Articles
Farm Management Articles
Research-based information and tools to help with your farm business management decisions
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Protect your lungs from invisible hazards
Safety considerations to protect dairy farmers and employees from hazards involved with grain dust, manure storage and farm chemicals.
Use a positive mindset and gratitude to handle daily farm stress
There are many stressors when owning and operating a farm business, and for many of you, a multi-generational farm business. Adopting a positive mindset with a focus on gratitude can help farm business owners better handle these stressors.
Find a good farm accounting software system
Selecting the best recordkeeping tool will assist in making management decisions for the future. At the end of the year, farmers may be reviewing their income tax obligations and marketing plans or completing a business or enterprise analysis. A successful farm manager is already keeping good, accurate records throughout the year. Selecting the best recordkeeping […]
Set your farm strategy with daily habits and time for strategic thinking
For business owners, managers and employees, days are full of endless decisions and actions that affect the health, success and future of ourselves and our businesses. These choices can start to feel like they’re piling up, which creates pressure, stress and a feeling of foreboding that can negatively impact how we make (or put off making) decisions.
Planning and cash flows go hand-in-hand
Many of us have spent numerous hours building the perfect plan, only to see it end up useless because our assumptions were wrong or some unforeseen disruption occurred in life. Thus, we conclude that planning is useless, a big waste of valuable management time. However, I think we are missing the point. Eisenhower said plans were useless, but the process of planning was indispensable.
First impressions matter: The importance of onboarding farm new hires
Labor shortages are widespread, workers are expecting higher starting wages, and after farms hire and train a new employee, there is a risk that they will jump ship for a better-paying job. Improve the retention odds on your farm by putting a plan in place to improve the employee onboarding experience.
Prepare your farm for the next cyclical low during the good times
Cyclical lows tend to be a time of greater anxiety for many and include increased exit from the industry. However, even in cyclical lows, some farms are making profits. For these farms, it is also a time of opportunity as capital asset prices for machinery, land, and cows are often lower as well. The question is: What do these successful farms look like at the end of cyclical highs that enable them to continue that success during cyclical lows?
Is your dairy ready for disaster?
Whether it’s fire, flood, wind, or injury- a disaster on your farm can cause devastating loss and requires pre-planning to minimize the disruption.
Can farmers match airlines’ safety record?
As the harvest season approaches, put on your pilot’s cap. Get your team together. Pull out your manuals, checklists, and protocols. Be purposeful. Make the changes that need to be made, and make sure all of your team members have their wings! It’s a lot of work, I realize. But as we see from our friends in the airline industry, it does make a difference!
Using the lean canvas to refine your farm business idea (old for redirect)
Redirects to https://farms.extension.wisc.edu/articles/using-the-business-model-canvas-to-refine-your-farm-business-idea/
How to Stay on Track to Reach Your Farm Business Goals
Part II of this article series discusses how to clear obstacles that litter the path to implementing important decisions on the farm through the use of Fishbone Diagram and Forcefield Analysis.
Identifying strategies to maximize potential and minimize risk
Business strategies are practical actions that communicate how a business plans to reach its goals. Thinking strategically about the farm business as a whole helps determine emerging themes, issues, patterns, and opportunities. Learn how to complete a SWOT Analysis for your farm.
How to Find the Next Creative Idea for Your Farm
Part I of this article series introduces “The Memory Jogger” booklet and how brainstorming and nominal group technique can help generate your farm’s next great idea.
AgriVision Episode 34 – Alternatives to Renting Land
Host Katie Wantoch and Bill Halfman, Professor and Extension Agriculture agent in Monroe County, discuss an alternative to renting more farmland – buying high quality forages from their neighbor.
AgriVision Episode 33 – Breeding to beef bull semen on bottom half of dairy herd
Host Katie Wantoch and Lyssa Seefeldt, Agriculture Extension educator in Eau Claire County, discuss the trend of breeding with beef bulls to the lower bottom half of a farmer’s dairy herd.
Develop an organizational chart for your farm business
Organizational (org) charts are a visual depiction of your farm’s staffing structure. They define roles and clearly illustrate “who reports to whom,” with connecting lines showing accountability and reporting relationships. An org chart for your farm can help keep things running smoothly and efficiently by providing several benefits.
