Management constitutes the bulk of Growth Farms Business. This arrangement suits landowners who wish to maintain full ownership of the farming business while Growth Farms takes full responsibility for the farm management of that business. The landholder owns all aspects of the farm business including land, livestock, plant, machinery and working capital.

Depending on the operations being carried out on farm, Growth Farms is remunerated with a base fee on a per hectare basis for cropping and a per DSE (dry sheep equivalent) basis for livestock operations. The rest of Growth Farms remuneration is in a share of the profit ensuring alignment of the interests of both landowner and manager.

The strength of our service is that every farm will have a Growth Farms director responsible for it, either directly or in conjunction with an area manager, who will typically oversee management on a number of farms either within a certain geographic region, or for a particular client.

Another strength of the Growth Farms service is the quality and rigour of planning and reporting. Once again the director responsible, works with senior management and office staff to provide, what we believe, is the best and most comprehensive planning and reporting available in the farm sector.

Under the standard management service arrangement, Growth Farms will provide, and deal with the following:

• A plan for the business, usually spanning five years, which identifies and prioritises the main strategic issues for the business. Typically this will include enterprise types, labour and machinery requirements, key issues and risks as well as options for productivity gains.
• Financial projections including any funding requirements.
• A more detailed plan prior to the start of each year which provides a detailed plan and monthly cashflow. The plans are developed in conjunction with the owner, taking into account their priorities and any constraints that may apply.
• Growth Farms takes responsibility for implementing the plan, covering everything from recruiting the right staff, purchasing stock and machinery as well as sourcing contractors etc.
• The staff on the property report to Growth Farms and we deal with any staff related issues.
• Management of OHS issues.
• Growth Farms usually will manage the finances on behalf of the owners, including paying the wages and all the bills. We will also take responsibility for marketing the produce from the farm, taking into account the finance requirements of the business and the owners.
• A budget to actual report is provided every month so the owners know what is happening at any time.
• Halfway through the year the plan for the year is updated to take into account changes in key factors, such as prices and season to provide a more current picture of how the year is progressing.
• At the end of the year a full report is provided covering all the major issues and the financial performance for the year.

The details of each management arrangement are worked through with the owners because every farm business is different and we ensure those differences are accounted for in each situation.

Growth Farms prefers to have long term arrangements with landowners because that helps ensure good farm business performance. However we understand that circumstances change so we also have flexibility for both parties to vary arrangements in consultation with each other, when required.