Editorial: Building Resilience
OPINION: The dairy sector has been told that it cannot afford to rest on its laurels.
Farmers are encouraged to visit the DairyNZ stand to learn how DairyBase can help them better understand and enhance their farm system and business performance into the future.
“DairyBase helps farmers compare key performance indicators and determine what is working well and opportunities for improvement,” says DairyNZ head of economics Mark Storey.
“It is New Zealand’s largest and longest running dairy benchmarking service. It’s a great example of DairyNZ bringing its farm systems and credible evidence-based approach together to benefit farmers,” Storey says.
“DairyBase is one of hundreds of tools and resources DairyNZ and predecessors Dairy InSight and Dexcel have developed on behalf of farmers over the past 20 years; with more being developed to help progress a positive future for dairy farming.”
The DairyBase online platform allows farmers who register to track their progress towards long and short-term goals, draw comparisons against other farms and keep a tight rein on farm working expenses.
Two types of benchmarking are available – the business's financial performance and the farm’s physical aspects, comparing them to industry standards or targets. Farmers receive reports based on data they provide, with both national and regional benchmarking available.
The DairyBase team will be on-hand at Fieldays to show farmers how the online platform works, including its strength in analysing farm trends over time and can show farmers where their farm may sit on regional benchmarking graphs.
“More than 20% of New Zealand dairy farms contribute their farm and business data to DairyBase each year. Farmers and rural professional advisors, including accountants, can be sure the benchmark information is extremely robust, enabling confident and effective decision making,” Storey says.
“DairyBase is being continually improved with DairyNZ’s farm systems, economics and digital technology teams working together to deliver the best service to farmers.”
To celebrate the 20th anniversary, there is no cost to farmers to use DairyBase from 1 June 2024.
Tokoroa dairy farmer George Moss has been using DairyBase for all of its 20 years - providing his farm’s physical and financial data and using the reports to continually improve his farming operation.
"DairyBase data has been pivotal to our decision making and has driven strategy and subsequent direction of travel for our business,” Moss says.
Moss is also part of DairyNZ's Baseline Project which is an extension of DairyBase and collects more detailed environmental data from the 450 farmers involved so far. Qualified data collectors visit the Baseline farmers to help the farmers collate and input the data across physical, financial and environmental performance.
Storey says this comprehensive information and aggregated data from DairyBase informs DairyNZ’s advocacy on behalf of farmers and helps keep New Zealand dairy farmers at the forefront of the world’s dairy sector.
DairyBase and Baseline data contributes to sector statistics which identify further DairyNZ work needed to support farmers and the sector to progress a positive future. This includes supporting DairyNZ’s science, research and development work alongside farmers. DairyBase is also a major source of data for DairyNZ’s Econ Tracker tool and its farm financial forecast.
Visit DairyNZ’s Fieldays site: PC44 in the Pavilion:
- Learn more about DairyBase and how it can help increase the success of your farm business.
- Go in the draw at Fieldays to win a bottle of 20-year-old scotch whisky celebrating DairyBase’s 20th anniversary. To go in the draw, sign up to DairyBase at Fieldays and complete the Level 1 questionnaire. Or if you’re already registered with DairyBase, visit the DairyNZ stand, complete your Level 1 and go in the draw.
