Academy helps farmers to improve returns through accountability

The Sheep Owners Academy was set-up in 2015 by Kangaroo Island veterinarian and sheep consultant Greg Johnsson and one of Australia’s leading business mentors, Andrew Roberts.

The program inspires participants to look at all sides of their business for improvement, not just the technical aspects.

Greg has been a technical consultant to sheep producers on KI and the mainland for more than 30 years.

“In that time, I have dealt with many people and we have put a lot of good quality technical data in front of them,” he said.

“But you can give people really good information and 15-20pc will put that information to use, but the rest won’t, so we wanted to improve that uptake.

“We also want to make participants understand that the way they think and act has a huge bearing on their business success.

“Often farmers get so involved in the day-to-day trappings of the business, they don’t stop and take the time for themselves.”

The academy incorporates a system called the Top Producers Program, which Greg had been perfecting on KI properties for the past 15 years.

It takes farmers through a series of steps that encompass all of the areas of running a successful farm business. 

This program is further supported as part of the academy, tackling areas of personal development, business and team management, decision making, succession planning and retirement.

“It’s intention is to help farmers profit more, and work smarter instead of harder,” Greg said.

The program initially began with 18 “Platinum Group” farms – two-thirds from KI and the rest from SA.

Greg said many of these farms had already improved the technical side of their business, to the point of plateauing.

“Helping them transition to the next level of success was where the program came in,” he said. 

“A lot of people I am dealing with in the Platinum Group have desire to run a business that’s bigger than the one person.

“We help them to plan and get all team members on the same page to understand what the short, medium and longer-term outlook for the business is, particularly definition of roles and responsibilities, and good communication.”

Greg said introducing extra people to the business often included family members, which also inspired the establishment of the academy.

“Succession planning is a huge issue, and many farmers handle succession poorly,” he said.

“That’s why we designed a process that steps people through that whole situation.

“It directs them from the ‘family way’ to running a corporate farming structure that all parties can understand and run.”

The Platinum Group are 18 months through the program.

Greg says they have already averaged a 5.7pc return on assets (2015-16).

“Compared that to the ABARES estimate of the average Australian farm is 2.5pc, it gives an idea of where some of these guys are at in comparison to the industry average,” he said.

The group meets four times a year in Adelaide for two-day conferences, where Greg and Andrew present information, along with a variety of experts and coaches in a variety of relevant subjects.

“Within those meetings, there is technical presentations as well as group interactions and workshopping,” Greg said.

“Properties are performance benchmarked, which is workshopped within the group. It is all open book – there’s no where to hide. 

"Businesses are supported by the group but also made accountable in their goal setting, which is very valuable.”

There is also individual monthly coaching sessions, online Q&A sessions and other points of contact.

“What I find in the farming industry, is that farmers don’t talk to each other about the details of their business,” Greg said.

“This program goes in depth and analyses all sorts of things in their businesses, including personal issues as trust develops within the group.”

The program has since grown to 36 participants.  

"We have just started a second group of 18 farmers from mainland SA and western Vic," Greg said.

Andrew said because they now work with farmers outside of the sheep space, they plan to soon rebrand the business.

“There are 12 modules in the program, but of the first six modules – which is the foundation of the whole program –  there are only two that are technical about sheep," Greg said.

“The rest are things to do with successfully managing and running a business.

“The technical stuff is important, but it is only one part of what’s required to run a successful business.”