Farm Planning: A Business Management Perspective

Abstract

The majority of Australian farmers manage their farms in environments characterised by variability of prices and climate. The financial indicators of the performance of their farms vary over time as a result. The variability of gross returns to farm production, coupled with commonly long production cycles, suggests fundamental questions about the management of farms in Australia. Arguably the most basic of these questions is: to what extent is control of farm performance 'available to the manager and what does this imply for the rational allocation of the manager's effort? In this thesis the word control has a precise meaning: influence over behaviour and/or events sufficient to enable the achievement of objectives.