ADAPTABILITY appears to be the difference between WA’s top 25 per cent of broadacre farmers and the rest.
And last season helped prove it, according to the 2015-2016 Planfarm Bankwest Benchmarks.
The Benchmarks data sets released last Friday, show the top 25pc of WA farmers spent an average of $4 a hectare more on chemicals and fertiliser last year than the average farmer, but overall, their financial costs averaged $1 a hectare less.
The data showed they also reaped $55 more a hectare in operating profits than the average farmer.
The top group’s operating surplus per millimetre of growing-season rainfall was $1.74 per effective hectare, compared to the State average of 93 cents.
“Being adaptable and controlling operating costs rather than chasing higher yields, appears the key to profitability,” Planfarm consultant Graeme McConnell told a business breakfast for about 80 agribusiness guests at Bankwest headquarters to launch the 10th annual Benchmarks.”
