Main Page

Welcome to the FEAT Online Wiki

This "wiki" is your step by step guide and user help manual, helping you get the most out of the Farm Economics Analysis Tool (FEAT) Online. You can open the wiki by selecting 'User Guide' up the top of the tool or by clicking 'Help' on the bottom left side which will bring you to the specific wiki page for the FEAT Online page you are on. This is the main page of the wiki, to get to a specific page use the table of contents and then click on the hyperlink for a heading for more information on a specific page.

Tip: We recommend having the FEAT Online website opened in a separate window while following along step by step in the wiki.

What is FEAT Online?

The FEAT Online website is a planning and decision-making tool used to assist cane farming enterprises. FEAT Online enables users to evaluate the economic impact from changing farm management practices. Other uses for FEAT Online include evaluating farm labour requirements, preparing cash flow budgets and quantifying the impact of “what if” scenarios.

Common Menu Items

Common menu items include:

• Main Navigation Bar which will always contain the same menu items.
• Contextual Navigation Bar which will display links relevant to the current page.
• Wizard Buttons at the bottom of the page will have a logical back and next button.
• The five Action buttons are Edit, Copy, Share, Archive and Delete.

For more information go to Common Menu Items.

Home Page

This is the home page for the tool which explains the purpose of the tool, has many links to get started and hosts the tutorial videos.

For more information go to Home Page.

Scenario List

This page lists all the scenarios developed by the user (and the regional scenarios) and enables users to edit, copy, archive, share and delete scenarios or compare the performance of two different scenarios. Users can either add a new scenario, continue working on a previously created scenario or modify a regional scenario.

For more information go to Scenario List.

Scenario Home

This page shows a flow diagram illustrating the process involved when developing a FEAT scenario.

For more information go to Scenario Home.

Scenario Assumptions

This page is used to calculate the cost of harvesting, cane price and net revenue. Users add in information for mill area, other assumptions and levies.

For more information go to Scenario Assumptions.

Cane Assumptions

This page is for entering cane growing area, yield and CCS for each crop class. Other Crops information for area should also be entered in, if applicable.

For more information go to Cane Assumptions.

Cane Growing Costs

This page is used to calculate cane growing costs per hectare, including the costs of machinery operations, fertiliser, pesticides and irrigation.

For more information please go to Cane Growing Costs.

Cane Summary

This page is a summary of gross margin information based on information entered on the Cane Assumptions, Cane Growing Costs and Scenario Assumptions pages. This page displays all cane crop classes, a farm column and no entry of information is required.

For more information go to Cane Summary.

Other Crop Assumptions

This page enables users to calculate net revenue from growing crops other than cane on fallow blocks.

Information for area for Other Crops Year 1 and Other Crops Year 2 (if applicable) will have to be already added, on the Cane Assumptions page, to enable this page.

For more information go to Other Crop Assumptions.

Other Crops Growing Costs

This page is used to calculate the variable costs per hectare from growing crops other than cane on fallow blocks. In addition to the sections contained in Cane Growing Costs, there are 3 additional categories, Other Crop Costs, Harvesting Costs and Packing Costs.

For more information go to Other Crops Growing Costs.

Other Crop Summary

This page is a summary of gross margin information based on information entered on the Other Crop Assumptions, Other Crops Growing Costs and Scenario Assumptions pages.

This page displays all other crops and no entry of information is required.

For more information go to Other Crop Summary.

Machinery Setup

This page can be used to edit existing information for tractors and implements or to add additional information to calculate machinery costs. It is likely that most of this page is filled out already if data has been entered on the Cane Growing Costs or Other Crops Growing Costs pages.

For more information go to Machinery Setup.

Irrigation Setup

This page is used to add irrigation pumps and associated information.

For more information go to Irrigation Setup.

Contract Rate Calculator

This page enables users to calculate a contractor rate by factoring in depreciation and interest expenses for their tractors and implements, contract labour and profit margin – in addition to the Fuel, Oil, Repairs and Maintenance costs transferred from the Machinery Setup page.

For more information go to the Contract Rate Calculator page.

Depreciation

Depreciation is regarded as a fixed cost. Unlike other fixed costs there is no cash flow for depreciation. So why include it when calculating profit? At some point assets will wear out and need to be replaced. Including depreciation ensures that profit is sufficient to cover their eventual replacement.

For more information go to Depreciation.

Assets

This page is used to record total farm assets. Values for Plant & Machinery can then be applied with a Depreciation rate to calculate a total Annual Depreciation figure, shown in the Fixed Costs page. Values for this and the remaining asset types (Land & Fixed Improvements, Inventories, Livestock and Other) are used in the calculations for Return on Investment (%) in the Profit page.

For more information go to the Assets page.

