Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The primary goal of this project is to provide a national farm financial benchmarking database that will allow any farmer in the nation to compare their financial performance with a selected peer group of like farms. Therefore, the target audience of this project is all farmers in the U.S. The more direct audience is that group of farmers who are participants in farm business management education programs and who contribute to the National Farm Financial Management and Benchmarking Database. To date, complete financials for 3,439 participating farms from twelve partner farm management education programs are currently included in the National Farm Management and Benchmarking Database at http://www.finbin.umn.edu for the 2018 business year. Farms have been compiled and included in the database from 11 states (Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin), with additional data still to be compiled from Colorado and New England. Participating farms are provided tools and access to make it possible to directly compare their farms with benchmark peer groups to highlight financial strengths and weaknesses. In 2018, 77% of contributing farms were small or mid-sized farms, the group that is most challenged by today's volatile agricultural economy. Twenty-five percent (25%) were beginning farmers and 32% were young farmers. A special effort was made this year to reach out to veterans. Forty-six (46) participating producers identified themselves as veterans. All farms across the country have access to the FINBIN website, the portal into the national database to generate benchmark reports. They can also use the "Compare Your Farm" feature to enter their financial data and generate peer group benchmarks. A third audience is agricultural lenders, educators and other agricultural professionals who can access FINBIN to generate reports to benchmark their clients, to generate educational material, and to monitor the performance of the ag economy. Finally, the fourth audience is agricultural researchers who can use FINBIN reports to support research in various facets for farm financial management. A more focused effort on research has taken place over the last year with the addition of Dr. Joleen Hadrich as a University of Minnesota faculty member. Dr. Hadrich has completed research of the attributes of top farmers, resilient dairy operations, and the impact of the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) government program. Future research efforts have begun related to the economics of organic production and the economics of cover crop production. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?CFFM provides extensive training and training resources to partner groups who contribute to the National Farm Business Management Benchmarking Database. This training contributes to the goal of assuring the National Database is accurate and conforms to uniform standards of consistency and data integrity. During this period, CFFM staff provided onsite training to contributors in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Colorado, and Idaho. In addition, the training will be for emerging community college programs in Montana and Nebraska. Since last spring and the start of the pandemic, CFFM staff have been hosting virtual training sessions for new benchmarking collaborators. Another training related to specifically to crop and livestock enterprise analysis is planned for December 2020. Our traditional training includes several two-day FINPACK training sessions specifically for educators that are held in St. Paul, MN. Newly hired collaborators from Minnesota, North Dakota, and Colorado attended in 2018 and 2019 to learn how to use the FINPACK financial analysis software. Additionally, an enterprise analysis focused training was held on site in 2019. Attendees were from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. There were several virtual attendees as well from New Hampshire, Colorado, and North Carolina to name a few. CFFM also maintains a full suite of online training resources for FINPACK users. During the reporting period, the online training modules were enhanced to include detailed videos on completing and interpreting the crop and livestock enterprise analysis. White papers providing tips and resources for all FINPACK users are found in the FINPACK Knowledge Base at https://www.cffm.umn.edu/FINPACKkb. Specific tools and resources related to benchmarking are provided to educators across the nation at https://z.umn. edu/benchmarking. Encompassed on this website are resources such as training videos on the benchmarking process (including segments on advanced balance sheet analysis, advanced whole-farm analysis, crop enterprise analysis, livestock enterprise analysis, and advance enterprise analysis) and the use of the RankEm software in compiling and reviewing benchmark data for consistency and integrity. Educational programs across the country have also provided analysis efficiency-related resources to assist other users with initiating the benchmarking process with the farmers and ranchers in their area. CFFM recently hosted a virtual National Benchmarking Project Leaders meeting in November to prepare for activities in the next year and to consult on strategic plans for the future. This is an annual event hosted by CFFM. FINPACK software revisions have also been distributed to users in November. Updates for this year focus on identifying renewable energy and conservation efforts. The RankEm software updates will be released in December. Here the error check report has been broadened this further helps with data integrity and error checking prior to submission for the National Database. Lastly, the technical data dictionary is now compiled for the balance sheet, whole-farm variables, calculations used in the whole farm area of the FINAN financial analysis, as well as defining the variables and calculations utilized in the crop and enterprise analysis areas of FINAN. