Talking Dairy
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Talking Dairy
Less admin, more insights: How benchmarking your business just got easier | Ep. 111
In this episode of Talking Dairy, we explore the latest DairyBase upgrades that make benchmarking faster and easier.
DairyBase, our farm benchmarking tool, now connects with Farm Focus – and soon with tools like MINDA and Fonterra – so your financial and herd data flows in with just a few clicks. That means quicker cashflow reports, timely insights, and less time at your desk.
Hear from DairyBase manager (and dairy farmer) Jodie Goudswaard, and South Waikato and Lower Waipa area manager Steph Gudgeon – also a dairy farmer and long-time DairyBase user – about how these integrations are already making a difference.
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Kiora and welcome to Talking Dairy. I'm your host Jack McGowan from DairyNZ. It's great to have you with us. Today we're talking about something that can make life easier on your farm. Smarter data and less admin. DairyBase now connects directly with Farm Focus and soon with other tools like Minder and Fontera. These integrations mean you spend less time entering data and more time using it to make decisions that count. To share a bit more about this, I'm joined by two guests, Jodie Goodsward, who leads Dairy Base at DairyNZ and knows the ins and outs of benchmarking, and Stephanie Gudgeon, a dairy farmer and longtime Dairy Base user. And in her other job, some of you might recognise her as our South Waikato and Lower WaiPA area manager. So let's dig into what's new, why it matters, and how you can make the most of it. Tina Kurua, Jody and Steph, so great to have you both here. Can you start by telling us about who you are and your role?
SPEAKER_01:Kiora, I'm Jody Goodswarez. I am the dairy base manager here at DairyNZ. Also a dairy farmer. So my husband and I own a small dairy farm between Matamassa and Morrinsville. And I see my role here at DairyNZ as about helping farmers understand their business. And that's through benchmarking mostly. So I work with farmers, with consultants, with industry partners to make sure that the data we collect is both meaningful and useful to our farmers. And also not just numbers on a page, but insights that they can use to make better decisions on farm.
SPEAKER_00:Cool. And Steph? Hi everyone. I'm Steph. And along with my husband Andy and our four kids, we farm in Hinywera, which is in Matmata. We run a system two, and our stocking rate is three cows a hectare. And our main focus for our farm business is around home grown feed and managing costs. And as Jack mentioned, in my spare time, I give back to the industry through my role with DairyNZ.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, Jody, let's start with the basics. What is Dairy Base and what does it offer to farmers?
SPEAKER_01:So Dairy Base is a tool and it helps farmers benchmark their farm performance. So it's financial and physical information. And so you can benchmark your farm against other farms in your region or similar farming systems, but you can also track your progress over time. So it collects data over a number of years and it can help you identify some areas on the farm for improvement. So whether you're looking at things like cost structures, pasture harvested, or return on asset, Dairy Base can give you that clarity to help make informed decisions. So we sort of see it as being especially powerful if you do use it year on year because you can see how any maybe small changes that you might make on farm will impact your bottom line. And it's free.
SPEAKER_02:Excellent. Steph, from your perspective as a farmer, what made you start using Dairy Base? What difference has it made to your farm?
SPEAKER_00:I've just got my 24-25 reports in and realize now that I have 20 years in Dairy Base.
SPEAKER_02:Whoa.
unknown:Awesome.
SPEAKER_00:Initially I heard about it and I used it as a tool, like a learning tool, because I was relatively new to farming 20 years ago when I started. I've used it to build capability around financial indices and getting to know our farm business, getting to know our costs. I've always been one of those farmers who would be able to rattle off like their costs, the animal health cost per cow or what it costs they run their dairy shed, or just the numbers are really significant to me. And the difference, Andy and I spent 10 years sheep milking, and I could always present to a farm owner and show them what our farm system, our profitability, all on one page, and it in a way helped us secure jobs. And I've always liked numbers. So Dairy Base has allowed me to intimately know my numbers. And that knowledge and ability with numbers, it's like a transferable skill. It moves into your ability to plan for the future and to create budgets that are precise and accurate for your business.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Can you give us an example of how you've used Dairy Base to identify opportunities or help with decision making?
SPEAKER_00:This is our seventh season owning. And for the first five years, we were absolutely dead broke. And we're finally starting to make good money now. But however, our gross farm revenue per hectare was always lower than the benchmark, but our operating profit was higher. So that highlighted to me that we're missing out on milk revenue. And that's when we started to explore other milk companies. So that was a decision that came off our dairy-based reports.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, interesting. Jodie, there's a new integration with Farm Focus. What is Farm Focus for those that don't know? And what does that integration mean for farmers? Why is it a big deal?
