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Benchmarking

RMCG has a long history of both industry benchmarking projects and benchmarking our private farm clients.

Benchmarking involves looking at a few key indicators of performance and seeing how businesses compare with each other.

Farming families get enormous benefit from benchmarking if it is kept simple and is used to answer the important questions: Should we buy the block next door? Can we bring other family members into the business? Should we replant with new varieties?

At an industry level, benchmarking can highlight key relationships between say yield and water use efficiency. It can facilitate meaningful practice change by helping industry to focus on the key performance indicators.

RMCG has developed the BizCheck method, from economic and financial farm surveys carried out over a range of agricultural and horticultural industries.  Data collection is based on annual financial statements (tax return data) and physical farm information. This information is combined to provide performance indicators that anyone can use. It has been applied over many years to citrus, wine grapes, pome and stone fruit, grains, pork, dairy, rice and a range of other enterprises.

We also undertake cost of production surveys to drill into the performance of individual varieties. Measuring cost of production is fundamental in determining where costs can be reduced to improve profit.

We recognise that confidentiality is important and will ensure that the process of data collection and collation is straightforward, cost effective and confidential.

Team

Charles Thompson

Charles Thompson

Senior Fellow

B.Sci. (Ag.) (Hons), CPAg.

Charles has 20 years consulting experience and over 25 years’ experience in farm business and natural resource management. This includes water quality, salinity, irrigation, drainage, horticulture, community consultation and extension. His special fields of competence technical resource assessment; extension and advisory services to horticulture and agriculture; nutrients and water quality; and benchmarking horticultural enterprise management.

Donna Lucas

Donna Lucas

Principal

B.App.Sci. (Hons)

Donna is an agricultural consultant with experience in business management, research and extension. She is adaptable with an ability to contribute to projects at a strategic level.
Donna has specialist knowledge in workforce development and planning, resource recovery, carbon farming, greenhouse gas/carbon accounting and project evaluation. Her strengths include driving execution, building connections and problem solving.

Adrian Kennelly

Adrian Kennelly

Associate

B.Ag.Sci. (Hons), M.Ag.Sci., CPAg.

Adrian has more than 30 years’ experience in agricultural business and natural resource management research, policy, education and extension. He is a specialist farm business management adviser, who consults to medium to large-scale private farmers, agribusiness investors, agricultural industry groups and government agencies.

Adrian has specific skills and experience in strategic planning, business analysis, impact and loss assessment, facilitation, and training and education in rural Australia.  Adrian chairs the advisory boards of a number of family farming operations in south-eastern Australia and has undertaken due diligence exercises for several domestic and international investors.

In addition to this, his most recent industry project work includes the development of an Investment Attraction Program for Rural Councils Victoria, an agricultural impact assessment of the Western Highway bypass of Ararat and the development of a business planning program (Our farm, our plan) for the Australian dairy industry.

Rob Rendell

Rob Rendell

Senior Fellow

B.Eng. (Ag), CPAg., GAICD

Rob has more than 40 years’ experience in irrigation, groundwater drainage, salinity management, project management, extension, reclaimed water re-use, practical irrigation farming and farm management, agricultural industry benchmarking and sustainability indicators.  Rob’s wide range of experience from the practical to the technical/managerial and also to strategy and policy, gives him ability to contribute at many levels. He is recognised as a leader in the water and irrigated agriculture sector.

Daryl Poole

Daryl Poole

Principal

B.Ag.Sci. (Hons), CPAg., GAICD

Daryl has over 20 years of experience is in the areas of agribusiness and farm management, particularly the dairy industry.   He has a diploma in Human Resource Management (Dairy) and can assist farming businesses with their employment practices to ensure their workforce is both effective and compliant.  Daryl also has an in depth understanding of water policy and what it means at the farm level which allows him to assist irrigation businesses develop their water risk management strategies.   Daryl has both facilitator and strategic planning experience and can assist farming businesses and organisations to achieve their goals.

Dan Armstrong

Dan Armstrong

Senior Consultant

B.Ag.Sci. (Hons), M.Ag.Sci. (Economics)

Dan has 25 years’ experience working in agricultural industries and previously ran his own consulting business specialising in farm business management for 11 years.  His multi-disciplinary skills, strong advisory experience and broad contacts in the agricultural industries add strengths to RMCG’s work in the agriculture sector.

 

Clinton Muller

Clinton Muller

Senior Consultant

M.Sust.Ag., B.Bus. (Hons), B.A.

Clinton has extensive experience in sustainable agriculture, with a specialist focus on horticulture and intensive production systems. With a strong agricultural industry focus, Clinton has worked across a range of agricultural commodities and natural resource management issues in Australia and internationally.  Clinton’s diverse range of capacities including program design and management, stakeholder engagement, partnership management, monitoring evaluation and reporting, extension, facilitation, action research and science communication.