Dairy NZ

Budgeting is a cornerstone for any successful business and allows farmers to gain control over all spending decisions. DairyNZ has developed simple budget templates and guides. You can print these budgets off and work through them by hand or download and use the spreadsheet version.

Choose from the following:

• Annual Cash Budgets
• Monthly Cashflow Budget
• Personal Budget
• Opportunity Calculators - Sharemilking
• Cashflow Budgeting Workshops

Putting together a budget may seem like a daunting task the first time, especially if you are new to dairy farming and do not have information from previous seasons to help guide you.

Two sources of historical and forecast average farm financial data may be found in the DairyNZ Economic Survey and MAF's annual Farm Monitoring reports.

Benchmarking data may be found by joining DairyBase. Track your individual farm performance over time or against others in the industry and use this historical information to help forecast future budgets.

Take advantage of the rural professionals who support your business - rural bankers, farm consultants, accountants, veterinarians and company representatives (e.g. fertiliser reps). Having a good team around you providing you with information about the current farming situation is invaluable for your business.

Money Management Basics Guide

This step-by-step booklet will guide you through the DairyNZ budgeting tools and provide a background of budgeting basics. Choose from the following sections:

• Annual Cash Budget Guide View PDF (786kb)
• Monthly Cashflow Budget Guide View PDF (3.3mb)
• Quick Cash Budget Guide View PDF (1mb)
• Personal Cash Budget Guide View PDF (738kb)