Articles

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.

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.

Anhydrous Ammonia-It’s time to review employee safety

Used extensively as a source of nitrogen fertilizer due to its relative ease of application and wide availability, the obvious downside of anhydrous ammonia use is the serious hazard it presents to workers during transfer and application. The word “anhydrous” comes from the Greek, meaning “without water.” Because of the chemical’s strong affinity for water, […]

Creating A Value-Added Business Model That Works

Many commodity farms face a fork in the road at some point. The status of their physical infrastructure, labor availability, size, age, or other factors create a time where they must decide to invest in economies of scale or use their resources they have in a more value-added way. Those who invest in economies of scale are […]

AgriVision Episode 30 – Pooling forage resources

Host Katie Wantoch and Jerry Clark, Associate Professor and Agriculture Agent with Extension in Chippewa County, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of neighboring farmers buying forage equipment together.

AgriVision Episode 29 – Take one step at a time in farm transition

Host Katie Wantoch and Ben Jenkins, Agriculture Extension educator in Green Lake County, discuss considerations for a farmer to consider with a future land purchase from his uncle.

AgriVision Episode 28 – Do we need LLC for ag bagger?

Host Katie Wantoch and Jerry Clark, Associate Professor and Agriculture Agent with Extension in Chippewa County, discuss the purchase of an ag bagger between a farmer and his neighbor, operating agreements, and managing forage quality.

Effective Farm Safety Training Starts with a Purpose

The top strategies include conducting regular educational meetings, promoting open employer-employee communication and acting in ways that create a workplace culture where safety is accepted, valued and viewed as key to business success.

Establishing Your Values and Purpose – Strategic Thinking for the Farm Business

Farmers track and plan for evolving market conditions only to have a something like a global pandemic further disrupt markets and raise concerns of worker safety. Wisconsin farm leaders have adapted, and they continue to make decisions amid increasingly complex circumstances making it necessary to lead from a well-constructed strategy. Most farm leaders stay on […]

Risk and Building Better Business Resiliency

Risk and farming are two sides of the same coin. Like many industries, the farm business lives with and deals with risk daily. Further, the number of risks and their costs are increasing. These increases make the management of risk a vital component for successful long-term profitability. Risk is the probability that some event will cause exposure to […]

Partial Budgeting

Whether on the tractor, in the barn, or at the farm office, farm managers are always mulling over some change to their operation that might improve profitability. It might be employing a new technology, launching a new enterprise, buying or leasing machinery, altering a production practice, or some other possible change. Occasionally, one of those ideas […]

Balance Sheet – Focus on Inventory

As people who live in rural areas, we are all use to the potholes that jar our vehicles and rattle our teeth. Likewise, the financial statements that measure the position and performance of our dairy businesses have potholes too that are sometimes difficult to navigate.