SPEAKER_01:So Farm Focus is an accounting software for farmers. And I know Steph uses it, so she may give some more detail about Farm Focus. We're really excited about it in my team, and we're hoping that you guys out there will get really excited too. And it's a really big step forward for us. So it does mean that farmers who use Farm Focus can send us their financial data directly into Dairy Base with just a few clicks. Might be a little bit of setup at the beginning, but once it's kind of set up, it'll just be a few clicks. And actually, Steph, you've been testing it for us. You might even be able to tell us how it's working. And you'll get access to cash flow reports and benchmarks really early in the season. So one of the feedback we get a lot from farmers is by the time we do their financial accounts, it's really late in the season. So we are just starting to ramp up now with financial accounts because you know accountants have got a lot of clients and you can't do them all at once. So, and even we'll still be doing farmers' financials next year. And if you see something, then it's quite late in the season to make any changes. So by doing cash flow reports as soon as sort of the season's finished, or we sort of say maybe when you've finished doing your GST, then you can get access to really quick, valuable information that will help you make decisions mid-season. Thank you, Jody.
SPEAKER_02:Steph, how do you currently manage your financial data and what excites you about this integration?
SPEAKER_00:So at the moment, I use Focus to do my annual cash flow. And every two months I reconcile to do my GST. And midway through the year, me and my husband monitor our actuals versus budgeted items using some of the focus reports. This integration would allow me to get that information out a little bit easier. Because at the moment I'm using a homemade spreadsheet that I input my revised budget into and work out my operating profit and my return on asset and return on equity. It's really just a check-in and a guide for the rest of the year. Because, hey, halfway through the season, 60% of the milks in, maybe 70% of our costs are through the bank. So it's an excellent way to get a good gauge of where you're going to end for the season. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:And Jodie, what kind of data will flow from farm focus into dairy base and how will that improve benchmarking?
SPEAKER_01:So, yeah, we're pulling in what we call coded financial data. So it's pretty similar to what sits in there now in Dairy Base. So things like animal health and electricity, fertilizer, and then milk and livestock income. And because it's coming straight from your farm focus account, it's consistent and it's up to date, but it will allow farmers to have this really early season data which can guide those businesses' decisions. So for us, the idea is as soon as the sort of the April-May GST bill is paid in late June, then we'll get your farm focus data through into Dairy Base. And then also going forward from mid-next year, we're looking to have bi-monthly updates as well, which would be quite exciting. So every two months, once that GST is done, we can get sort of more relevant and timely information throughout the year to support sort of planning and then be able to benchmark against other farmers in your region to see sort of where they may be spending money or, you know, where their income's coming through.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you. So beyond farm focus, Jody, you're also working on integrations with MINDA and Fonterra. What can farmers expect from those?
SPEAKER_01:We're also really excited. We're quite an excited team, aren't we? So we're also really excited about the upcoming integrations. So MINDAR, we are pulling in animal data. So that will help us calculate things like your peak cow numbers, number of young stock. We'll be looking at removed animals to help us calculate the days in milk. And then when we overlay this with your Fonterra data, we can get sort of milk production for the year, but also maybe milk production per cow at the peak, somatic cell count, those kind of things. So again, it's about the goal is to give farmers a more complete view of their business in one place so they can make decisions based on that full story, not just financials. So we feel it's quite important to overlay that physical information with that financial information as well. So yeah, watch this space.
SPEAKER_02:We certainly will. Steph, I'm sure you'll be watching. What herd or milk data would be most useful for you if it could be pulled into dairy base?
SPEAKER_00:The trickiest part of dairy-based data collection for a farmer is the removed animals and days in milk. So it would be super if in mind or we can pull out animals treated for under a dry off plan and then your removed animals that have been culled or sold. That would make life a lot easier. And also perhaps animals that have been under treatment or withhold periods.
SPEAKER_02:And Steph, can you share an example of how benchmarking has helped you spot an opportunity or make a change on your farm?
SPEAKER_00:Benchmarking is really powerful. And as I said before, our main focus on the farm is to maximize homegrown feed. Our farm is in quite a high value area, so the return on the grass that grows, that the feed available on the farm, that returns the most important to us. So the first thing I will look at is the pasture and crop harvested figure and to see how we're going against the benchmark within our area. It would be more powerful for me if more farmers in Manamata Piaco area put their data in, because at the moment there's only about 20 farmers in that benchmark set, once Jodi's got all the financials in. And usually we're sitting pretty much at the top of that or above that benchmark. So you want some more farmers to compare to? Yeah. And in the past, as share milkers, I would monitor each cost and look around what the benchmark is. And if we went to groups or events or just with general farmers in our area, we can ask, you know, what they're doing and find ways that we could maybe save money or do things a little bit differently.
