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Farm business planning resources and information
The following resources and information will support you with farm business planning.
Farm Fitness Checklist
The Farm Fitness Checklist helps farmers
assess where their business is at currently,
and to identify areas and opportunities
to strengthen their farm business.
It covers subjects including people
management, skills and training, business
planning and financial performance,
emergency management, infrastructure,
water supply, natural resource management,
risk management, succession planning,
off‑farm activities and more.
Completing the Checklist helps farmers
identify areas to prioritise in their farm
business plan.
Business Resilience Program webpage:
agriculture.vic.gov.au/FBRP
Climate Services
for Agriculture
The Climate Services for Agriculture (CSA)
seasonal and future climate at their location
to help them make informed decisions
for their farm business.
It provides farmers with historical data
(1961‑2021), seasonal forecasts (1‑3 months)
as well as future climate projections based
on the 15 years before and after 2030,
2050 and 2070, for a given location.
The CSA tool can also be accessed
on the Farm Business Resilience
Program webpage:
agriculture.vic.gov.au/FBRP
SWOT Analysis
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats) analysis can
medium or longer term goals for your
farm business.
wide variety of circumstances, such as
climate risks (e.g. drought, fire, flood, frost),
holding or selling stock, farm finances,
managing people on farm, and pasture
/ crop management practices.
Goal Setting
A key benefit of setting goals is to describe
is set, the resources and skills required
can be identified. Importantly, priorities
can also be set.
To make sure your goals are clear and
achievable, each one should be S.M.A.R.T:
• Specific (simple, sensible, significant).
• Measurable (meaningful, motivating).
• Achievable (agreed, attainable).
• Relevant (reasonable, realistic and
resourced, results‑based).
• Time bound (time‑based, time limited,
time / cost limited, timely, time‑sensitive).