Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience of our program is agricultural producers. This would include both grain and livestock producers. We will work with any age or socioeconomic group, but have put an emphasis on marketing the program to younger and beginning farmers. Changes/Problems: The only major change during this grant period revolved around instructor turnover. During this period, the two long-time instructors of the program both retired, bringing in new instructors to replace them. The other change was when the instructor originally funded by this grant, Dawn Mellikant who was located in Aberdeen, SD resigned in August 2012. Her replacement, Kathy Meland was hired in December 2012. This did slow down the participant recruiting and training for a few months, but the team has come to speed quickly with minimum loss in participant training time over all. The team feels it may have reduced the overall number of participants during this grant period but not the potential for numbers in the future. As of the date of this submission, there were 21 farms/students enrolled for the northeast South Dakota region. Administration feels this number is slightly behind where we would like, but progressing the right direction. Overall program enrollment has increased by 50% during this grant period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? With the assistance of our USDA/NIFA grant funding, our instructors have been able to attend PEP training put on by the MnSCU (Minnesota State Colleges and Universities), FINPACK training, and be able to attend the National Farm Business Management Conference annually. With the expansion of the program and the added staff associated with this, along with the retirement of two long time instructors, the training has been very vital to the success of the program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Through the Annual Report, the data collected from our participating farms is provided back to the participants to enable them to analyze their operations by benchmarking to their peers as well as provide the data to their financial institutions and tax accountants. The compiled data is distributed to multiple outlets such as USDA, RMA, NASS, South Dakota Department of Agriculture, South Dakota State University Extension, commodity groups, financial institutions, agribusinesses, and professionals such as attorneys and accountants in the form of the South Dakota Annual Report. In addition to this publication, our data is uploaded to the FINBIN National Benchmarking Database which is housed by the Center for Farm/Financial Management at the University of Minnesota. The SDCFRM has a website through the Mitchell Technical Institute’s website: http://mitchelltech.edu/programs/ViewProgram.aspx?id=6&ContentID=9. A producer can obtain copies of the brochure, this year’s annual report, a silage calculator, a description of the program, and links to information about the instructors. In addition, all the instructors and the director of the program provide presentations at numerous workshops and seminars. During these events results directly attributable to this funded project are discussed and presented. Small audiences and one-on-one meetings are also ongoing and give instructors another opportunity to disseminate key information from this program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
With the assistance of this USDA/NIFA grant, the previously regionalized Farm Business Management program at Mitchell Technical Institute was able to expand to become a state-wide program and officially became the South Dakota Center for Farm/Ranch Management. This expansion created the opportunity to add additional instructors to cover a larger area. We now have 3 instructors working out of the Mitchell, SD office, 1 in NE SD, one in Central SD, and one in Western SD. With the added instructors, we have been able to expand both our Level 1 (FSA Beginning Farmer Borrower training) and our Level 2 programs. The Level 1 program is now offered in the traditional on-site delivery method with 2 locations in South Dakota as well as an online method. The comprehensive annual report is created each year which is a compilation of the data collected from our participating farms. This data is used for comparative and benchmarking purposes. This report serves as a resource on agricultural data to government agencies, extension educators, lenders, and professionals such as accountants and attorneys. Since the inception of this grant in 2010, we have increased our total program enrollment by 43%. We had 95.5 students enrolled in the 2010/2011 enrollment period, 129.5 in the 2011/2012 enrollment period, and 137 in the 2012/2013 enrollment period. It appears that we are well on our way to another 20% increase for the 2013/2014 enrollment period.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
2012 SD Center for Farm and Ranch Management South Dakota Annual report. Authors: DeRouchey, R., Downs, C., Walter, W., Koupal, D., Meland, K.,(2013). The South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management
program published the South Dakota Annual Report. The Annual Report is the compilation of statistical data measurement of the Level 2 farm
and ranch families. The measurements are comprised of the financial records, plus the crop and livestock enterprises.
