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❄️ Welcome to Our Winter Round-Up
We have welcomed many new subscribers since our Autumn update—thank you for joining us!
Agrista is a national agricultural consultancy based in Wagga Wagga, NSW, with team members across New South Wales, Queensland, and Uruguay. We’re a dedicated team, focused on supporting farm businesses at every stage—whether you’re starting, growing, or fine-tuning your operations.
Our work blends detailed analysis, benchmarking, and specialist knowledge in both farm financials and agricultural science. As a small business, we sincerely value the trust our clients place in us to support the strategic decisions that shape their future.
📊 Central West Farm Benchmarking Project
We are delighted to have over 40 producers participating in the Central West Local Land Services Farm Benchmarking Project—an initiative designed to deliver meaningful insights into farm business performance and profitability.
Agrista consultants Ellie Hays and Jess Paton have supported producers through onboarding, data collection, and analysis. Last week, participants met in Coonamble and Parkes to review results, with each business receiving a tailored report and individualised support.
Project participants gain:
✅ A clear understanding of cost of production
✅ Benchmarking against comparable businesses
✅ Identification of profit drivers and pressure points
✅ Guidance to interpret and apply findings
🌱 Emissions Reporting Now Included in Benchmarking
Agrista’s benchmarking reports now feature comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions reporting. This new section reports emissions at the enterprise and whole-farm level, including:
- Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions
- Emissions intensity (kg CO₂e/kg product)
- Emissions per DSE and per hectare
It’s a practical step to support producers in integrating sustainability into business decisions. If you’d like to explore your emissions results further, get in touch.
🧩 Understanding Emissions with Ruminati & Agrista
For producers seeking a better understanding of how emissions relate to farm performance, we recommend this two-part article featuring John Francis (Agrista) and Bill Findlay (Ruminati). Together, they explore the connection between productivity, profitability, and emissions—and how to move from measurement to meaningful action.
🔗 Read the articles:
Part 1: Profit, productivity, and emissions—it’s all connected
🗓️ Benchmarking Data – Now Due
We are now collecting data for the 2024/25 season.
🟢 Group members – please submit your data by 25 July 2025
🔵 Non-group participants – data is due 15 September 2025
If you require assistance, don't hesitate to get in touch.
💼 Farm Business Resilience Program (FBRP)
The Farm Business Resilience Program has now concluded, having equipped producers with tools to manage risk and strengthen their business resilience - economically, environmentally, and socially.
For Agrista consultant Ellie Hays, participation in the program was also a valuable opportunity to further develop their coaching skillsets, enhancing the quality of advisory support we offer clients.
📈 Spotlight Article: Efficiency, Not Marketing, Drives Profit in Cattle Trading
New data from Agrista challenges the myth that marketing is the key to profitability in cattle trading. Instead, the evidence is clear: production efficiency is the key driver of performance.
Our 2024/25 benchmarking shows the top 20% of producers achieved $76/DSE more profit than the average, primarily through:
✅ 45% from weight gain
✅ 27% from trading margins
✅ 28% from reduced operating costs
Thank you again for being part of the Agrista network. If you’d like to discuss any of the updates in this newsletter, contact us; we're here to help.