Fixed Costs

This page is used to sum all of the fixed costs, including the cost of insurance, land rates, accounting fees, and building and vehicle repairs and maintenance, and more. It is also where fixed water and electricity costs are added.

For more information go to the Fixed Costs page.

Other Income

This page is used to enter additional income that users may receive. For example, farmers may obtain other income from undertaking contract work, hiring out equipment or leasing land. Add other income by clicking on the ‘Add Other Income’ button and:

1. Entering a name for the other income;
2. Entering a description of the other income (optional);
3. Entering the total annual income from this source.
4. Clicking on the ‘Submit’ button.

Profit

This page shows a breakdown of Area, Total Income, Total Variable Costs and Total Gross Margin for cane and any other crops entered into the scenario. Furthermore, Fixed Costs are subtracted and Other Income added to the Total Gross Margin in order to calculate the Farm Operating Return. The Return on Investment (%) is also calculated by dividing Total Assets (from Assets page) by the Operating Return.

Farm Operating Return

Farm operating return, calculated as gross income less total costs (excluding interest and tax), is a good measure of profitability to compare two farming systems with different fixed costs and capital expenditure.

i.e. comparing one farming system with irrigation to another farming system without irrigation).

Return on Investment

Return on Investment (ROI) measures how effectively farm assets are working to generate profit and calculated as Operating Return divided by Total Assets. ROI is a useful measure to compare two farming systems with different assets.

i.e. comparing one farming system with old machinery to another farming system with new machinery.

When evaluating management practice changes, it is important to evaluate cash flow implications and determine whether the business has sufficient cash flow to cover the changes. Completing a Cash Flow budget in FEAT will provide a forecast of any deficits and surpluses in cash throughout the year so that a plan can be enacted to ensure bills and loan repayments are paid on time.

Farm Performance Indicators

This page provides users with a range of Farm Performance Indicators for the selected FEAT scenario. Users do not need to enter any information into this page. Each Farm Performance Indicator is listed below together with a short definition.

Key Indicators

• Total Farming Area (ha): identifying whole of farm area. This may include land that is used to grow other crops in rotation with the sugarcane enterprise.
• Tonnes Harvested: Total tonnes of cane harvested across the whole farm.
• Sugar Price ($/t): Average sugar price received per tonne of sugar.
• Total Income/Revenue ($): income derived from both sugarcane and other crops. The calculated figure is directly influenced by crop prices, yields and crop quality (e.g. CCS for sugarcane). This does not take into account production costs and therefore does not measure profit.
• Total Variable Costs ($): costs associated with growing cane and other crops that are directly related to the level of output from the business (eg. harvesting, chemicals, fertilizer, fuel, oil repairs, contractors etc). The amount spent is under the control of the manager and can be changed quickly in the short term. A high figure may indicate that the business needs to review its farming system practices or it may have a high proportion of contracted operations, leased land or casual labour.
• Total Cane Gross Margin ($): the difference between total income and total variable costs for the sugarcane enterprise. Cane gross margin is the sugarcane enterprise’s contribution to fixed costs and profits after the variable costs have been paid. This figure is important for maximising whole of farm profit in the short run as fixed costs are difficult to change.
• Total Other Crop Gross Margin ($): the difference between total income and total variable costs for the other crops enterprise. Other crop gross margin is the other crop enterprise’s contribution to fixed costs and profits after the variable costs have been paid. This figure is important for maximising whole of farm profit in the short run as fixed costs are difficult to change.
• Farm Operating Return ($): calculated by subtracting fixed costs from the whole of farm gross margin and adding miscellaneous income.
• Return On Investment - whole enterprise (%): measures the economic return achieved relative to the value of all the farm’s resources. The figure indicates whole of farm profitability, however it does not include financing costs or taxes.
• Casual Labour Hours (hrs/yr): calculated by summing both machinery and irrigation labour hours across the whole farm. Casual Labour Hours are important when comparing two scenarios with different management practices that influence labour requirements (different row spacing or irrigation systems), particularly when variable labour has not been allocated costs (e.g. $35/hr).
• Casual Labour Cost ($/yr): calculated by summing both machinery and irrigation labour costs across the whole farm. This will be zero if users have not added a casual labour cost into the ‘Machinery’ page and the ‘Cane Growing Costs’ and ‘Other Crop Growing Costs’ pages (within the irrigation sections). Casual Labour Costs are important when comparing two scenarios with different management practices that influence labour requirements (different row spacing or irrigation systems) if variable labour has been allocated costs (e.g. $35/hr).
• Permanent (Fixed) Labour Costs ($): transferred from the ‘Fixed Costs’ page. Vital when comparing the performance of two different farming systems.

