Whole Farm Planning

Designing Prosperous lives, businesses, and landscapes

Kim Deans has been facilitating Whole Farm Planning programs since 2015.

Whole farm planning is a design process that integrates landscape, finances, and people, building the foundations for a resilient, prosperous business.

A whole farm plan is a written management plan for our farm business that includes mapping property layout, soils, land use, land capability: integrated with managing risk, people, and finances.  Whole farm planning assists landholders to improve profitability AND ecosystem health.

Whole farm planning integrates well with all forms of agricultural production to restore long term ecological and financial viability that builds the foundations of resilience to climate variability.   

When we think we don’t have time for planning is when we don’t have time NOT to.

Whole farm planning benefits:

  • Whole farm planning empowers us to take an intentional process instead of a random, unstructured approach so we can make effective use of our resources as we navigate transition and change.   

  • Clarity of direction.  We are 42% more likely to achieve our goals just by writing them down. 

  • Improved effectiveness through prioritising to optimise the use of resources including time & finances.

  • A proactive focus leads to uncovering opportunities we could otherwise miss.

  • Make informed, timely decisions with confidence.

  • Improved risk management

  • Focus on factors within our control, how we manage our people, finances and land are the pillars of a building a viable and resilient farm business and are all within our control as land managers.

  • Improved communication within the business and with banks & advisors

  • Prioritise quality of life and generate profits that don’t degrade our natural resources or our health & wellbeing.

  • Leaving everything better for future generations

“Plans are nothing, Planning is everything”  - Dwight D Eisenhower

The Whole Farm Planning Process:

  1. Develop our vision, clarify our values and decide on our goals

  2. Assess our current situation

  3. Plan and take actions to take us from where we are now, to where we want to be

  4. Monitor

  5. Review

  6. Replan

Whole Farm Planning with Kim Deans:

Kim designed and delivered a whole farm planning course with Northern Tablelands Local Land Services from 2015 - 2018. These courses filled quickly and frequently had a waiting list. Kim continues to develop whole farm planning learning resources and deliver whole farm planning programs with various organisations including Landcare and Local Land Services in NSW. 

Kim takes a holistic approach focused on land, people and finances, the three keys to resilient businesses. Kim empowers land custodians with a simple whole farm planning design framework to make the process of problem solving, decision making and landscape designing clearer and intentional, particularly in relation to complex farm environments. 

Kim’s blog Success by Design explores the whole farm planning process and how we are always designing. Whole farm planning empowers us with an intentional approach to design rather than designing randomly.

Kim discusses whole farm planning as part of this podcast.

Kim delivers whole farm planning workshops in person and online, for groups or individuals. Contact Kim for more information 

Farm Planning course participant feedback:

“Kim is professional, enthusiastic and encouraging”

“Thank you Kim for your passion, knowledge, facilitation and kindness”

“Extremely beneficial and well presented, much appreciated. Thanks for a very professional presentation”

“This course has enabled me to make more informed decisions with confidence, many thanks Kim