Workshops tune up farm finance skills

Farmers across New Zealand are being encouraged to take more ownership of their farm business finances by getting involved in upcoming Rabobank Financial Skills Workshops.

The free one-day workshops are facilitated by Lawrence Field from Rural Field Consultants and are open to both clients and non-clients of Rabobank. 

Six workshops have already taken place this year, with a further 24 scheduled over the remainder of 2024.

Two Financial Skills Workshop modules are available to farmers, with Module 1 covering stock reconciliations, reading financial statements and what banks are looking for when assessing a farm business, and Module 2 covering budgeting, monitoring variances and how to respond if the farm budget deviates from the plan. 

An initiative of Rabobank’s Client Councils — groups of the bank’s farming clients who meet regularly to discuss issues and implement initiatives to contribute to sustainable rural communities — the workshop series was launched in mid-2021. 

Since then, over 900 Kiwi farmers have attended one of the more than 60 workshops that have taken place across New Zealand.

Rabobank general manager for country banking Bruce Weir said it is critical farmers and growers have a strong understanding of the financial performance of their business – particularly given the challenging environment industry participants have faced across the past 12 months.

“While we have seen some improvement in agri commodity pricing and farmer sentiment during the early months of 2024, the 23/24 season has undoubtedly been a challenging one for farmers and growers as they’ve grappled with lower commodity prices, high inflation, high interest rates, and the lingering impact of adverse weather events,” he said.

“With this being the case, it’s essential farmers know how to read financial statements for their business, and that they understand what levers they can pull under different scenarios to ensure their business is set up for long-term success.”

The bank had recently teamed up with Beef + Lamb NZ to promote the workshops.

More information on upcoming Rabobank Financial Skills workshop and the workshop registration form can be found on the Rabobank website.