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The primary method used to disseminated farm financial benchmark results is through public access to FINBIN. FINBIN is open to anyone to query for summary financial information or benchmarks on financial metrics. Data queries can filter by farm sizes, type, and several other whole-farm attributes. Enterprise-level queries can filter by specific production practices for crop and livestock enterprises. CFFM staff and others make several national presentations each year using data from the National Database to publicize the results. During this period, presentations included American Bankers Association National Agricultural Bankers Conference where Dale Nordquist and Pauline Van Nurden presented; FINPACK Lender's Conference; MN Organic Conference; National Farm Viability Conference; National Farm Management Conference; MN Bank Examiners; the Iowa Ag Credit School in Ames, Iowa and the National School for Ag Lenders in Spearfish, South Dakota; and local Agricultural Lenders Conferences in Minnesota. The Farm Financial Standards Council has incorporated benchmark reports from the National Database into its Financial Guidelines for Agricultural Producers. CFFM staff regularly receives requests from national journalists to provide insights based on trends identified in reports generated through the National Database, including Farm Futures, Public Radio, Farm and Ranch Guide, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Successful Farming, Farm Progress, AgFax, Ag Week, Farm Journal's MILK Business, The Land, The Farmer, Corn and Soybean Digest, Progressive Dairy, and Wells Fargo's Food for Thought newsletter. FINBIN data is cited in educational resources published by farmdoc Daily, Choices Magazine, and Farm Table. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Center for Farm Financial Management (CFFM) worked closely with farm business management educators in partner states to support their educational efforts and to make the National Farm Business Management Benchmarking Database accessible to producers and to educators across the nation. To date, complete financials for 3,439 participating farms from twelve partner farm management education programs are currently included in the National Farm Management and Benchmarking Database at http://www.finbin.umn.edu for the 2018 business year. Farms have been compiled and included in the database from 11 states (Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin), with additional data still to be compiled from Colorado and New England. In addition, staff from programs in nine additional states have received training and are in various stages in the process to recruit farms, complete analyses, and provide enough quality data to be included in the database. These states include the New England project that was part of this CFFM project including Extension educators from New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts; an Auburn Extension effort that is also part of this project to add producers from Alabama; a New York effort with Cornell Extension; a North Carolina effort with North Carolina A & T; a Colorado effort lead by Colorado State University; and a Tennessee effort lead by Tennessee Extension. Initial talks of benchmarking collaboration have also occurred with four new states, Oklahoma, Idaho, Montana, and Iowa. Data has also been included from three private farm management consultants as part of CFFM's effort to expand the size and scope of the database. Lastly, CFFM has partnered with MN Extension, MN FSA, and SCORE to provide training specific to farm financial analysis, benchmarking, and cash flow projection development. SCORE has partnered nationally with FSA to provide financial management training to farmers and ranchers. FINPACK is the software tool being used to create financial statements for these operations. All data is carefully vetted at several levels to eliminate outliers and assure reporting integrity. The National Database is maintained at the University of Minnesota and is open to any producer to use to generate benchmarking reports on farm financial statements, Farm Financial Standards Council ratios, other whole entity reports, crop enterprise analysis reports, and livestock enterprise analysis reports. During the most recent twelve-month reporting year, 37,108 benchmarking reports were generated through FINBIN. The 2018 database, compiled during 2019, includes 64 organic farms, 22 specialty crop farms, and 13 farms in organic transition. Forty-six (46) producers identified themselves as veterans. CFFM provides ongoing training,education, and software support to partner farm business management programs. Findings from the Analysis Process Efficiency Survey have been used to drive training efforts and analysis support material creation for instructors across the programs involved in benchmarking. This survey was completed recently as a means to help programs gain efficiencies and learn the training needs of instructors and consultants. CFFM also continued to make software improvements to improve the educational value and to provide efficiencies to participating farm management programs. During this period, CFFM has continued the process of updating FINPACK's financial analysis software to include a market channel analysis component. This will be used by several programs to meet the unique needs of analyzing specialty crop and direct marketing farm businesses. In addition, the recent revisions to the FINPACK cash flow projection tools were refined to assist producers and educators with creating a simple annual projection. CFFM has also added features to FINPACK that help increase the efficiency of completing a financial analysis for the farm. Data components transfer more seamlessly from the balance sheet to the financial analysis tool. This increases efficiency in the process, but also leads to greater data integrity. CFFM has also been working the Iowa Farm Business Association to build a tighter interface between the PCMars Farm Accounting Software and FINPACK. This effort will expand the capabilities of the current interface beyond the ability to transfer cash transactions from the accounting software to FINPACK. The expansion will include