Source: UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA submitted to
NORTHERN PLAINS REGIONAL FARM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND BENCHMARKING PARTNERSHIP
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1031363
Grant No.
2023-38504-41021
Cumulative Award Amt.
$499,343.00
Proposal No.
2023-04318
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 15, 2023
Project End Date
Sep 14, 2025
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[FBMB]- Farm Business Management and Benchmarking Program
Project Director
Walters, C.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
(N/A)
LINCOLN,NE 68583
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
We propose a partnership between farm business management associations and institutions of higher education to improve the knowledge of U.S. farmers and ranchers. The intention of our project is to improve long-term profitability and producer risk management decisions through the use and development of the National Farm Financial Benchmarking Database. The project will be conducted through the efforts of three farm business management associations in Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota, and two land-grant universities (Ohio State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln).Our project will address both FBMB Program Objectives to 1) "maintain and expand" the national database and 2) "expand collaborative farm management educational programs and association partnerships that will contribute data" to the national database. We will also help to address all five FBMB Measures identified in the funding announcement. While our organizations already support over 1,680 producer farm financial analyses and contribute to the national database, we are committed to increasing the number of participants (especially beginning and small- and medium-sized farms), increasing the quality of financial records, and creating a comprehensive annual report to be used in the national database. Our project will also support research related to identifying the influence and role of informational avoidance in financial and risk management decision making. Insights will be used to improve Extension efforts influencing better financial and risk management decision making. Amount requested: $499,343.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
60160303010100%
Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management;

Subject Of Investigation
6030 - The farm as an enterprise;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;
Goals / Objectives
We will improve the National Farm Financial Benchmarking Database, small- and medium-sized farm profitability and competitiveness, and producers' decision-making skills by achieving the following program goals:Improve the quality, quantity, and diversity of data in the National Farm Financial Benchmarking Database through enhanced producer association partnerships in four states.Use resulting project data to link farm financial indicators to other farm decision-making tools to improve the probability of farm success and survival, particularly for small- and medium-sized and beginning farms.We will accomplish the goals by achieving the following objectives:Expand the already established National Farm Financial Benchmarking Database to support improved farm management for producers.Expand collaborative partnerships with producer associations to improve producers' farm management knowledge and skills and increase data sharing for the national database.Increase data gathering aimed at beginning and small- and medium-sized farms.Increase the profitability and viability of beginning and small- and medium-sized farms and ranches through access to quality, uniform farm business management benchmarking data.Enhance producers' financial knowledge to improve their abilities to survive through periods of high risk, volatility, and financial stress.
Project Methods
Each parterning organization will engage in a slightly different method according to their needs and constraints.Nebraska Farm Business, Inc. (NFBI): Nebraska expects to expand client numbers contributing to the national database by 20 percent (15 beginning farmers) by a strengthened brand strategy and through relationships with lenders, extension educators, agricultural commodity groups, and other ag professionals. Through these relationships, as well as having a presence and networking with producers at farm shows, NFBI will increase program awareness and benefits. NFBI will also increase onsite visits to individual producers to help them streamline their data collection process and further develop relationships.South Dakota Center for Farm/Ranch Management (SDCFRM): Encouragement, producer referrals, grant funds, financial matches, and in-kind support from agribusinesses and commodity groups has allowed SDCFRM to provide statewide coverage. This expanded coverage has fostered SDCFRM's diversification within crop mix, to include livestock operations, and has included beginning and experienced producers. .North Dakota Farm Business Management (NDFBM) Education Program: Long-term instructor retirement coupled with recent hires staying less than five years has required NDFBM to focus on training and mentoring new instructors and maintaining new client enrollment by focusing recruitment on beginning farmers and ranchers as they have less complex financial statements.Ohio State University (OSU): OSU has maintained a small benchmarking program of around 55 clients and has recently been expanding into underserved areas and crops within the state by engaging with producers who have these charateristics.?

Progress 09/15/23 to 09/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Ranchers and farmers in the partnership states Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The partnershipcontinues to work to stay up to speed with the everchanging ag industry and has been fortunate enoughto attend PEP trainings in January and November, RANKEM Training (webinar), FINPACK training, North Dakota CTE training, and the Benchmarking Grant leaders meeting, RANKEM Training (webinar), FINPACK training, and the Benchmarking Grant leaders meeting. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?2024 reports will be made available winter of 2024/spring of 2025 after data is entered and evaluated. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The partnership will publish 2024 annual reports, submit data to the national database, work with clients on improving financial performance, plan for 2025, attend trade shows to grow program awareness, recruit clients and help existing clients work thorugh 2024 financial results.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? North Dakota Farm Business Management Education Program In2024, NDFMEA instructors staffed booths at farm shows in Minot and Grand Forks, ND, respectively, to promote the program and encourage farmers to enroll. Instructors also staffed a booth at the Big Iron Farm Show in West Fargo, ND in September. Booth displays have been updated to reflect the changes in program locations across North Dakota. NDFMEA has held trainings for new and experienced instructors twice per year. We also participate in trainings offered by the Center for Farm Financial Management. In the future, new instructors are being encouraged to participate in other trainings outside of North Dakota. Early-career instructors are eligible to have their costs reimbursed. One instructor also participated in a week-long training with new ag lenders to receive additional training on evaluating borrowers' credit worthiness and how to work with borrowers on a personal level. Ohio State Trained OSU Extension's newest workforce and retooled interested educators about farm business analysis and benchmarking. A two-day in-service was held for 15 OSU Extension personnel where they were trained using a case study approach to complete a farm financial analysis. Initiated conversations with loan officers and lenders specializing in agricultural finance to raise awareness of potential collaborations for customers at their lending institutions. Highlighted the potential for regional benchmarking reports to help clients identify strengths and weaknesses of their farm business South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management Program instructors were invited to present producer data at several South Dakota Soybean Association Shop Talk events, including Madison, SD (March 2024), Yankton, SD (April 2024) Aberdeen, SD (July 2024), and Chamberlain, SD (August 2024). Other speaking opportunities included: Deuel County NRCS Meeting in Brookings, SD (May 2024), South Dakota Bankers Conferences (July 2024), South Dakota Wheat Association (Dec 2024), and South Dakota Soybean Genesis (Dec 2024). In February 2024, we hosted a marketing meeting for producers where speakers were brought in to give market updates and forecasts for the upcoming year. We have more events like this planned for the upcoming year. Our program instructors also continue to submit monthly articles titled the "Farm Management Minute" to area news and agriculture publications (Farm Forum, Tri-State Neighbor, etc.). Nebraska Farm Business Inc. We continue to work hard in increasing the number of operations that we work with, to improve their knowledge and management skills. With our new focus on helping producers start at the "cornerstone" of good record keeping, we hope to open the door of analysis and benchmarking to a whole new group of producers. Producers will find their operations much more sustainable with good recordkeeping and solid information to make management decisions from. We hope to continue to build on the momentum of the past few years, and increase the number of new analysis by another ten farms before the 2025 analysis season is complete. This is exciting for the individual producers we will be helping, as well as for the professionals who use the data collected for research, benchmarking, and improvement of the individual producer's profitability.

Publications