Cost-of-production tool for growers

Know what every crop really costs.

Veg SmartMargins is a secure, web-based financial analysis tool for Australian vegetable, onion and potato growers. Enter your income and costs at whatever level of detail suits you — the tool works out the rest.

Your data, your control. Aligned with the NFF Australian Farm Data Code.
Aerial view of crop rows
Simulate a scenario
Fuel cost +15%
Pack-out drops to 72%
New irrigation system
Market price +$0.40/kg
EBIT margin
$48,212 /ha
+$1,240 vs last season
Funded by Hort Innovation Project MT25016 The successor to VegTool and VegBIZ, rebuilt for today

What it does

Everything you need to know your numbers.

Clean enough for your accountant, grounded enough to trust.

Full cost of production

Gross margin, break-even price and yield for every crop — including labour, overheads and shared costs most spreadsheets miss.

What-if scenarios

Test changes to price, yield, pack-out, input costs and crop area before you commit.

National benchmarks

Compare against published results from the National Vegetable and Onion Benchmarking Program.

Monthly cashflow

See your peak cash deficit coming across the season. Export as PDF or CSV for your accountant.

Built for growers

Every crop. Every cost. In plain dollars per hectare.

Enter your income and costs at whatever level of detail suits you. SmartMargins works out your gross margin, break-even, and full cost of production.

  • Gross margin and break-even for every crop
  • Labour, overheads and shared costs allocated properly
  • Monthly cashflow across the season
Farmer reviewing data on a laptop

What-if scenarios

Model next season before you commit to it.

Drag price, yield, and cost to see your operating margin update live. Test a decision before you write the cheque.

  • Adjust price, yield, pack-out, input costs and crop area
  • See the margin impact instantly
  • Export as PDF or CSV for your accountant, bank or family
Team sorting capsicums

Why this matters now

Margins are being squeezed from every direction.

Labour, fertiliser, freight, energy and market prices are all moving. In the latest benchmark results, the gap between the top and bottom performing vegetable businesses was more than $25,000 per hectare in earnings.

MT22009, Season 2024 — National Vegetable and Onion Benchmarking Program

$25,000+ /ha
Earnings gap, top vs bottom performing businesses
Crop by crop
Know your numbers where it matters

Our guarantee

Your data stays yours.

Only you can see your figures. Your data is never shared with anyone.

Benchmarks use published industry aggregates only. Your numbers are never added to any database.

Export or delete everything you have entered, at any time.

No ABN, address or business name required to sign up.

Have your say

Being designed with growers from day one.

We are running grower focus groups in key production regions. You will get a first look at a working prototype, and your feedback will directly shape what gets built. Bring your experience, not your books.

Now

Focus groups

Two-hour sessions, face-to-face where possible. No financial info required to participate.

Then

Beta testing

A working prototype shaped by your feedback. Test it with your own scenarios.

Release

Available to growers

The finished tool, built the way you asked for it. Free to start.

It is the first tool I have been comfortable putting in front of a grower and their bank in the same meeting.
JM
Jenny McLeod
Farm business adviser · placeholder attribution

See where your margin sits.

Free to start. Your data stays yours from the first number you enter.