I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Interpreting and Using Farm System Data

2. Course Prefix & Number:
FBMT 1132

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 4

4. Course Description:

This course provides an opportunity for the student to view the farm business and its various components through a number of vehicles such as balance sheets, farm personal and managerial inventories, enterprise reports and historical data.

5. Placement Tests Required:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course is required for the following program(s):

Name of Program(s)	Program Type
Essentials in Farm Business Management	Certificate

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate written communication skills	Student will compile a farm business plan
Discuss/compare characteristics of diverse cultures and environments	Student will evaluate current issues while creating a marketing plan

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Maintain production and financial business records;
• Interpret business analyses;
• Utilize business analyses to improve business organization and efficiency;
• Demonstrate strategic decision-making skills;
• Evaluate personal and business goals and plans;
• Manage business resources and technologies; and
• Manage risk.

 

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Risk management plans
• How to develop an effective risk management plan
• Meeting needs based on high priorities of risk
• Revisions
• Risk exposure vs. risk mitigation
2. Business and personal goals
• List of periodically updated personal, family and business goals
• Checklist indicating progress towards goal objectives
3. Ownership options of capital assets within a business
• Cost analysis on a per unit basis
• Need for ownership option to be consistent with asset acquisition plan
• Cost analysis including a measure of constraints on other systems within the business
4. Farm business plan
• Mission, vision and value statements
• Farm, personal and family goals
• Current plans (i.e., marketing, risk management, cash flow, labor, management, etc.)
• Historical data
5. Key business ratios
• Using the completed analysis to help identify financial ratios
• Identifying the key farm financial ratios
• Ratio positions to date for the farm business
6. Business profitability vs. benchmark data
• Completing the year end analysis
• Selecting appropriate benchmark data for comparison
• Areas of strengths and weaknesses compared to benchmark data
7. Marketing plan
• Cost of production
• Inventory management decisions
• Global economics
• Reflecting tax implications
• Cash flow projections
8. Current business projections
• Completing the cash flow projection
• Evaluating the projection
• Interpretation that is accurate and reasonable
• Providing clear evidence for interpretations
9. Historical farm data vs. current performance
• Developing a current trend report
• Utilizing comparative trend data from business analysis
10. Enterprise budgeting
• Using current price information on projected production input needs
• Using historical data on a per unit basis in making projections