ON FARM NORTHERN CATTLE Here are the areas Nelle has worked on in their enterprise following Business EDGE: SNAPSHOT: • Planning ahead • Valuing land and people • Confidence to change Nelle and Simon Nelle credits Business EDGE “Very few farming families One of the biggest changes Stevenson, with providing tools to drill allocate themselves a wage the Stevensons have made Baralaba, central work through scenarios withinto the numbers so she canor recognise the financialcontribution of their time, butas a result of BusinessEDGE is adjusting their herd Queensland l Simon, particularly budgeting it reinforced to us that if we composition. for drought scenarios. change our business model Over the past 18 months “The ability to analyse our in the future we will need they have moved away business performance and to reflect our own labour from just breeding to start run different models against component,” Nelle said. backgrounding cattle. financial formulas has given “Sound business management “Information from the Northern me greater confidence is so important, especially in Beef Report was presented that the numbers support familybusinesses, as without to us in the workshop, and Area: decisions such as selling itthe land or the people have it encouraged us to take 4,250ha down stock when it is dry,” to make up the shortfall. a critical look at our herd she said. “Business EDGE really profitability,” Nelle said. Enterprise: • Understanding debt reinforced the importance Breeding and backgrounding and profit of not eroding cattle our Nelle Stevenson The workshop reinforced environmental capital – it E: villamosa@villamosa. Livestock: that debt from an extensive might be tempting to run more com 1,500 Brahman breeders capital expenditure stock to be more profitable, joined to British/Euro bulls program when they butit could have a negative MLA EDGE Network: took over Villamosa was impactin the long-term on mla.com.au/edge Pasture: not a reflection of poor land productivity.” Interested in Business Varied – scrub areas and management, but rather a • Intergenerational involvement EDGE? Upcoming cleared country which has necessary investment in Nelle and Simon’s daughters courses are at been improved with buffel the productivity of their Holly and Josey have off- Bundaberg, grass and legumes real estate. farm careers but are still Queensland, 12–13 “It would have been handy interested in the property, November, and Biloela, Soil: to have Business EDGE 30 so after attending Business Queensland, 15–16 Ranges from softer red scrub years ago,” Nelle said. EDGE the family sat down November. soil to black soil creek flats together to look at the Register with Ian and ridges “It has given us the business plan. McLean of Bush Rainfall: confidence to say: Agribusiness “We showed them some of T: 0401 118 191 600mm yes, in spite of the the analysis I had done and dry or beef prices, we talked about ways they could be involved in the BIGGEST LEARNING FROM we are running a business,” Nelle said. BUSINESS EDGE good, profitable “It gave our daughters business.” confidence the family “The biggest message for me was that by analysing our business is in a good place business, we can work out the best way to put ourselves and opened a discussion in the position we want to be.” Nelle Stevenson about different business models in the future.” 23