This Annual Report is used as a benchmark by numerous government agencies throughout the state of South Dakota to
influence agricultural policy. Also, the agricultural lenders utilize the Annual Report to make lending decisions. This report
is available in hardcopy and also on the South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management's website www.sdcfrm.com. USDA logo was printed on the cover, but no specific acknowledgement was given to NIFA.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Farm Management Minute is a weekly publication which is sent out to various local and regional weekly agricultural newspapers. Topics include those related to current events such as marketing, financial, or crop/livestock themed news. This weekly article has helped with the expansion of our program. Authors: DeRouchey, R., Downs, C., Walter, W., Hall, T., Meland, K., Hofer, J., and Tonak, L.
This column is published in the following papers: Aberdeen Farm Forum - the Green Sheet and Tri-state News (5000 readers); the Highmore Herald and Onida Watchman (1650 readers)
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
2011 SD Center for Farm and Ranch Management South Dakota Annual report. Authors: DeRouchey, R., Downs, C., Walter, W., Melikant, D.,(2012). The South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management
program published the South Dakota Annual Report. The Annual Report is the compilation of statistical data measurement of the Level 2 farm
and ranch families. The measurements are comprised of the financial records, plus the crop and livestock enterprises.
This Annual Report is used as a benchmark by numerous government agencies throughout the state of South Dakota to
influence agricultural policy. Also, the agricultural lenders utilize the Annual Report to make lending decisions. This report
is available in hardcopy and also on the South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management's website www.sdcfrm.com. USDA logo was printed on the cover, but no specific acknowledgement was given to NIFA.
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Mitchell Technical Institute Farm and Ranch Management Program is an educational program for South Dakota farmers and ranchers. The program provides a verified management and financial data collection system for crop and livestock enterprise budgeting and benchmarking. The farm business management program provides farmers and ranchers two options to meet their needs. The Level 1 option provides a basic understanding of business plans, agricultural credit, financial and risk management, marketing and developing a beginning farm and ranch business plan. Level 1 instruction is available to the farmers and ranchers through a series of live classroom meetings and an online opportunity. The Level 2 option provides individualized farm and ranch business analysis instruction and mentoring for farm and ranch families to assist them with the development of a business plan and improve marketing strategies and profitability. Most instruction is conducted between the instructor and farmer or rancher at the farm site using indidvidual farm data records as an educational tool. Plus, the program staff is in the process of developing a hybrid delivery method using electronic media and onsite visits to meet the educational needs of the participants. During the second year of the grant, the Farm and Ranch Management Program has worked toward expanding throughout all of South Dakota and increasing the number of participants that are enrolled. We have implemented some new measures to help us in these endeavors. Some of these public relations activities were four brochures, four radio interviews, ten press releases, three newspaper advertisements, six workshops, eight industry trade shows, and twenty informational meetings. The instructors conducted surveys of level one and level two students during the second year. The workshops and training programs, which were conducted throughout the year for the level one participants, consisted of five classroom settings which included expert presenters in the fields of crop insurance, marketing, income tax management and farm transition planning. Along with these presenters, representatives from the Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service explained the government programs available to the producers. The level two programs conducted this past year entailed six to eight on site instructional visits, 6 informative workshops and their operation's end of year FINPACK financial and enterprise analysis. The beginning farmers who have completed a year's course of studies, received ten credits towards their education. The Center's instructors provide two weekly agricultural publications, throughout rural South Dakota, with farm management educational articles. PARTICIPANTS: Roger DeRouchey was the project director along with instructors Chris Downs, Will Walter, and Dawn Melikant. A fifth instructor was added in June, David Koupal will travel western South Dakota and expand the number of participants in the program. Partner organizations incude Farm Credit Services of America, South Dakota Wheat Commission, South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, South Dakota Pork Producers Council, South Dakota Corn Utilization Council. Also, North Central Farmers Elevator in South Dakota has joined us as a partner and will be sponsoring first year students. Collaborators and contacts who helped with the expansion of the FBM Program were the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and the South Dakota Department of Education and also the administration at Mitchell Technical Institute. Along with those collaborators the SDCFRM has partnered with the South Dakota State University Extension Service to bring an increased awareness of the SDCFRM's eductional offerings to the beginning farmers and ranchers in the state. We also had a person help us with data input. A partner's testimonial. "From a lenders perspective, it makes my job so much easier when a producer comes in asking for a loan and he knows his cost of production and can use that information in marketing, decision making and planning. There is no other program that can help producers develop this information for this amount of money! The program is invaluable to us as lenders and I recommend it constantly." Kevin Jaspers- Sioux Falls, SD Financial Officer Farm Credit Services TARGET AUDIENCES: Our target audience for this program is all of the beginning farmers and ranchers throughout South Dakota. Some of these beginning farmers and ranchers have limited resources and are females. In July we expanded our coverage area to include the western half of the state. The level one training consisted of five training sessions that lasted four hours each. These were conducted two different ways. On site instruction and via an internet class. The internet based class is a self-paced program and not all of the participants were done at the completion of this year. The level two training offers individualized training sessions, with an instructor on the farm, learning the best farm management practices by applying the instruction to their individual operations. The Center is currently applying other means of communication with our farm and ranch families through Facebook, smart phones, and newsletters. Also, the instructors take turns writing a weekly article called "The Farm Management Minute" which runs in two weekly agricutural publications throughout South Dakota. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Because of this grant and our surveys, the farm and ranch management instructors have found it appropriate to change the name of the program from the Farm and Ranch Business Management Program at Mitchell Technical Institute to the South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management. This name change as well as the expansion will provide the Center with statewide recognition to all of the farm and ranch families in South Dakota. Due to time and distance constraints, plus attempting to reduce costs of the program, the Center is developing advanced electronic avenues of education. Agricultural lenders and agricultural businesses are providing first year tuition assistance to their farm and ranch families enrolling in the Level 2 option. The Center and these partners are encouraging the tuition assistance to be directed towards their beginning farm and ranch families. The unexpected demand for more electronic communication avenues was expressed by our farm and ranch families. An agricultural lender's testimonial. "A number of our farmers are participants in this program and have found that the program will make a significant difference to the profitability of their operation. Through the disciplined method of financial planning, bookkeeping and analysis that this program teaches it's participants, our farmers have been able to not only benefit from the higher returns these producers are achieving, but are also able to benefit from a systemized record keeping system and the ability to compare production against the benchmarks provided in the program's Annual Report. I am happy to provide tuition assistance to producers who enroll in the program!" Allen Teel - Stickney, SD Senior Vice President Farmers State Bank. Since the beginning of the grant period, the Center has been working towards converting their farm financial record analyis program away from SDS Analysis and going to the FINPACK Analysis program. This allows our farmers a cleaner and more comprehensive analysis of their operations. Plus, FINPACK has the ability to place these farms on a national benchmarking database which allows them to compare their operations with different regions of the state or nation.
Impacts
The total participation through year two of the first level was forty-seven farm and ranch families. This was over the base number which was forty participants. One of the reasons for the decline in numbers from the first year of the grant was due to more of those particpants choosing to enter into level 2 training and fewer families eligible for FSA beginning farmer loans. A participant completing the level one training will receive four credit hours. New farmers or ranchers are enrolled in the Farm and Ranch Management Program in the January through March timeframe of each year. Currently this fall's 2012 enrollment increased from our base enrollment number of eight-five farmers and ranchers to one hundred sixteen farmers and ranchers. The program will attain its second year goal of one hundred sixty participants when forty-four additional farm or ranch families enroll in Level 2, starting in January of 2013. The participants were surveyed using a paper survey. It was concluded in the level one survey that ninety-five percent of the participants are currently farming and are implementing the knowledge they gained. In the level 2 survey eighty-five percent believed their knowledge changed, forty-nine percent of them thought their attitudes changed. As to changing their management behavior, or the way they would approach a management decision, sixty-seven percent stated that they had plans to do so. Ninety-nine percent of the participants completed a 2011 FINPACK financial analysis and ninety-five percent completed the FINPACK enterprse analysis. The participants will complete the 2012 year end analysis sometime in January through March, 2013. Due to the issue of timing between the anniversary of the grant report date and the completion of the financial year of the farmers/ranchers, a proper measurement of the first and second grant years will be reflected in the final grant report. Because we offer a comprehensive educational program, we were asked to collaborate with the South Dakota State University extension service as another outlet to provide beginning farmer education in South Dakota. Also, this as well as the expansion, will provide the Center with statewide recognition to all of the farm and ranch families in South Dakota. The online Farm Management Toolkit was expanded by the Center's instructors to enhance the financial decision making process for farmers and ranchers throughout the state. The farm families have been utilizing this toolkit that is accessed through our website to help them make financial decisions. The demographics of the participants in the first year of the grant were made up of two percent socially disadvantaged, forty percent had limited resources, none of them were farm laborers and 21 percent were females. Currently about ninety-five percent of the participants were farming or ranching at the start of the course. The net farm income of our particpants was one hundred ninety-eight percent higher than the 2010 USDA NASS agricultural census. The Center's participant's net profit per acre was one hundred forty-five percent larger compared to the same report.