Physical

• Total farming area (ha): already defined above.
• Cane harvested area (ha): area of sugarcane harvested.
• Cane yield (t/ha): average tonnes of sugarcane per hectare for all crop classes.
• Farm average CCS (relative): average relative sugar concentration for the entire sugarcane crop.
• Tonnes sugar per hectare: determined by the yield and CCS levels of the sugarcane crop and indicates the amount of sugar produced per hectare. Provides an overall indication of the enterprise production output.
• Rotational crops area (ha): area of crops grown in rotation with a sugarcane crop production system (eg. Legumes).

Resources

• Land and fixed improvements ($/ha): estimated market value of the whole farm expressed on a per hectare basis. The calculation includes land and fixed improvements (eg. sheds, water mains and dams) and influences the return on investment calculation.
• Machinery Investment ($/ha): a guide to whether the whole of farm business is over or under capitalized. Includes all machinery and equipment used to run the farming business. This measure should only be compared with values for farms of the same type and size. This figure can also influence the return on investment calculation.
• Sugarcane tractor operations (hrs/ha - plant, ratoons & bare fallow): provides an indication of the farming system efficiency by calculating the amount of time spent undertaking tractor operations in the plant, ratoon and bare fallow areas of a sugarcane crop.
• Whole farm casual labour efficiency (labour hrs/ha): measures the effectiveness of the manager to use labour resources to operate the business. Businesses must have similar characteristics to allow for a comparison. For example, mixed enterprises will generally have a higher labour input per hectare because of the labour required to grow another crop.
• Sugarcane irrigation casual labour (hrs/ha): measures the effectiveness of the manager to use labour resources to irrigate the sugarcane crop. The calculated figure may be influenced by irrigation practices, irrigation system, environmental conditions or the availability of water.
• Sugarcane irrigation efficiency (tonnes/ML applied): tonnes of cane per ML irrigation water applied. This PI will be most meaningful when comparing farms in a geographic location with similar soil types and receiving a similar amount of rainfall (both annual total and distribution).

Profitability

• Total sugarcane farm income, net of levies and bonuses ($/ha and $/tonne): income derived by the sugarcane enterprise relative to its size in hectares and tonnes. Already defined above.
• Cane variable costs ($/ha and $/tonne): costs associated with growing cane that are directly related to the level of output from the business (e.g. harvesting, chemicals, fertiliser, fuel, oil repairs, contractors, etc.). The amount spent is under the control of the manager and can be changed quickly in the short term. A high figure may indicate that the business needs to review its farming system practices or it may have a high proportion of contracted operations, leased land or casual labour.
• Cane gross margin ($/ha and $/tonne): already defined above.
• Cane operating return ($/ha and $/tonne - if 100% cane only): calculated by subtracting the whole of farm fixed costs from the cane enterprise gross margin. This figure is not applicable to mixed enterprises as fixed costs may not be solely attributed to the sugarcane enterprise.
• Whole of farm gross margin ($/ha): the summation of gross margins for all cropping enterprises.
• Whole of farm operating return ($/ha): As defined above but on a per hectare basis.

Cost Ratios

• Fixed costs ($/ha): whole of farm fixed cost expressed on a per hectare basis. The expectation would be that the greater the size of the farm the lower the fixed costs per hectare.
• Total fixed costs/Total farm income: indicates what proportion of total farm income went towards the payment of whole of farm fixed costs. Lower figures may be attributed to economies of scale, a more efficient farming system which requires less machinery or a high income. This figure will be influenced by price fluctuations, therefore it is difficult to benchmark over time.
• Total cane variable costs/Total cane income: indicates the proportion of total sugarcane enterprise income that went towards the payment of sugarcane variable costs. A high figure may indicate that the business needs to review its farming system practices or it may have a high proportion of contracted operations, leased land or casual labour. This figure will be influenced by price fluctuations, therefore it is difficult to benchmark over time.
• Average growing expenses plant cane ($/ha): the average land preparation, planting, fertilizer, weed control, insect control, disease control and irrigation costs for growing a crop of plant cane. The average includes spring plant, autumn plant and plough-out replant. The calculation only considers the crop class on the farm i.e. if there is no autumn crop it is not part of the average.
• Average growing expenses ratoon cane ($/ha): the average cultivation, fertilizer, weed control, insect control, disease control and irrigation costs for growing a crop of ratoon cane. The average includes all ratoon crop classes.
• Average land preparation costs for plant cane ($/ha): the cost of land preparation prior to planting sugarcane. A high figure may indicate excessive tillage before planting or contracted tillage operations causing higher variable costs.
• Sugarcane fertiliser and soil ameliorants cost ($/ha): the average cost of fertiliser and soil ameliorants (e.g. lime, gypsum) for plant, ratoon and fallow areas.

