Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
When leading economic indicators suggest a downturn in profitability for farmers due to major transitions in the agricultural marketplace, FBMB National Database information is even more valuable for the industry. To add value, initiatives must focus on economic data that provides new concepts that inform producer decision making.This project will expand and sustain the FBMB National Database to increase the amount of economic data and maintain data quality while increasing the amount of data available to small, underserved producers. Multi-year trend data will be developed that will share factorsfrom similar economic times in the recent past and inform producers of the impact on financial ratios and cost of production. To provide new and expanded decision making material, peer group data will be expanded so producers can compare to similar farm operations in challenging times. To support effective implementation of sustainable practices, several Climate-Smart practices reports will be developed. Another key purpose is to provide the interpretation and educational materials required to truly add value to producers' ability to make informed decisions. When stress for producers increase, quality support from financial management professionals is critical and this project will help to ensure new educators and other professionals are mentored and trained.Five partners in four states including the University of Missouri Farm Business Management Analysis (MO), University of Minnesota Southwest Farm Business Management Association (SWMNFBMA), Minnesota State Farm Business Management Education Program (MN FBM), Illinois Farm Business Management (IL), and Wisconsin Technical College's Farm Business Instructors (WI) will collaborate to accomplish project goals. All partners will work to: improve producer success in transitional times in Agriculture, ensure uniform financial/benchmarking data, expand data publishing and interpretation focusing on Climate- Smart practices, delivermentorship/training, and advance small farm data sharing. This project will address each of the five RFA-listed measures for identified goals.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
Goal 1: Expand and sustain the FBMB National DatabaseGoal 2: Demonstrate the strength of the FBMB National Database by utilizing trend data to guide producers navigating transitions in agricultureGoal 3: Increase farmer peer groups identified in the FBMB National DatabaseGoal 4: Magnify the value of the FBMB National Database by sharing economic data on sustainable Climate-Smart PracticesGoal 5: Develop Early Career Farm Management Professionals?
Project Methods
One innovative methodemployed will be to develop focused multi-year trend analyses to inform producer decision making in challenging times. This is feasible because the experience and knowledge of project partners will guide identification of key financial ratios. This is important because historical data from economic downturns in the past will provide insight when recent years have been profitable. Data on financial ratios and cost of production is timely and necessary for long term producer prosperity.A second and new methodwill be the focus on expanding peer group data to provide information specific to a cohort of producers. This is valuable because it adds another layer of data to the often-shared data from the FBMB National Database. Project partners work with active producers and have the skills to effectively promote the value of peer groups. Identifying these benchmark groups will benefit underserved and specialty crop and commercial producers.A third and critical methodis a focus on sustaining the FBMB National Database as well as expanding the number of farms submitted. A constant focus on new can overlook the value of sustaining what already exists. Partners of this project submit 2/3rds of all farms in FBMB National Database and fully understand the critical nature of ensuring the stability of what currently exists, maintaining a quality database in profitable years and in low profit years.The fourth methodis expanding access to and quantity of Climate-Smart Practices reportsand educational materials. Primary rationale is the overwhelming interest in this data from producers, Ag industry professionals, and consumers. With several years of data in this area, this partner group is in a leadership position nationally to promote the economics of sustainable practices. Economic data on the financial impact of integrating these practices in a production cycle enhances the overall relevance of the whole benchmarking effort nationally.A fifth methodis to continue to build on past project successes. This partner group has been a team for 5+ years and developed best practices to guide and strengthen mentoring activities, enabling the partners to enhance training for new Farm Business Management educators and engaged Ag Professionals. Using knowledge gained from joint development of new educational tools, innovative reports, and expanding the database has built confidence in exploring new opportunities and share successes.Attend the National Farm and Ranch Business Management Education National Conference √ √ √ √ √ Continue instruction with farmers on benchmarking, cost of production, peer groups, environmental data, Plan-on-a-Page √ √ √ √ √ Gather data from project activities for final report √ √ √ √ √ Continued Mentoring and training of educators √ √ √ √ √ PREVIEW Date: Feb 06, 2024 Workspace ID: WS01242513 Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-NIFA-FBMB-010313 Project Narrative - 8 and educational materials. Primary rationale is the overwhelming interest in this data from producers, Ag industry professionals, and consumers. With several years of data in this area, this partner group is in a leadership position nationally to promote the economics of sustainable practices. Economic data on the financial impact of integrating these practices in a production cycle enhances the overall relevance of the whole benchmarking effort nationally. A fifth technique is to continue to build on past project successes. This partner group has been a team for 5+ years and developed best practices to guide and strengthen mentoring activities, enabling the partners to enhance training for new Farm Business Management educators and engaged Ag Professionals. Using knowledge gained from joint development of new educational tools, innovative reports, and expanding the database has built confidence in exploring new opportunities and share successes (see Appendix 1-Partnering History).