SPEAKER_02:Jody, how do you see these integrations helping farmers make smarter, faster decisions, especially in tight seasons?
SPEAKER_01:I think when times are tough, then every decision counts, right? And I want to put off on Steph's comment about getting more farmers in. Hopefully these integrations is going to make it a whole lot easier and we get a whole lot more farmers, Steph. But it's also the integrations mean farmers can access their performance earlier, hopefully with less effort, because another, I said before, a lot of the feedback we get is the financials are late in the season. The other feedback we get is I've already done this for this person. Why do I have to do it again? So getting that data in quicker, way easier, hopefully more farmers, means that they can respond a bit faster, whether it's adjusting feed, reviewing costs, or being able to plan for the next season. And about giving farmers like that real confidence in their numbers so that we say they can act with clarity and purpose.
SPEAKER_02:And what's your vision for the future of Dairy Base? Where's it heading?
SPEAKER_01:Well, since you asked, so my vision is that Dairy Base becomes a farmer's go-to for farm performance insights. So we're trying to build a connected system where data flows seamlessly. There may be a little few hiccups along the way, but hopefully it will be seamlessly from the tools that farmers already use, like MINDAR, Fontera, their Dairy Diary, those sort of things, and straight into Dairy Base. So we're also talking to other integration partners like a couple of fertilizer companies, other milk companies. And if farmers have got other suggestions for companies they use, we will definitely talk to them and hopefully we can get some integration set up. But it just hopefully will mean less admin, better benchmarking, which will lead to smarter decisions. And we're also, this is going to take some getting my head around, but exploring predictive insights and more tailored reporting. So kind of bringing in a bit of this AI stuff. Farmers can then not only track their progress, but also kind of plan ahead with confidence as well. So the predictive insights thing is quite cool. So it'll be interesting to see where that goes.
SPEAKER_02:This integration is something that farmers have been asking for, it feels like, the whole time I've worked at DairyNZ. So it's not actually that easy to do, is it?
SPEAKER_01:No. So first of all, we kind of have to have some sort of legal agreement to make sure, you know, that everybody's happy and what's going to happen with the data and that kind of thing. And then there's the technical piece, which I kind of had these really unrealistic expectations that like a month, when can we get this done in a month? And uh some of them are taking six months and longer. So there's kind of get this lovely agreement that every party, you know, we're all about supporting the farmers and trying to make it easier for them. But yeah, there's some other little tricks in there. And then the technology piece, and then we've kind of we test it a little bit. So Steph has been testing our one with farm focus to make sure it's seamless. So then when we go, hey, you know, this is really easy, you click here, it makes it easier with farmers. So it does take some time, but hopefully things will speed up a bit.
SPEAKER_02:Awesome. It's so good to see it coming to fruition.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm happy.
SPEAKER_02:And Steph, what would you say to farmers who haven't tried Dairybase yet, especially those who already use Farm Focus?
SPEAKER_00:For farmers who haven't tried Dairy Base, I definitely encourage them. It gives you this other level of knowledge around your business. It gives you like a new level to play with, to experiment with. It gives you a new realm of knowledge to perfect or to master. And DairyBase has been historical. As Jody's been talking about, sometimes there's a delay in getting our data once our financials are in. And then we sort of are looking back at last season retrospectively. And for me in my budgeting style, I work on our past historicals. So they're like proven numbers, so I can use them confidently. But going forward, if we've got these integrations, it's sort of like a mix of what has been and the excitement of what can be. So this integration could actually give us better insight to what we're doing. And hey, my husband's not interested in this. He just wants me to sit down with him every six months and give him a four-sentence summary of how well we're doing. He doesn't even want to ask me how much money I've got in the bank account. Like he just wants to know the nuts and bolts. Has he got a surplus? How's he tracking against the budget? So he thrives on his cows and grass, whereas I thrive on the numbers behind the business. And over the last 20 years, it's become my bread and butter, and I couldn't be where I am today without it.
SPEAKER_02:Well, that's it for this episode of Talking Dairy. A big thanks to Jody and Steph for sharing their insights. If you want to cut down on admin and get better benchmarking, now's the time to connect your farm focus accounts with Dairybase. Head to dairynz.co.nz forward slash dairybase to learn more. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time. Matewa. If you'd like to get connected with DairyNZ's latest advice, research, tools, and resources, whether it's reading, scrolling, listening, or in person, you can visit dairynz.co.nz forward slash get connected, and don't forget to hit follow to keep up to date with our latest episodes. As always, if you have any feedback on this podcast or have some ideas for future topics or guests, please email us at talkingdairy at dairynz.co.nz. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on Talking Dairy.