Cane Sensitivity

This page provides a cane sensitivity analysis table, which shows the cane average gross margin at different sugar prices and CCS values. Given uncertainty around the price growers will receive for their sugar and their season average CCS, sensitivity analysis is useful to explore the impact to profitability (gross margin) if the sugar price and CCS vary from what is expected.

Users can generate a cane sensitivity analysis by:

1. Entering the starting sugar price, which should be the lowest sugar price growers might expect to receive (e.g. $340/tonne);
2. Entering the incremental change in sugar price, which is the dollar change per column moving to the right of the table. For example, if a user enters $20 then the sugar price in each column to the right will increase by $20 each column (e.g. $340, $360, $380, etc.);
3. Entering the starting CCS value, which should be the lowest season average CCS growers expect (e.g. 12);
4. Entering the incremental change in CCS, which is the CCS change per row in the table moving downwards. For example, if a user enters 0.4 then the CCS in each row moving downwards will increase by 0.4 each row (e.g. 12, 12.4, 12.8, etc.);
5. Clicking the ‘Submit’ button.

After entering those four values and pressing submit, users can then examine the cane sensitivity table to determine the average gross margin at different combinations of sugar price and CCS.

For example, the worst case would be the gross margin that corresponds to the lowest sugar price and CCS combination (top-left value), while the best case would be the gross margin that corresponds to the highest sugar price and CCS (bottom-right value).

Other Crop Sensitivity

This page contains provides a sensitivity analysis table for each of the other crops entered by the user. After choosing the particular ‘Other Crop’ that users want to examine, the sensitivity table will show the average gross margin at different combinations of market prices and yield. Given the similarities, please see the step-by-step details for Cane Sensitivity above for instructions on how to enter the starting price/yield and incremental changes.

Cash Flow

This page enables users to download a Cash Flow Worksheet. When downloaded, the worksheet is pre-filled with specific information from the FEAT scenario such as revenues and expenses.

To download the Worksheet, users need to click on the ‘Download Worksheet’ button and save the file to a familiar folder on their computer.

To complete the Cash Flow Worksheet, users need to open the file and:

1. Enable editing of the sheet.
2. Enter the Delivery Advances of sugar ($/t) for the corresponding month (e.g. $285 in July, $0 in August and September, $10 in October, etc.). This total needs to add up to be the same as the Sugar price;
3. Enter the percent of cane crop delivered (and paid) in each month over the harvest season;
4. Allocate percentages of ‘Other Crops’ and ‘Other Income’ (if applicable) to the corresponding months over the financial year. For example, if 100% of ‘Other Crop’ income is received in March then enter 100 in March and leave zero in the other months. This will allocate all of the Other Crop income to March;
5. Allocate percentages of ‘Variable Costs’ and ‘Fixed Costs’ to the corresponding months over the financial year. For example, if approximately 25% of fertiliser costs are paid in August, September, October and November then enter 25 into each of these months and leave the other months zero;
6. Enter total Investment Sales and Purchases into the total column (B) and allocate percentages of Sales and Purchases to the corresponding months over the financial year;
7. Enter money coming into the business, via ‘New Borrowings’, ‘Contribution from Owners’ and ‘Interest Earned’ (under Finance heading), in each month over the financial year.
8. Enter money going out of the business, via ‘Loan Repayments’ and ‘Drawings’ (under Finance heading), in each month over the financial year.
9. The next section will show all outgoing (expenses) and incoming (income) for the corresponding month over the financial year.
10. Add in last year’s final balance if applicable.
11. Navigate to the sheets ‘Cash Flow (Yr 2)’ and ‘Cash Flow (Yr 3)’ if you wish to fill out those years.
12. Navigate to ‘Cash Flow Summary’ to see a summary for each year.

Optimum Ratoons

This page calculates the optimum number of ratoons grown in a crop cycle that maximises profitability. The optimum number of ratoons is identified by the ratoon that produces the highest average gross margin per hectare over the crop cycle.

Calculate the optimum number of ratoons by selecting the cane planting time (early, late or plough-out replant) to be used for the calculation from the drop-down list. Please note that you can only select these options if you have a crop entry for them from the Cane Assumptions page. The optimum ratoons table also includes additional ratoons that have not been entered by the user (e.g. 5th to 10th ratoons). The yield and CCS values for these additional ratoons should be edited by the user by entering estimates that reflect their particular situation.

The optimum number of ratoons will be shown below the table (on the left) in the light blue shaded area once the planting time has been chosen.

More Information

If users require any further information not outlined above, please send us an email by following the instructions on the Contact Us page – accessed by clicking on ‘Contact Us’ at the very top of the FEAT Online page.