Developed by Mark Bell (2026) - for education only. Yields and responses are for the exercise only.
Farm Manager Challenge
You have inherited one hectare of poorly managed wheat. You have $150 cash. Improve the crop, choose your plan, then live with that plan through five different seasons.
Your challenge: make a profit, protect the crop, and still have enough cash to keep farming. You control the management. You do not control the season.
Stage
Plan
Cash available
$150
Season
Not started
Improve the farm
Every row starts on the cheapest option: this is the farm as you inherited it. Change one choice at a time and ask: does the extra cost earn its place? The figures below are what this plan is worth in an average season.
Input
Your choice
Cost
% cost
Land preparation
Fertiliser (kg/ha)
Weed control
Pest & disease
Irrigation (mm)
Seed variety
Seed quality
Input cost
Loan needed
Average-season yield
Average-season profit
What is holding yield back?
Each bar is how much of the crop's potential survives that factor, averaged over good and bad seasons. The shortest bar is your best next investment.
Run the season
Your management plan is locked. Each season brings four things you cannot fully control.
□️
Weather
□
Pests & disease
□
Timeliness
□
Market
Yield
Average season
This season
Profit
Average season
This season
Your five seasons
| Season | What happened | Planned t/ha | Actual t/ha | Price | Profit | Cash after |
|---|
Talk about it
The lesson is in the "why", not in who won.
- Which input gave the best return for its cost?
- Where did more spending stop paying?
- What was the biggest yield constraint?
- What happened in the worst season, and could a real farm survive it?
- Fertiliser in a dry year: what did the crop actually do with it?
- Would you choose the highest-profit plan or the safest plan next time? Why?
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