How Extension Education Programs Help Farm Managers

The Cooperative Extension System has a long history of offering educational programs about farm management. In the early days of Extension education, the business management course offerings far outdistanced the participation rate by farmers. The programs on production technology how to grow the crop or how to produce the livestock had more appeal than programs about the economic consequences of production decisions. However, this attitude seems to be changing as farmers express more interest in the business side of fanning.

To be effective, a farm manager must match enterprises with available resources, analyze the economic realities of management decisions, and avoid getting caught up in the emotion of the moment. Although the land, labor, capital, and management needs are different for each farm, the principles of farm management are applicable to farms of all sizes.

How We Got Here

Extension farm management education started soon after World War II, with programs that focused on recordkeeping in the farm business. At that time, the mechanics of merely keeping track of farm income and expenses was the main concern. Business analysis was not emphasized. As time went on, these recordkeeping programs became more complete, integrating both the farm and the household records.

These programs had many titles. A common title used in the 1950's was "Fang and Home Development Programs." They stressed budgeting for the farm business, including enterprise budgeting, as well as partial and whole-farm budgeting. Family needs and family budgeting were also emphasized, as was the importance of a spending plan for both farm and family. (See Part III, Chapters 5-7 for more information on budgeting.)

A New Look

These farm and family planning activities assumed a new look as U.S. agriculture became more complex. By the early 1960's there was widespread use of computer technology in budgeting, farm planning, and record analysis. Computer programs became popular planning tools used by Farm Management Extension educators during this period.

Other programs have been developed and delivered by Extension educators to meet producers' business management needs in areas such as leasing arrangements, analyzing machinery investments, managing labor, income tax management, estate planning, and inter-generational transfer decisions. More recently, programs addressing business analysis, financial decisions, debt structure, and competitiveness in the global economy have been added.

A fundamental premise underlying the concept of farm management is that for farmers to achieve the most income from their farm businesses and for them to survive and remain competitive, they must allocate resources properly.

Meeting Differing Needs

Targeting a wide range of audiences and users of Extension programs is essential if the Extension System is to meet the educational needs of today's farm managers. These needs vary depending on the size of operation, mix of enterprises, type of fanning, region, and amount of time devoted to farming as opposed to nonfarm activities. We will discuss the challenge of meeting today's needs in Extension farm management education for small and part-time farmers and for commercial farmers.

Small and Part-Time Farmers. The largest group of farmers in this country operate small farms. Some are full-time farmers, but many are part-time farmers with off-farm jobs that provide the major source of family income. The small family farm is still an important part of American agriculture, and there are Extension farm management programs designed specifically for small and part-time farmers.

Assistance is provided to help small farmers select the enterprise or combination of enterprises that will return the most profit to land, labor, capital, and management. Small farmers often focus on enterprises such as vegetables and fruits that have the potential for higher net returns per acre than such crops as corn or soybeans. Poultry and other livestock enterprises may also be especially adaptable to small farms. The management process must include not only production plans but financial and marketing plans also. It can be tragic fora small farmer to have vegetables or other commodities ready to harvest and nowhere to market them. (See Part H, Chapter 8 on alternative enterprises and Part IV, Chapter 8 on managing small-scale farms.)

Many States have Extension Agents who work primarily with small and part-time farmers. Farm management specialists help the agents conduct workshops on financial management, recordkeeping, and farm planning all designed for small farmers. For more information on farm management programs available to small and part-time farmers, contact your County Extension Office.

Commercial Farmers. Commercial agriculture is a highly sophisticated business which requires the application of sound economic and business principles. The Nation's largest farms have multimillion dollar investments and gross incomes. Small and medium-size commercial farms will have annual gross incomes ranging from $200,000 to $1 million. The Cooperative Extension System, through the land-grant universities, has the responsibility and challenge to provide educational programs in farm management to commercial farmers, professional farm managers, and agricultural lenders in each State.

Extension farm management programs are tailored to the needs of commercial producers and agricultural lenders in each State. These programs are offered through County Extension Offices as short courses or workshops consisting of 9-12 hours of instruction. Some universities offer short courses on campus for farmers, managers, and agricultural lenders. These courses can range from the basics of understanding enterprise budgeting to using computer models for long-range strategic planning. The objective of these workshops is to help farmers apply farm business management principles that will improve net farm income to support a better quality of life.