Publications
- DeRouchey, R., Downs, C., Walter, W., Melikant, D.(2012). The South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management program published the South Dakota Annual Report. The Annual Report is the statistical measurement of the Level 2 farm and ranch families. The measurements are comprised of the financial records, plus the crop and livestock enterprises. This Annual Report is used as a benchmark by numerous government agencies throughout the state of South Dakota to influence agricultural policy. Also, the agricultural lenders utilize the Annual Report to make lending decisions. This report is available in hardcopy and also on the South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management's website.
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Mitchell Technical Institute Farm and Ranch Management Program is an educational program for South Dakota farmers and ranchers. The program provides a verified management and financial data collection system for crop and livestock enterprise budgeting and benchmarking. The farm business management program provides farmers and ranchers two options to meet their demands. The Level 1 option provides a basic understanding of business plans, agricultural credit, financial and risk management, marketing and develop a beginning farm and ranch business plan. Level 1 instruction is available to the farmers and ranchers through a series of live classroom meetings, DVD correspondence, and an online opportunity. The Level 2 option provides individualized farm and ranch business analysis instruction and mentoring for farm and ranch families to assist them with the development of business plans and improve marketing strategies and profitability. Most instruction is conducted one-on-one between the instructor and farmer and rancher at the farm site using indidvidual farm data records as an educational tool. Plus, the program staff is in the process of developing a hybrid delivery method using electronic media and onsite visits to meet the educational needs of the participants. During this first year of the grant, the Farm and Ranch Management program has worked towards expansion throughout eastern South Dakota and increasing the number of participants that are enrolled. We have implemented some new measures to help us in these endeavors. Some of these public relations activities were four brochures, four radio interviews, seven press releases, three newspaper advertisements, three webinars, two workshops, eight industry trade shows, and twenty-two informational meetings. The workshops and training programs which were conducted throughout the year for the level one participants consisted of five face to face meetings, one online course and one self study course through DVDs. A participant completing the level one training will receive four credit hours. The level two programs conducted this past year entailed seven on farm visits, three webinars and one self study course. These beginning farmers who have completed a year's course of studies, received ten credits towards their education. The demographics of the participants in the first year of the grant were made up of zero percent socially disadvantaged, forty-five percent had limited resources, none of them were farm workers and eighteen percent were females. Currently about ninety-nine percent of the participants were farming or ranching at the start of the courses. PARTICIPANTS: Roger DeRouchey was the project director along with instructors Lori Christensen, Calvin Pietz, and Dawn Melikant. In the month of August, Lori Christensen resigned and Will Walter was hired to replace her, along with the hiring of Chris Downs as instructors to help expand the program throughout eastern South Dakota. Partner Organizations incude Farm Credit Services of Amercia, South Dakota Wheat Commission, South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, South Dakota Pork Producers Council, South Dakota Corn Utilization Council. Collaborators and contacts who helped with the expansion of the FBM Program were the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and the South Dakota Department of Education and also the administration at Mitchell Technical Institute. We also had a person help us with data input. A partner's testimonial. "From a lenders perspective, it makes my job so much easier when a producer comes in asking for a loan and he knows his cost of production and can use that information in marketing, decision making and planning. There is no other program that can help producers develop this information for this amount of money! The program is invaluable to us as lenders and I recommend it constantly." Kevin Jaspers- Sioux Falls, SD Financial Officer Farm Credit Services TARGET AUDIENCES: Our target audience for this program is all of the beginning farmers and ranchers thoughout eastern South Dakota. Some of these beginning farmers and ranchers do have limited resources and are females. An expansion is planned for July of 2012 which includes the western half of the state. The level one training consisted of five training sessions that lasted four hours each. These were conducted three different ways. Face to face, internet based, and via correspondence DVD's. The internet base and correspondence participants are self-paced programs and not all of the participants were done at the completion of this year. The level two training offers individualized training sessions, with an instructor on the farm, learning the best farm management practices by applying the instruction to their individual operations. The Center is currently developing other means of communication with our farm/ranch families through popular electronic methods. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Because of this grant and our surveys, the farm and ranch management instructors have found it appropriate to change the name of the program from the Farm and Ranch Business Management Program at Mitchell Technical Institute to the South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management. This name change as well as the expansion will provide the center with statewide recognition to all of the farm and ranch families in South Dakota. Due to time and distance constraints, plus attempting to reduce costs of the program, the Center is developing advanced electronic avenues of education. Agricultural lenders and agricultural businesses are providing first year tuition assistance to their farm/ranch families enrolling in the Level 2 option. The Center and these partners are encouraging the tuition assistance to be directed towards their beginning farm/ranch families. The unexpected demand for more electronic communication avenues was expressed by our farm/ranch families. Agricultural lender's testimonial. "A number of our farmers are participants in this program and have found that the program will make a significant difference to the profitability of their operation. Through the disciplined method of financial planning, bookkeeping and analysis that this program teaches it's participants, our farmers have been able to not only benefit from the higher returns these producers are achieving, but are also able to benefit from a systemized record keeping system and the ability to compare production against the benchmarks provided in the program's annual report. I am happy to provide tuition assistance to producers who enroll in the program!" Allen Teel - Stickney, SD Senior Vice President Farmers State Bank
Impacts
The total participation through year one of the first level was sixty-three farm and ranch families. This was over the base number which was forty participants and exceeded our goal of sixty participants. New farmers or ranchers are enrolled in the Farm and Ranch Management Program in the January through March timeframe of each year. The anniversary date of the grant (September, 1) is off cycle when compared to the enrollment period of the new farm or ranch families. Currently this fall's 2011 enrollment increased from our base enrollment number of eight-five farmers and ranchers to ninety farmers and ranchers. The program will attain its first year goal of a one hundred forty participants when fifty-two additional farm or ranch families enroll in Level 2 starting in January of 2012. The instructors of the farm and ranch management program conducted two surveys during the first year. The participants were surveyed using three different methods. The first was using SurveyMonkey.com, second was a paper survey, followed by a phone survey. It was concluded in the level one survey that ninety-eight percent of the participants are curently farming. Eighty-four percent believed their knowledge changed thirty-eight percent of them thought their attitudes changed. As to changing their management behavior or the way they would approach a management decision, sixty-one percent stated that they had plans to do so. Ninety-three percent of the level one participants plan to continue farming. The following testimonial was given to the program by a family who participates in the program. "The shoe-box style accounting days are over. To stay in business, today's farmers & ranchers need accurate information. The SD Farm Business Management program can provide the financial tools required to base their ag business decisions on." Kent and Pam Geppert Level 2 Participant The participants will complete the 2011 year end analysis sometime in January through March, 2012. Due to the issue of timing between the anniversary of the grant report date and the completion of the financial year of the farmers/ranchers, a proper measurement of the first grant year will be reflected in the second year of the grant report. Because of this grant and our surveys, the farm and ranch management instructors have found it appropriate to change the name of the program from the Farm/Ranch Business Management Program at Mitchell Technical Institute to the South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management. This name change, as well as the expansion, will provide the center with statewide recognition to all of the farm and ranch families in South Dakota. An online Agricultural Education Management Toolkit was developed by the Center's instructors to enhance the financial decision making process for farmers and ranchers throughout the state. The farm families have been utilizing this toolkit that is accessed through our website to help them make financial decisions.
Publications
- DeRouchey, R., Pietz, C., Christensen, L.(2011). The South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management program published the South Dakota Annual Report. The annual report is the statistical measurement of the Level 2 farm and ranch families. The measurements are comprised of the financial records, plus the crop and livestock enterprises. This annual report is used as a benchmark by numerous government agencies throughout the state of South Dakota to influece agricultural policy. Also, the agricultural lenders utilize the annual report's statistics to make lending decisions. This report is available in hardcopy and also in the South Dakota Center for Farm and Ranch Management's website.
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