Preparing a Management Plan(Sustainability)

Your planA management plan is an essential tool for you to use to plan the direction of your business enterprise over time. It will reflect your short and medium term initiatives and long term goals and set out the steps necessary to achieve these outcomes.

Developing a management plan will also allow you to prepare for the future and any changes it may bring. Gaining an awareness of what is happening in the environment and preparing responses is critical to ensure your success and survival during a period of significant change.

This template will assist you in preparing a business plan for your farming or commercial fishing enterprise. It is essential that your plan be realistic and meaningful to the management of your business and incorporates the business objectives and future goals for your enterprise.

The plan should be used by you to determine the nature and type of financial assistance and other requirements that will deliver on the objectives and goals of your business.

While Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) will use the information in your management plan to approve and agree outcomes, it is your plan for your benefit so give it the effort required to get your application approved and ensure your business’s ongoing success.

The planning processAssistance under the Sustainability program will enable you to implement systems and management practices that enhance sustainable primary production in Queensland. By completing this plan you will adopt a timely whole of business approach to achieve this outcome. Consider how the initiatives you are proposing in the plan will fit within your overall primary production enterprise, and how over time they will impact on:

increasing your productivity and long term viability your natural resource base and other ecosystems climate and market risks

Completing your management planRural producers will need to complete Parts A, B and C (if applicable). Commercial fishers will need to complete Parts A and B.

Part A – Your businessThis section is about your business, your people and your goals and will assist us to understand your business.

Part B – Your activitiesThis section is about the activities which are to be undertaken and for which you are applying for assistance. You will need to detail what the activities are, who will do the work, the costs associated with each activity, commencement and completion dates and how it will be funded. You will also need to detail how each activity outcome will impact on the sustainable management components.

Part C – Property mapFor rural producers, if your initiatives involve on-farm activities such as those identified in the table on page two (or similar), you will need to provide a property map showing the location of your projects and the features relative to each activity.

To assist you to prepare your property map, please refer to the Guide to preparing a property map which can be downloaded via the link on the QRIDA website.

Licence, permit, approval or other authorisation (rural producers)Prior to commencement of some activities, such as those noted in Appendix 1 of the program guidelines, you may need to obtain a licence, permit, approval or other authorisation from an “appropriate officer” of the relevant government department (e.g. DNRM). For these and similar activities, you will need to obtain independent technical advice to ascertain if a licence, permit, approval or other authorisation is required.

The declaration on page two of the QRIDA application form must be completed and a copy of the licence, permit, etc. must be attached with your application.

Existing management planYou may have an existing management plan which satisfies all the criteria outlined in this guide. In this instance, you may provide this plan instead of completing a new management plan. A Land Management Agreement (under the Land Act 1994), Land and Water Management Plan, GABSI Plan or an Environmental Risk Management Plan may be suitable.

Mutual obligation Your plan, together with your projected cash flows, will form the basis of your application for finance from QRIDA and the project outcomes agreed to in any approval will need to be reported on at each annual review.

On-Farm Activities table

Contact usIf you have any questions in regards to completing your management plan, please contact our Customer Service Officers on Freecall 1800 623 946.

Alternatively, our Regional Area Managers (RAM’s) are located in Bundaberg, Cloncurry, Emerald (with an office in Longreach), Innisfail, Kingaroy, Longreach, Mackay, Rockhampton, Roma and Toowoomba are available to assist you.  

On-Farm Activities

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Features to be shown on your property map FeaturesWatercourses Topography Soils Vegetation Degradation Infrastructure (e.g buildings/fences)

Project location & extent

Management Plan (Sustainability)

What is your trading business name? . (Please provide your full business structure on the application form)

If you are a current QRIDA customer please provide your Client ID (if known):

Part A – Your business

Q1) Please describe your core business and related activities

Q2) Who are the people involved in your business and what do they do?(consider: background and qualifications; decision-making; operations; finance and budgeting; business development and marketing; administration and recordkeeping)

Q3) What are your long-term goals?

Part A – Your business (cont.)

Q4) Please tell us about any particular business or risk management practices you currently have in place to increase productivity and long-term viability?(consider: livestock, stocking rates; crop rotation; pasture types; fencing; storage; equipment & maintenance; vessel maintenance; other [as relates to your business])

Q5) Do you have succession planning measures in place? (If yes, please describe)

Q6) What financial risk management practices (e.g. Life insurance, superannuation, investments etc.) do you have in place?

Part B – Your activities (Please complete for each activity)

Activity 1a) Please describe the activity

b) Which component of sustainable primary production management does this activity address?

Productivity and viability Impact on natural resources/other ecosystems Climate and market risks

c) How will it address this component?

d) When will the work/activity commence?

e) When will it be completed?

f) How much will it cost? $

g) How is it to be funded?

Activity 2a) Please describe the activity

b) Which component of sustainable primary production management does this activity address?

Productivity and viability Impact on natural resources/other ecosystems Climate and market risks

c) How will it address this component?

d) When will the work/activity commence?

e) When will it be completed?

f) How much will it cost? $

g) How is it to be funded?

Part B – Your activities (cont.)(Please complete for each activity)

Activity 3a) Please describe the activity

b) Which component of sustainable primary production management does this activity address?

Productivity and viability Impact on natural resources/other ecosystems Climate and market risks

c) How will it address this component?

d) When will the work/activity commence?

e) When will it be completed?

f) How much will it cost? $

g) How is it to be funded?

Activity 4a) Please describe the activity

b) Which component of sustainable primary production management does this activity address?

Productivity and viability Impact on natural resources/other ecosystems Climate and market risks

c) How will it address this component?

d) When will the work/activity commence?

e) When will it be completed?

f) How much will it cost? $

g) How is it to be funded?