Orchard Business Analysis and benchmarking resources

Understanding the true costs and returns of orchard production is critical to making informed business decisions.

A new series of Orchard Business Analysis (OBA) how-to guides has been developed to help apple and pear growers improve the way they collect, track and analyse production and financial information. The guides cover key areas including orchard background data, revenue, labour, postharvest costs and financial coding.

Together, they are designed to help growers build more consistent records, better understand the drivers of orchard performance and prepare their business for meaningful benchmarking against industry data.

The approach reflects the OBA model, which uses consistent production, revenue and expenditure data to help growers understand business performance and support budgeting and strategic decision-making.

Orchard Business Analysis How-to Guides

Standardised Chart of Accounts

Create a clearer picture of where your orchard income comes from and where money is being spent.

This guide outlines a recommended Chart of Accounts structure for orchard businesses, covering revenue, postharvest costs, labour, other working expenses and overheads.

Using consistent financial categories can make it easier to calculate cost of production, track changes over time and compare business performance against the APAL Orchard Business Analysis model.
Standardised Chart of Accounts How-to Guide

Block Background Dataset

Build the foundation for better block-level analysis.

Good benchmarking starts with understanding the characteristics of each orchard block. This guide outlines the key background information growers can record, including planted area, variety, rootstock, planting year, tree density and canopy system.

Keeping this information alongside seasonal performance data gives important context when comparing blocks, varieties, seasons and management outcomes.

Most businesses will already have much of this information across orchard maps, planting records, spreadsheets or management systems; the key is bringing it together into a reliable, easily maintained record.
Block Background Dataset How-to Guide

Revenue: Production, Yield, Packout and Returns

Understand what is driving orchard revenue.

The guide focuses on three key revenue drivers: production, packout and price.

Recording and reviewing these measures by variety helps growers understand whether orchard revenue is being influenced by the volume of fruit produced, the proportion reaching higher-value grades or the return achieved in market. This information can then be used to inform orchard management decisions for the following season.

The guide also explains how to collect and interpret production, packout and returns data in a way that aligns with the OBA benchmarking model.
Production, Yield, Packout and Returns How-to Guide

Labour Expenditure Tracking

See where your labour investment is going.

Labour is a major on-orchard cost, but a total wage figure alone does not show which activities are driving expenditure.

This guide explains how growers can break labour costs into practical categories such as harvesting, pruning and thinning, helping businesses understand how labour is being allocated and whether that investment is contributing to improved yield, packout and profitability.

It also outlines a step-by-step approach to establishing labour categories, recording time against tasks, reviewing expenditure and benchmarking labour costs against orchard outcomes.
Labour Expenditure Tracking How-to Guide

Postharvest Expenditure

Understand the costs between the orchard gate and the market.

Postharvest expenditure can represent a significant share of total orchard production costs. Understanding costs such as packing, packaging, coolstorage, freight and other postharvest services can provide a clearer picture of variety profitability and overall business performance.

The guide is relevant to both grower-suppliers using third-party postharvest providers and vertically integrated businesses, and explains how to categorise expenditure so it can be compared meaningfully against OBA benchmarks.

It also highlights the value of reviewing postharvest costs on both a gross production and Class 1 production basis, helping growers understand the relationship between packout and the cost carried by saleable fruit.
Postharvest Expenditure How-to Guide

Benchmark your orchard through the OBA project

In addition to these resources, AgFirst is currently seeking apple and pear orchard businesses to participate in the Orchard Business Analysis project.

AgFirst will collect production and financial data from participating orchards across Australia for the previous two production years. This information will be analysed and combined to develop “model orchard” data showing average costs and returns across Australian apple and pear production.

Participating orchards will also receive a detailed production and financial benchmarking report comparing their performance with other participating businesses.

Having robust and up-to-date industry data helps the industry understand how orchard profitability and major cost categories are changing over time, while providing stronger information for budgeting, forecasting and business decision-making.

Interested in participating?

Contact Sarah McArley (née de Bruin), AgFirst
Phone: +64 21 175 7263
Email: [email protected]

About the project

Commissioned by APAL, the Australian Pome Fruit Industry Orchard Business Analysis Report (OBA) is prepared by AgFirst as part of the Apple and pear orchard benchmarking (AP25002) project. The project is funded by Hort Innovation, using the apple and pear research and development levy and contributions from the Australian Government. Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture.