With input costs rising and margins under pressure, a new digital tool is being created to help vegetable, onion and potato growers make clearer, more confident decisions before committing to crops, inputs and production plans.
The Veg SmartMargins project, funded by Hort Innovation, is the next evolution of the familiar VegTool and VegBIZ programs, modernised for today's challenging operating environment. Scheduled to launch in 2027, the new tool moves growers beyond basic gross‑margin calculations to a secure, web‑based platform that supports full enterprise‑level financial analysis and decision‑making.
Veg SmartMargins directly responds to fuel, fertiliser, labour and pricing pressures by giving growers a practical way to see whether a crop is genuinely profitable once total labour and overheads are included, not just variable costs.
Crucially, the tool will allow growers to test scenarios before decisions are locked in. By adjusting prices, yields and input costs, growers can see how different choices affect whole‑farm profitability, cashflow and risk.
Andrew Francey, General Manager Industry Service & Delivery at Hort Innovation, explained why this matters now for growers: "Growers are making decisions in a far more volatile and high cost environment compared to a decade ago. Veg SmartMargins builds on a tool growers already recognise and updates it for the realities they're facing today, giving them clearer information before they commit time, money and resources."
The tool will be shaped by growers throughout the duration of the entire project, from discovery through deployment. Through structured regional workshops and beta testing, grower input will directly shape how costs are allocated, scenarios are tested and results are presented, ensuring the tool reflects how growers actually think about and record their costs to deliver a practical and intuitive outcome.
Scott Samwell, a vegetable grower based in South Australia, said the tool will provide practical decision support to growers under increasing pressures: "This tool is about helping growers answer real questions. What should I plant? What can I afford? What is my cost of production? What happens if costs rise further? By testing scenarios first, growers can make decisions with more confidence in a tough climate."
The platform will also integrate anonymised industry benchmarking data from the National vegetable and onion benchmarking program (MT22009), allowing growers to see how their business compares with national and regional averages while maintaining full control of their own information. Grower financial data will remain private and secure, and benchmarking information will only be presented in aggregate anonymised form.
To support real world use, Veg SmartMargins will be backed by practical training and extension activities, including plain‑English user guides and manuals, short, targeted video tutorials and regionally delivered online workshops.
By updating a trusted tool for today's cost and risk environment, Veg SmartMargins aims to help growers take control of financial decisions earlier, reduce uncertainty, and build more resilient businesses under ongoing cost pressure.
This project (MT25016) is funded by Hort Innovation, using the fresh and processing potato, onion and vegetable research and development levies and contributions from the Australian Government.
