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The eCOGENT's Business Management tools have now been tested for more than ten years on a range of farm types including dairy, sheep, beef, deer, and mixed farms, and by farm owners, sharemilkers and farm managers.  Here is what some eCOGENT members say:

Evan and Sherleen Smeath, Dairy Farmers, Whakapara, Northland

• Run 280 high producing Jerseys on a 102ha milking platform
• Innovative, and highly profitable despite serious floods recently
• Runners-up in the 2002 Northland Farmer of the Year Competition
• Supreme winners of the 2007 Ballance Ballance Farm Environment Awards for Northland
• eCOGENT members since 1995

Initially they set a new vision, and identified what they were good at and what the property was best suited to. Using the eCOGENT strategic business management information gathering format and analyses they were able to change their farming practices to achieve optimum results.  Within five years they had quadrupled net farm profit and doubled their return on investment.

Protecting the environment has always been one of the Smeath’s most important objectives.  Their property is prone to flooding and erosion, so their milking herd is run on easy country with young stock grazing the less stable hills.  Steep areas have been planted in trees.  Their knowledge and actions won them the Ballance Farm Environment Award in 2007.

Today their environmental focus continues with the move towards biological/carbon farming, reducing soluble fertiliser use substantially and applying more lime and humates to boost biological activity in the soil.  The result has been better soil performance indicators, more pasture, more production – currently the equivalent of 1000kgMS/ha – and more profit.

Evan says that the many benefits of eCOGENT membership include:

• Superior financial monitoring and forecasting
• Leading edge management approaches
• Support and stimulation from cluster club discussions
• An annual increase in net farm profit averaging 7%
• A current/average return on investment of 16%

After 14 years as a member Evan still values the continual boost that the process gives him and his business.

“eCOGENT leads the way with financial forecasting, biological farming and other options that are way beyond what you get from other discussion groups,” he says.

Jeff & Fiona Graham, Milking Goats, Pukeatua, Waikato

• Run 400 goats on 97ha (40ha flat and the rest steep)
• Produce 35,000kgMS
• Make 3000 tonnes compost, increasing to 12,000t
• Sell five specialty goats’ milk cheeses
• eCOGENT members since 2006

Goats are very susceptible to worms but drenches are out of the question when the milk is being used for infant and other specialty foods.  Jeff & Fiona Graham decided to house their goats and “cut and carry” pasture to them.  This solved the worm problem but created another – waste bedding mixed with dung, urine and uneaten fodder.

They resolved this by composting the material, mixing it with other plant/soil nutrients for their own use and for sale to other farmers as an alternative fertiliser.  The demand for their product has been so great that they have recently formed a joint venture company to produce 12,000 tonnes per year.

They are strong believers in biological farming and have used their compost mix to boost the soil “biology” and produce top quality pasture with high Brix levels.  The result has been better nutrition for their goats and higher quality milk.  Working with a local cheese making specialist they now produce five goat’s milk cheeses that they sell under the Pukeatua Peak brand at Waikato farmers’ markets and to selected restaurants.

Jeff says they joined eCOGENT for help with financial management, but ended up getting far more.

“The coaching and support we received from eCOGENT people quantified what we were doing and headed us in the right direction towards better profits. Today the forecasts give us the confidence to try new ventures and be successful,” he says.

“Even our bank manager has become part of our team and has confidence in us.  She phoned me recently and said ‘You are the only client that I am pleased to ring’.”