Why join DairyBase?

With DairyBase you can:

• Better understand your farm's performance
• Identify opportunities to drive profit
• Make confident and effective data-based decisions
• Track progress towards long and short-term goals
• Draw comparisons against other farms
• Keep a tight rein on farm working expenses.

DairyBase offers two types of benchmarking – the business's financial performance and the farm’s physical aspects – and compares them to industry standards or targets.

Both set out farm information in a standard way to make comparisons easy. To get the most out of benchmarking use the financial and the physical reports together.

The process for using DairyBase

1. Sign up to DairyBase:
   Permission can be given for an accountant or rural professional to access reports.
2. Complete DairyBase physical questionnaires:
   The Level 1 questionnaire describes your farm business.
   The Level 2 questionnaire goes into more detail about your farm's physical performance including  pasture and crop harvested, fertiliser, reproduction, and stock records.
3. Analyse the farm business:
   Once we have your physical report complete, we will then analyse this against your financial information. You can send your financials to us yourself or our admin team will request them from your accountant. Following receipt of your financials you will then receive a financial report detailing your farms' financial performance, benchmarked against similar farms.
4. Discuss reports:
   Identify opportunities with your rural professional.

How is my farm data used?

Data is collected annually either by you sending in the completed questionnaires or with the help of the DairyNZ Farm Performance team.

Your farm data will continue to help DairyNZ to:

• Respond to policy issues including water quality policies set by regional councils under the National Policy for Freshwater Management (NPSFM), greenhouse gas legislation, and to advocate on your behalf.
• Contribute to dairy industry statistics and benchmarking.
• Continue to build on industry good information and help keep New Zealand dairy farmers at the forefront of the world dairy industry.

All information provided to DairyBase/Baseline is confidential. Please see our DairyBase Terms of Use for further information.

Get the most out of your data with the Baseline Project

DairyNZ's Baseline Project is an extension of DairyBase that collects detailed data from dairy farmers, beyond the usual feed and fertiliser use. This comprehensive information helps respond to policy pressures, like water quality and greenhouse gas legislation and contributes to wider dairy industry statistics. By participating, you'll receive personal DairyBase physical and financial reports and an annual Overseer report.

Your data will be collected annually by one of our data specialists, this is a completely free service, and our specialists are always happy to work around timelines that best suit you. Collection begins in June/July.