Fonterra Australia estimates its Support Crew program has returned $2 million to the bottom lines of its farmer suppliers in Victoria, Tasmania and NSW.
The program, which has been running for 18 months, sees a team of experts provide one-on-one advice in areas including farm finance, nutrition and agronomy, human resource management, sustainability and quality assurance to help dairy farmers improve the profitability of their operation so they can invest for growth.
With the guidance of their Fonterra area manager and Support Crew member, Symon and Louise Jones, Gunns Plains, Tasmania, decided to fix part of their milk price at the beginning of the 2014/15 season to give them greater certainty about the day-to-day running costs of their farm.
“The information and support provided by our Support Crew specialist gave us the confidence that we were making the right decision,” Mr Jones said.
“Their knowledge and expertise about milk price and the various scenarios for our business really put us at ease.
“Since using Support Crew, we’ve approached Fonterra about their GroPlan incentives to help grow our dairy business, because we’re confident in the assistance Support Crew can provide if we need them.”
Fonterra Australia director of operations and ingredients Bruce Donnison said the Jones family’s experience showed how Fonterra Australia could help supplierss improving profitability and support them in investing for growth.
Farm business management is also the theme of this year’s Australian Dairy Conference, being held February 16-18 in Launceston.