A NSW Government website

Build a Farm Business Plan

Develop or update a practical farm business plan with clear, prioritised actions tailored to your business, enterprise and local conditions through either the Farm Business Planning Guide or the self-paced online Farm Business Planning Fundamentals Course. Once you have a plan in place, you can take the next step with one-on-one or small group coaching.



Farm Business Planning Guide

The Farm Business Planning Guide provides a step-by-step approach to building a whole-of-business plan tailored to your farm’s goals and circumstances. As you work through the guide, you’ll develop a practical Farm Business Plan to support decision-making, financial applications, and conversations with family, staff and advisers.

Buy the Farm Business Planning Guide



Farm Business Planning Fundamentals Course

Build a practical farm business plan at your own pace, in your own time.

The Farm Business Planning Fundamentals Course is a joint initiative between Tocal College and the Farm Business Resilience Program, designed to help farmers build or improve their farm business plan.

Enrol in the Farm Business Planning Fundamentals Course


What you'll learn

The course covers the building blocks of farm business planning:

  • setting clear goals for your business
  • understanding and managing risk - including drought and climate variability
  • financial planning, cashflow and budgeting
  • making better decisions before, during and after drought
  • developing a practical, action-based farm business plan

How much time it takes 

The course includes around 3 hours of self-paced online learning.

What it costs

As part of the relaunch of the Farm Business Resilience Program, the Business Planning Fundamentals Course is currently available free of charge.

What you'll gain from the course 

By the end, you’ll have a practical farm business plan with clear priority actions you can implement straight away. You’ll also be ready to take the next step with FBRP coaching, if it’s the right fit for your business.

Who the course is designed for

This course is for NSW farmers running a commercial primary production business.

It's a great starting point if you:

  • haven't written a business plan before
  • want to improve or update an existing plan
  • prefer to learn in your own time, without attending workshops
  • want to apply for FBRP coaching, but need a business plan first

How the course works

The course is hosted online and self-paced - you work through the modules when it suits you.

  • Format: Online, self-paced
  • Cost: Currently free as we launch the next phase of the Farm Business Resilience Program
  • Where: Hosted on the Tocal College e-learning platform

How to enrol