Managing Your Farm Future Program Proactively Works With Producers To Improve Financial Situation

Nov 09, 2016

Low commodity prices and high input costs are weighing heavily on farmers’ bottom lines. A proactive new program, Managing Your Farm Future, is designed to help producers assess their current financial position, plus examine strengths and weaknesses in order to improve their balance sheets. The program is offered by Kansas State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics and K-State Research and Extension.

The initial Managing Your Farm Future meeting is Tuesday, Dec. 13 in Manhattan and will be followed by one-on-one confidential consultations in January with members of the K-State Farm Analyst Program.

The Dec. 13 kickoff dinner and meeting will be at Pottorf Hall, 1710 Avery Ave., at the Riley County Fairgrounds, starting at 6 p.m. The program includes:

The Farm Financial Situation – Mykel Taylor, assistant professor, K-State agricultural economics;
Overview of Financial Planning Workshops and FINPACK Farm Financial Software Demonstration – Duane Hund, director of the K-State Farm Analyst Program; and
Wrap up and registration for Farm Financial Consultation Workshops.

The Dec. 13 meeting is free, but registration is required by Dec. 7. Register online at www.riley.ksu.edu or call the K-State Research and Extension Riley County office at 785-537-6350.

That meeting can be followed by a one-on-one confidential meeting with a member of the K-State Farm Analyst team on either Jan. 10 or Jan. 11, also in Manhattan at Pottorf Hall. Family members involved in the farming operation are encouraged to participate. The consultation fee is $150.

Attendance at the Dec. 13 meeting is not required to register for a one-on-one consultation in January.

The goal is to pair a farm analyst with farm families and using FINPACK software to assess a farm’s financial position and identify possible changes that could increase profitability and cash flow. Farmers will come away with a balance sheet, enterprise budgets, a base business plan and alternative business plan scenarios.

Source:k-state.edu

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.