the transfer of balance sheet loan and inventory items and also provide more synergies in completing the crop and livestock enterprise analysis. The FINPACK Vault continues to be used by more and more of the collaborating benchmark programs. The Vault is a secure repository site for FINPACK data, providing a web-based redundant backup of farm data and seamless extraction for compiling individual farm data into databases. The use of this technology will improve efficiency in data transfer and will also be more secure than current methods of data transfer. CFFM staff publicizes the National Database and the insights that can be gained from the data in various national venues and media outlets. Efforts continue to use the national database to support research programs. One such effort was finalized during the reporting period. This was a survey of MN producers to determine the attributes of Top Farmers. The results of the survey have been analyzed and several presentations have included the results. Publications are also planned to disseminate the results. CFFM continues to foster the virtual farm management pilot initiated between Minnesota Farm Business Management instructors and educators in the New England states. The effort has begun with analysis results hopeful for the coming year. CFFM participated in a project led by the National Center for Appropriate Technology to provide data to evaluate whole-farm crop insurance alternatives for organic producers. CFFM continues to teach the financial management component of NFO Beginning Farmers projects. The "AgProfit Strategies" project focuses on conventional grain, beef, and dairy producers in 15 states across the Midwest.CFFM staff have made 1 presentation before the project was put onhold because of COVID. Previous programs had CFFM making 36 total presentations for beginning organic producers across the Midwest. Data from the National Farm Business Management Benchmarking Database is used to provide financial insight to conventional and organic producers.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
FINBIN, Center for Farm Financial Management, University of Minnesota, http://www.finbin.umn.edu
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Nordquist, Dale and Pauline Van Nurden, 2018 FINBIN Report on Minnesota Farm Finances, Center for Farm Financial Management, University of Minnesota, May 2019.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Van Nurden, Pauline A., Donald L. Nitchie, Garen J. Paulson, Tonya L. Knorr, and Dale W. Nordquist, 2018 Annual Report of the Southwestern Minnesota Farm Business Management Association, Staff Paper
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The primary goal of this project is to provide a national farm financial benchmarking database that will allow any farmer in the nation to compare their financial performance with a selected peer group of like farms. Therefore, the target audience of this project is all farmers in the U.S. The more direct audience is that group of farmers who are participants in farm business management education programs and who contribute to the National Farm Financial Management and Benchmarking Database. To date, complete financials for 3,362 participating farms from nine partner farm management education programs are currently included in the National Farm Management and Benchmarking Database at http://www.finbin.umn.edu for the 2018 business year. Farms have been compiled and included in the database from 8 states (Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin), with additional data still to be compiled from Colorado, Ohio, New England, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Participating farms are provided tools and access to make it possible to directly compare their farms with benchmark peer groups to highlight financial strengths and weaknesses. In 2018, 78% of contributing farms were small or mid-sized farms, the group that is most challenged by today's volatile agricultural economy. Twenty-five percent (25%) were beginning farmers and 33% were young farmers. A special effort was made this year to reach out to veterans. Forty-six (46) participating producers identified themselves as veterans. All farms across the country have access to the FINBIN website, the portal into the national database to generate benchmark reports. They can also use the "Compare Your Farm" feature to enter their financial data and generate peer group benchmarks. A third audience is agricultural lenders, educators and other agricultural professionals who can access FINBIN to generate reports to benchmark their clients, to generate educational material, and to monitor the performance of the ag economy. Finally, the fourth audience is agricultural researchers who can use FINBIN reports to support research in various facets of farm financial management. A more focused effort on research has taken place over the last year with the addition of Dr. Joleen Hadrich as a University of Minnesota faculty member. Dr. Hadrich has completed research on the attributes of top farmers, resilient dairy operations, and the impact of the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) government program. Future research efforts are planned for organic production and the economics of cover crop production. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?CFFM provides extensive training and training resources to partner groups who contribute to the National Farm Business Management Benchmarking Database. This training contributes to the goal of assuring the National Database is accurate and conforms to uniform standards of consistency and data integrity. During this period, CFFM staff provided onsite training to contributors in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Additional training is being planned for early 2020. Training will take place in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Iowa, and Colorado. The Colorado training will be held for new collaborators including Colorado and Idaho. In addition, the training will be for emerging community college programs in Montana and Nebraska. In addition, several two-day FINPACK training sessions specifically for educators was held in St. Paul, MN. Newly hired collaborators from Minnesota, North Dakota, and Colorado attended to learn how to use the FINPACK financial analysis software. Additionally, an enterprise analysis focused training was held for new collaborators. Attendees were from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. There were several virtual attendees as well from New Hampshire, Colorado, and North Carolina to name a few. CFFM also maintains a full suite of online training resources for FINPACK users. During the reporting period, the online training modules were enhanced to include detailed videos on completing and interpreting the crop and livestock enterprise analysis. White papers providing tips and resources for all FINPACK users are found in the FINPACK Knowledge Base at https://www.cffm.umn.edu/FINPACKkb. Specific tools and resources related to benchmarking are provided to educators across the nation at https://sites.google.com/a/umn. edu/finpackbenchmarking. Encompassed on this website are resources such as training videos on the benchmarking process (including segments on advanced balance sheet analysis, advanced whole-farm analysis, crop enterprise analysis, livestock enterprise analysis, and advance enterprise analysis) and the use of the RankEm software in compiling and reviewing benchmark data for consistency and integrity. Educational programs across the country have also provided analysis efficiency-related resources to assist other users with initiating the benchmarking process with the farmers and ranchers in their area. CFFM recently hosted a National Benchmarking Project Leaders meeting in November to prepare for activities in the next year and to consult on strategic plans for the future. FINPACK software revisions have also been distributed to users in November, including updates the FINAN financial analysis tool where energy corrected milk has been added to the dairy analysis to remain current with industry standards. The RankEm software updates will be released in December. Here the error check report has been broadened this further helps with data integrity and error checking prior to submission for the National Database. Lastly, the technical data dictionary is now compiled for the balance sheet and whole-farm variables and calculations used in the whole farm area of the FINAN financial analysis. Work continues to finalize defining the variables and calculations utilized in the crop and enterprise analysis areas of FINAN. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The primary method used to disseminated farm financial benchmark results is through public access to FINBIN. FINBIN is open to anyone to query for summary financial information or benchmarks on financial metrics. Data queries can filter by farm sizes, type, and several other whole-farm attributes. Enterprise-level queries can filter by specific production practices for crop and livestock enterprises. CFFM staff and others make several national presentations each year using data from the National Database to publicize the results. During this period, presentations included American Bankers Association National Agricultural Bankers Conference where Dale Nordquist and Robert Craven presented; FINPACK Lender's Conference; MN Organic Conference; National Farm Viability Conference; National Farm Management Conference; MN Bank Examiners; the Iowa Ag Credit School in Ames, Iowa and the National School for Ag Lenders in Spearfish, South Dakota; and local Agricultural Lenders Conferences in Minnesota. The Farm Financial Standards Council has incorporated benchmark reports from the National Database into its Financial Guidelines for Agricultural Producers. CFFM staff regularly receives requests from national journalists to provide insights based on trends identified in reports generated through the National Database, including Farm Futures, Public Radio, Farm and Ranch Guide, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Successful Farming, Farm Progress, AgFax, Ag Week, Farm Journal's MILK Business, The Land, The Farmer, Corn and Soybean Digest, Progressive Dairy, and Wells Fargo's Food for Thought newsletter. FINBIN data is cited in educational resources published by farmdoc Daily, Choices Magazine, and Farm Table. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?CFFM will support partner groups as the complete financial analysis of the 2018 business year with their participants and compile the 2018 data into the national database. CFFM will provide training for all participants who request it and will continue to provide webinars and online training resources to support new and existing users. Special efforts will be aimed at working with the New England project leaders, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Oklahoma to help them in their efforts to initiate and expand benchmark program efforts, as well as a new project being led by Colorado State University. These efforts include fostering a virtual farm management trial in an effort to continue the expansion of the national farm financial database.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Center for Farm Financial Management (CFFM) worked closely with farm business management educators in partner states to support their educational efforts and to make the National Farm Business Management Benchmarking Database accessible to producers and to educators across the nation. To date, complete financials for 3,362 participating farms from nine partner farm management education programs are currently included in the National Farm Management and Benchmarking Database at http://www.finbin.umn.edu for the 2018 business year. Farms have been compiled and included in the database from 8 states (Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin), with additional data still to be compiled from Colorado, Ohio, New England, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. In addition, staff from programs in nine additional states have received training and are in various stages in the process to recruit farms, complete analyses, and