The benefits of sharing intellectual capital in the beef industry

The benefits of sharing intellectual capital in the beef industry

Articles & Publications, Opinion Pieces
By Ian McLean and Phil Holmes We believe the management of capital is an issue for the beef industry. The returns on financial capital are insufficient, environmental capital needs preservation and intellectual capital is undervalued. While all aspects are important; we will focus here on intellectual capital as it influences the management of the other two. Within the context of pastoral business management, we have defined intellectual capital as the hard-won knowledge that smart producers have learnt from their peers and predecessors about profitable pastoral production, along with their own experience and knowledge gathering. It is distinct from intellectual property which is more about a breakthrough in understanding due to a completely new way of looking at issues. Managing a modern pastoral business is a multi-disciplinary vocation, requiring skills in…
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How does land condition affect property values?

How does land condition affect property values?

Articles & Publications, Opinion Pieces
By Ian McLean THE answer to this question depends a lot on how you define ‘value’. We are referring primarily to the intrinsic economic value of a property, as opposed to the value placed on it by the market. A previous article on ‘Beef land vs. Gold’ discusses different approaches to valuation. The intrinsic economic value of an asset is essentially its value based on its future earning capacity, which means that land condition has a big effect. There are four categories of land condition recognised in northern Australia: ‘A’ for good condition, ‘B’ for fair, ‘C’ for poor and ‘D’ for very poor.  This report-card style classification is determined by the health and functioning of the pasture and soil components of the area being assessed. Land in poor (‘C’) condition…
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Benchmarking Evolution

Benchmarking Evolution

Articles & Publications, Opinion Pieces
By Phil Holmes Farm business benchmarking first appeared in Australia over 40 years ago, starting with the cropping industry. The livestock industry soon followed with the Victorian DPI Monitor Farm Study being, arguably, the first serious attempt in the early 70's. It is still there today. By today's standards those early versions were rather simplistic, but you have to start somewhere. Increased knowledge and experience have made significant contributions to the process over time. I have been very fortunate to have had three great mentors in the early years of my career and I would not have had the career fulfilment that I have enjoyed without them. One of them was a Cooma NSW based entrepreneurial accountant, Mick Boyce who was always looking for ways to add value to client relationships. Mick…
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