The last few difficult seasons, combined with rising costs have raised more complex questions and decisions than many farming families have had to face before. How can you make confident decisions in such a difficult and complex environment?

Research undertaken as part of the Grain and Graze project found that the complexity of decisions has dramatically increased in recent years. Large and long term questions about the family’s future are crossing over what are normally small and simple questions about production. Farmers are finding that the uncertainty has made it difficult to know what can be relied on, with simple decisions becoming complicated and complicated parts becoming complex.

Farmers can improve their decision making by:
* Discussing options with others.
* Setting principals or boundaries and making decisions within these boundaries
* Relying on past experience when making complex decisions, however this tends to lead to conservative decisions.

The Advisory Board of Agriculture is developing a pilot program “Farming to Manage Risk”, funded by the National Landcare Program to help farmers with complex decisions about their farming system. The project is working with 6 groups of farmers on Eyre Peninsula and the mid North to develop the program.

Participants will evaluate their current and alternative farming systems, taking into account profitability and risk and then develop strategies to implement these new systems with the help of technical experts on a group and individual basis.

The “Farming to Manage Risk” program is designed to help participants make the best decisions possible ensuring that:
* The goals of the business and the individuals within the business are clear
* Appropriate tools are used to analyse and be objective, where possible
* Past experience and gut feel are used to help with complex decisions
* Decisions are made without delay, even if there is some uncertainty, so that you are in control rather than the decision being made for you
* They share openly and honestly with either others in the group, or technical advisors

Once this program has been fully developed it is planned to be rolled out across the state to help broadacre producers improve their farming systems.

AUTHOR: Michael Wurst, Farming Systems Consultant, Rural Solutions SA
CONTACT: Michael Wurst, Rural Solutions SA Jamestown Office, Telephone: 08 8664 1408, Mobile: 0418 803 685,Email: wurst.michael@saugov.sa.gov.au

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