provide enough quality data to be included in the database. These states include the New England project that was part of this CFFM project including Extension educators from New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts; an Auburn Extension effort that is also part of this project to add producers from Alabama; a New York effort with Cornell Extension; a North Carolina effort with North Carolina A&T; a Colorado effort led by Colorado State University; and a Tennessee effort led by Tennessee Extension. Initial talks of benchmarking collaboration have also occurred with four new states, Oklahoma, Idaho, Montana, and Iowa. Data has also been included from three private farm management consultants as part of CFFM's effort to expand the size and scope of the database. Lastly, CFFM has partnered with MN Extension, MN FSA, and SCORE to provide training specific to farm financial analysis, benchmarking, and cash flow projection development. SCORE has partnered nationally with FSA to provide financial management training to farmers and ranchers. FINPACK is the software tool being used to create financial statements for these operations. All data is carefully vetted at several levels to eliminate outliers and assure reporting integrity. The National Database is maintained at the University of Minnesota and is open to any producer to use to generate benchmarking reports on farm financial statements, Farm Financial Standards Council ratios, other whole entity reports, crop enterprise analysis reports, and livestock enterprise analysis reports. During the most recent twelve-month reporting year, 45,127 benchmarking reports were generated through FINBIN. The 2018 database, compiled during 2019, includes 63 organic farms, 22 specialty crop farms, and 13 farms in organic transition. Forty-six (46) producers identified themselves as veterans. CFFM provides ongoing training,education, and software support to partner farm business management programs. Findings from the Analysis Process Efficiency Survey have been used to drive training efforts and analysis support material creation for instructors across the programs involved in benchmarking. This survey was completed recently as a means to help programs gain efficiencies and learn the training needs of instructors and consultants. CFFM also continued to make software improvements to improve the educational value and to provide efficiencies to participating farm management programs. During this period, CFFM has continued the process of updating FINPACK's financial analysis software to include a market channel analysis component. This will be used by several programs to meet the unique needs of analyzing specialty crop and direct marketing farm businesses. In addition, the recent revisions to the FINPACK cash flow projection tools were refined to assist producers and educators with creating a simple annual projection. CFFM has also added features to FINPACK that help increase the efficiency of completing a financial analysis for the farm. Data components transfer more seamlessly from the balance sheet to the financial analysis tool. This increases efficiency in the process, but also leads to greater data integrity. CFFM has also been working the Iowa Farm Business Association to build a tighter interface between the PCMars Farm Accounting Software and FINPACK. This effort will expand the capabilities of the current interface beyond the ability to transfer cash transactions from the accounting software to FINPACK. The expansion will include the transfer of balance sheet loan and inventory items and also more synergies in completing the crop and livestock enterprise analysis. The FINPACK Vault continues to be used by more and more of the collaborating benchmark programs. The Vault is a secure repository site for FINPACK data, providing a web-based redundant backup of farm data and seamless extraction for compiling individual farm data into databases. The use of this technology will improve efficiency in data transfer and will also be more secure than current methods of data transfer. CFFM staff publicizes the National Database and the insights that can be gained from the data in various national venues and media outlets. Efforts continue to use the national database to support research programs. One such effort was finalized during the reporting period. This was a survey of MN producers to determine the attributes of Top Farmers. The results of the survey have been analyzed and several presentations have included the results. Publications are also planned to disseminate the results. CFFM continues to foster the virtual farm management pilot initiated between Minnesota Farm Business Management instructors and educators in the New England states. The effort has begun with analysis results hopeful for the coming year. CFFM continues to participate in a project led by the National Center for Appropriate Technology to provide data to evaluate whole-farm crop insurance alternatives for organic producers. Results are also being disseminated as part of an NFO Beginning Farm project titled FarmStarts. CFFM staff made 36 total presentations across the Midwest using data from the National Farm Business Management Benchmarking Database to provide financial insight to organic producers and those considering organic production. A second FarmStarts program will begin during the grant period focusing on conventional grain and dairy production. CFFM will again collaborate on this project.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
FINBIN, Center for Farm Financial Management, University of Minnesota, http://www.finbin.umn.edu
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Van Nurden, Pauline A., Donald L. Nitchie, Garen J. Paulson, Tonya L. Knorr, and Dale W. Nordquist, 2017 Annual Report of the Southwestern Minnesota Farm Business Management Association, Staff Paper
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Nordquist, Dale and Pauline Van Nurden, 2017 FINBIN Report on Minnesota Farm Finances, Center for Farm Financial Management, University of Minnesota, May 2018.
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