We monitor three primary KPIs for business health including Operating Profit, Return on Assets (RoA) and Farm Working Expenses (FWE)/kg MS; we also have secondary business health indicators including debt/kg MS. Owl Farm started with $3.7 million debt in 2015.  Our goal was to ensure that the farm was meeting compliance in all areas which required a significant investment, including a new effluent pond, an underpass, and a new yard which created a safer workplace.

We have a target of $20/kg MS opening debt and we started the 2023-24 season with $18.96/kg MS. Like all farmers, we have had years of increasing debt (up to $23/kg MS in 2016-17) as we transitioned to a more profitable farm system through challenging payouts.  We are focused on debt repayment while maintaining the safe and productive life of our plant and machinery.  Owl Farm targets debt repayment of $180,000 in a $6.50+ payout and minimum of $100,000 every year. Working with our financial partner Westpac we are positioning ourselves to invest in future technology/infrastructure that will set the farm up to deliver environmental and animal wellbeing outcomes. 

In 2023 Owl Farm adopted the Sustainable Farm loan from Westpac.  The loan recognises the work we are doing around sustainability and provides us a lending product that aligned really well with our thinking and also adds value back to us through discounting lending rates.  By managing our environmental footprint we are managing the business risk that goes with it and we get a discount on our borrowing because of that.

We know that future growth in any industry is only going to be in the direction where it’s environmentally sustainable so we need a partner who sees the same future that we do and is willing to invest in the same practices, technology, and infrastructure that will allow us to head in that direction.  Our partnership with Westpac has allowed us to invest when the times are good on future-proofing our farm business.

Jo from Westpac and Jo from Owl Farm discuss the Sustainable Farm Loan from Westpac