I was working with a farmer the other day. 

Big operation. 

Around $10 million a year in turnover. 

Plenty of land.
Plenty of stock.
Plenty of machinery. 

From the outside it looked like a serious farm business. 

But every year… 

They were going backwards. 

Not dramatically.
Just quietly. 

A bit more pressure on cashflow.
A bit more stress each season.
A bit less enthusiasm for the whole thing. 

Their advisers kept telling them they were doing well. 

“Great scale.”
“Impressive operation.”
“You’re doing a good job.” 

But deep down they knew the truth. 

If you’re running a $10 million p.a. farm business and still tipping your own money in each year to keep it afloat… 

You don’t own a great farm business. 

You own a $10 million p.a. hobby farm. 

That’s uncomfortable to hear. 

But it’s also incredibly common. 

Here’s the trap. 

Farm owners are often brilliant at chasing more output. 

Higher yields.
More tonnes.
More livestock.
More hectares.
More turnover. 

And none of those things are bad — if they’re profitable. 

But very few stop to ask the question that actually matters. 

Where’s the profit? 

Here’s a simple way to test it. 

If you doubled production tomorrow… 

Would you actually make more money? 

Or would you just create a bigger version of the same problem? 

That question makes a lot of farm owners uncomfortable. 

Because turnover is not success. 

Scale is not success. 

Busyness is not success. 

Profit is. 

If the business doesn’t generate a real return to the owner… 

You don’t own a professional farm business. 

You own a job with overheads. 

And sometimes a very heavy one. 

More staff.
More machinery.
More risk.
More complexity. 

All sitting on top of a business model that doesn’t actually reward the owner. 

Which is why the passion slowly disappears. 

The hobby farmer who farms for passion and tips cash into the farm each year… 

And the $10 million farm business doing exactly the same thing… 

Are not that different. 

In fact, the hobby farmer might be happier. 

At least they’re doing it for the love. 

The large-scale business losing money? 

Carries the stress and the financial weight 

Being a professional farm business owner means something very simple. 

Profit comes first. 

Not unprofitable scale.
Not turnover for the sake of it.
Not ego. 

Profit. 

You start with the profit the business must generate. 

Then you work backwards. 

You pay yourself properly. 

You design the business model to deliver that outcome. 

And you stop pretending that tipping your own money into the farm every year is somehow normal. 
Because it’s not. 

Here’s the encouraging part. 

For most farm businesses, the profit isn’t miles away. 

It’s often three degrees to the left or right of where you’re currently looking. 

A different decision.
A different focus.
A different way of running the business. 

And suddenly the numbers start telling a different story. 

That’s exactly what we work on at the TOP Producers Workshop. 

Two days with farm owners who are serious about building professional farm businesses. 

Not just bigger farms. 

More profitable ones. 

The next workshop is on the Gold Coast in June. 

If you’re ready to stop measuring success by turnover… 

And start building a business that actually rewards the owner… 

Come and join us. 

Because there’s nothing impressive about a $10 million p.a. farm business that doesn’t make money. 

But a profitable one? 

That’s a professional operation. 

Reserve your seat at TOP Producers

Regards 

Sam Johnsson
CEO, Farm Owners Academy 
 
P.S. If you recognised your own farm somewhere in this idea of a $10m p.a. hobby farm, don’t ignore that feeling. Big turnover without real profit is exactly the kind of problem we tackle at TOP Producers. Early bird tickets are on sale now - this is the best time to lock in your seat. Secure your spot here.