vegetable growing. Here’s what Bradley had to say:

How did the numbers presented in Level Up Hort program help you better understand your financial position?

We had been considering a change in direction, but they solidified the gut feeling that I had for a while, and presented the numbers in an impartial way with objective analysis. We weren’t the worst in the benchmarks, but we made the decision to exit because we had been considering a change in direction anyway.

What options did you consider?

We were specialist growers, we only grew one crop line and weren’t in the market all year round. We looked at scaling up and growing multiple lines, but this would require growing in different regions, and we are a small family business, which meant spending time away from home or splitting the family up. I like working alongside my parents and kids, so we chose lifestyle over scale and were fortunate that we could transition to tree crops which suited.

What advice did you seek?

My bank manager, my bookkeeper, and another grower all pointed me to the Level Up Hort program and advised me to give it a go to gain a better knowledge of my business. Sometimes it’s hard to know which way is the way forward, and you have to understand your own situation and how it relates to your business and your market, your buyers, and make decisions based on data, not gut feel.

What advice would you give other producers?

Don’t be afraid to change, take the time to stop and look up over the roo-bar so you can see where your business is headed, find the right people to talk it through and consider what sort of business are you handing on to the next generation. What sort of business do you want them to inherit?