Southern Ag Management

15/10/2026

The daily demands of farming can leave little time to work on the business itself. Farm Business IQ from Southern Ag Management helps you step back, clarify your goals and develop a practical direction for the future. Built around Direction, Strategy, Performance and Accountability, it supports cropping, livestock, dairy and mixed farming businesses. Message us to arrange a conversation about your goals.

15/10/2026

Busy seasons can make it hard to step back and assess the business. Southern Ag Managements farm business benchmarking reviews one production year to help you understand performance, compare with Australian peers and identify practical areas to improve. For $1,650 + GST, receive a Southern Ag branded report, a consultation and access to the latest Online Profit Series Business Edition. Message Southern Ag to discuss your farm.

28/09/2026

🚜 Do you know what your machinery is actually costing you?

The purchase price is only part of the story.

Finance, depreciation, repairs, fuel, insurance and annual utilisation all contribute to the real cost of owning and operating machinery.

We’ve built the Southern Ag Machinery Cost Calculator to help farmers put some numbers around it.

Enter the details of your tractor, header, sprayer, truck or other machinery and get an estimate of:

• Annual machinery cost
• Cost per operating hour
• Cost per hectare
• Cost per tonne or bale
• The impact of changing annual utilisation
• Where your major machinery costs are coming from

It’s free to use and takes only a few minutes.

If you’re considering replacing a machine, financing a purchase or simply want to know whether your current machinery is earning its keep, it’s worth running the numbers first.

👉 Run the free Machinery Cost Calculator:
https://southernagmanagement.com.au/machinery-cost-analysis/

Southern Ag Management
Helping farmers make better business decisions with better numbers.

15/09/2026

Are you running the farm — or building the business?

Most farmers are very good at running the farm.

But when you're dealing with staff, livestock, cropping, machinery, finance and the hundred other things that need doing today, it’s easy for the important business decisions to keep getting pushed aside.

This Thursday 17 September, I’m presenting a free online GRDC Farm Business Update:

“Busy running the farm; to creating time for building the business.”

We’ll be talking about practical governance for farm businesses — not adding corporate bureaucracy or more meetings for the sake of meetings.

We’ll look at:

✓ When an advisory board can add value
✓ The difference between management and governance
✓ Creating clear roles and accountability
✓ Getting more value from your advisers
✓ Bringing the right people around the table to challenge your thinking
✓ Making better strategic decisions while still getting on with running the farm

A good farm business should be able to answer some pretty simple questions:

What game are we playing?
What does success look like?
Who is responsible for what?
And does everyone understand the game plan?

If those answers aren't as clear as they could be, this session is for you.

📅 Thursday 17 September 2026
⏰ 1:00–2:00 pm AEST
💻 Online
🎟️ Free

👉 Register through GRDC here:
GRDC Farm Business Update — Register here
https://grdc.com.au/events/list/2026/09/grdc-farm-business-update,-online-busy-running-the-farm-to-creating-time-for-building-the-business?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Tim Pilkington | Southern Ag Management

Does everyone know which game you're playing, the rules, who's playing where & what success looks like, do your advisers know too? A well-designed and clear playbook minimises operational distraction.

08/09/2026

Upcoming update

UPCOMING WEBINAR: Farm Business Update - online: Busy running the farm; to creating time for building the business

📅 1pm AEST, Thur 17 Sep
🔗 https://bit.ly/4gqoRe0

How does your farm business stay focused when there are 100 competing demands? Does everyone know which game you're playing, the rules, who's playing where and what success looks like, do your advisers know too? A well-designed and clear playbook minimises operational distractions and supports progress toward goals.

In this session, Tim Pilkington of Southern Ag Management outlines how practical governance can help farm businesses clarify roles, strengthen accountability and bring broader perspectives to strategic decisions.

28/08/2026

🚜 Teaching our FREE Farm Business IQ Workshop Monday Sept 14th Thursday at 12pm.
If you’d like to learn how to make better farm business decisions, get your family on the same page and build a clear strategy for the future of your farm, I’d love to have you join us.
Comment “LINK” and we’ll send you the registration details.

27/08/2026

Most farm businesses don’t go backwards... they drift.

It’s something I’ve seen time and time again.

You get through succession.
Everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
The business is profitable, the pressure eases, and life gets busy again.
Then one day you stop and think...

“Jeez... where did the last three years go?”

The farm hasn’t gone backwards.
But it hasn’t moved forward with intention either.

That’s what I call drift.

The farming families I enjoy working with most are often in exactly this position.
They’ve built a good business.
They’ve got good advisers.
The kids might be 10 years away from coming home.

Now they’re asking the right question:

“How do we make sure the next 10 years are the best years for our business—and the next succession is easier than the last?”

That’s where having a clear strategy changes everything.
Not just for profitability.

But for your family, your future, and the legacy you’re building.
If this post made you stop and think, don’t ignore it.

The best time to build a plan isn’t when the next generation comes home...

It’s years before they do.

👇 Here’s your next step:

📞 Book a Farm Business Strategy Call with me using the link in my bio if you’d like to talk about your business.

🎓 Or join my FREE Farm Business IQ Workshop, where I’ll walk you through the same framework we use with farming families to create clarity, direction and long-term success.

💬 Comment “IQ” and we’ll send you the free workshop registration link.

📲 Follow for practical farm business advice every week.

🤝 And if you know another farming family who has come through succession and is wondering “What’s next?” Send them this post.

It might be exactly what they need to hear.

21/08/2026

When people think about succession, they often think about tax structures, legal documents and wills.

But in my experience, that’s not where succession plans fall apart.
They fall apart because of the conversations that never happened.

Over the years, I’ve had some incredibly difficult phone calls from young farmers who have just found out the farm is being sold, or who’ve realised there was never actually a plan for them.

Not because anyone intended for it to end that way...
But because everyone assumed someone else would start the conversation.

The strongest farming businesses I’ve worked with don’t avoid difficult discussions.

They have them early.
They have them often.

And everyone understands where the business is heading, what success looks like, and whether there’s a genuine opportunity for the next generation.
If your family has been putting these conversations off, now is the time to start.
Don’t wait until a crisis forces the decision.

👉 I’m running a FREE Farm Business Strategy Workshop where I’ll show you the same framework we use to help farming families create clarity, align on direction and build a stronger future together.
🔗 Register via the link in my bio
OR
💬 Comment “IQ” below and we’ll send you the registration link.
If you know another farming family who needs to hear this, tag them below or share this post—it could be the conversation that changes their future.

11/08/2026

One of the biggest reasons farm business plans fail isn’t because they’re bad plans...

It’s because nobody is held accountable to them.

The best farm businesses I’ve worked with don’t just set goals—they create a simple process to regularly review progress, have honest conversations, and make sure everyone knows what they’re responsible for.

That’s how you move from constantly reacting to running a farm, to leading a profitable and sustainable farm business with purpose and direction.

If you’d like to learn how we help farming families build clarity, make better decisions and create accountability through our 4 Pillar Farm
Business IQ Framework, join me for our FREE Farm Business IQ Workshop this Thursday 13 August at 12:00 pm (AEST).

During the workshop, we’ll cover:

✅ Creating clear direction for your farm business

✅ Making better strategic decisions with confidence

✅ Understanding the numbers that really matter

✅ Building accountability so your plans actually get implemented

Comment “LINK” below and we’ll send you the registration link.

If you know another farmer, family member or business partner who would benefit from this workshop, tag them in the comments and share this post so they don’t miss out. The more farming families making confident business decisions together, the stronger our agricultural industry will be.