What is farm management? Farm management is the collective term for various management strategies and methods that are employed to keep a farm productive and profitable. The process of this type of management is often associated with large commercial farms, although many of the same methods can be used with equal success on a small family-owned farm. Depending on the size of the operation, the management process may require the services of a single farmmanager or a group of managers who oversee various aspects of the overall project. In many respects, effective farm management is similar to the management processes that are employed with any type of business. There are decisions that must be made on a daily basis, as well as operational guidelines that must be observed by everyone who is involved with the operation. Some participants are accountable to overseers or managers, who in turn are accountable to owners. What sets farm management apart from other moneymaking ventures is the kinds of daily duties involved and the number of management layers found in the operation. Even among farms, the processes will vary depending on the type of farming business involved and the overall size of the operation. For example, the specific tasks associated with effective dairy management will be somewhat different than tasks connected with the operation of a wheat farm. Large commercial farms are more likely to rely on modern technology in order to maximize the efficiency of the management process. Special software that makes it possible to keep track of units produced, units in process, pending orders, and outstanding expenses help to simplify a number of management tasks. In addition to this software, state of the art equipment for cultivation, harvesting, and maintenance also help enhance the productivity of farms of all sizes. Even small farmers can benefit from management advice. Consulting with a farm management company makes it possible for experts to assess the current condition of the farm and make constructive suggestions on how to increase the productivity and profit margin for the farm. Managers assigned by the company can oversee the implementation of the suggestions while training family members and hired help how to use the additions to best advantage. As with many career options, training in the field normally involves a combination of structured study in a degree program provided by a college or university and on the job experience. Some degree programs require that students work as interns at commercial farms before receiving their educational credentials. Even long time farmers can study management basics through the use of materials available from various farming associations and agencies, however. Farm management, making and implementing of the decisions involved in organizing and operating a farm for maximum production and profit. Farm management draws on agricultural economics for information on prices, markets, agricultural policy, and economic institutions such as leasing and credit. It also draws on plant and animal sciences for information on soils, seed, and fertilizer, on control of weeds, insects, and disease, and on rations and breeding; on agricultural engineering for information on farm buildings, machinery, irrigation, crop drying, drainage, and erosion control systems; and on psychology and sociology for information on human behaviour. In making his decisions, a farm manager thus integrates information from the biological, physical, and social sciences. Because farms differ widely, the significant concern in farm management is the specific individual farm; the plan most satisfactory for one farm may be most unsatisfactory for another. Farm management problems range from those of the small, near-subsistence and family-operated farms to those of large-scale commercial farms where trained managers use the latest technological advances, and from farms administered by single proprietors to farms managed by the state. In Southeast Asia the manager of the typical small farm with ample labour, limited capital, and only four to eight acres (1.6–3.2 hectares) of land, often fragmented and dispersed, faces an acute capital–land management problem. Use of early maturing crop varieties; efficient scheduling of the sequence of land preparation, planting, and harvesting; use of seedbeds and transplanting operations for intensive land use through multiple cropping; efficient use of irrigation and commercial fertilizer; and selection of chemicals to control insects, diseases, and weeds—all of these are possible measures for increasing production and income from each unit of land. In western Europe the typical family farmer has less land than is economical with modern machinery, equipment, and levels of education and training, and so must select from the products of an emerging stream of technology the elements that promise improved crop and livestock yields at low cost; adjust his choice of products as relative prices and costs change; and acquire more land as farm labour is attracted by nonfarm employment opportunities and farm numbers decline. On a typical 400-acre (160-hectare) corn-belt farm in the United States with a labour force equivalent to two full-time men, physical conditions and available technologies allow a wide range of options in farming systems. To reach a satisfactory income requires operating on an increasing scale of output and increasing specialization. Corn and soybean cash-crop farming systems have increased in number along with corn-hog-fattening farms and corn-beef-fattening farms. Thus, the choice of a farming system, the degree of specialization to be chosen, the size of operation, and the method of financing are top concerns of management. For a typical crop-livestock farm in São Paulo’s Paraíba Valley, Brazil, large-scale use of hired labour creates a substantial management problem. With 30 to 40 workers per establishment, procuring and managing the labour—keeping abreast of demand and supply conditions for hired labour, working out contractual arrangements (wage rates and other incentives), deciding how to combine labour with other inputs, and supervising the work force—are of critical importance. A rancher with thousands of acres, whether in the pampas of Argentina, the plains of Australia, or the prairies of the United States, is concerned about the rate of increase of the herd through births and purchases and herd composition—cows, calves, yearlings, steers, heifers. Risks from drought, winter storms, and price changes can be high. Weather, prospective yields, and the price outlook are the constant concern of competent and alert farm managers. On a collective farm in the Soviet Union with 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) and 400 workers, major management decisions are made by party–state representatives; the collective-farm chairman responds largely to their directives, though the farm manager is being given greater autonomy. Major management concerns are determining optimal size of the collective, improving labour incentives, increasing crop and livestock yields, and reducing unit costs—with emphasis on levels of fertilizer, on pesticide and herbicide use, and on conservation of soil and water in crop production. Thus, the character of the world’s agriculture is shaped as millions of farmers manage the resources under their control in ways to obtain as much satisfaction as possible from their decisions and actions, which are made in a large variety of settings in regard to human, capital, and land resource combinations; technological possibilities; and social and political arrangements. Future agricultural progress depends on improving the quality of management and the environmentin which farmers make decisions and on helping them adjust their decisions to the changing environment. In the low-income agricultures of the world in the 1980s, expanded research, improved input supplies and transport facilities, enlarged market opportunities, and an otherwise encouraging environment promise to open up a much wider area for managerial choice and decision making. Basic Concerns Land, livestock, and labour A good farm manager is familiar with the legal description of the farm property for which he is responsible, location relative to other property, roads, markets, and sources of supply, the details of the field arrangement and farmstead layout, the farm’s capital position or relation of debts to assets, and the resources of the farm, such as the capabilities of its soils. Such facts enable the manager to analyze and evaluate his resources and plan their use. To calculate profit potential, the farm manager estimates the yield expected from each acre or hectare of land and from each head of livestock. He then applies money prices to these quantities. The size of a farm business, an indication of its profit-making potential, is measured by the total number of acres or hectares in the farm, acres or hectares planted to cash crops, productive man–work units (the number of workdays of labour required under average efficiency to care for crops and livestock), livestock units kept, capital invested, and total cash receipts. While total acreage is often used to describe farm size, it is not a very satisfactory measure since it does not specify how much land is hilly, stony, swampy, or otherwise unproductive. Total cropped land, total receipts, invested capital, or productive work units are better measures. Though livestock are counted by the head for the sake of comparison, for management purposes one cow is roughly equal in value to two calves, five hogs, 10 young pigs, seven sheep, 14 lambs, or 100 laying hens. While the amount of land in a farm is more or less fixed, many farmers buy or rent additional acreage to increase their volume of output as a means of reducing unit costs. If such acreage is available within a reasonable distance, then land can often be profitably exploited. Other ways of increasing volume include bringing unimproved pasture and woodland into the cropping plan and shifting either to more intensive methods of cultivation or to more valuable crops. Before making major changes, the farm manager attempts to assure himself that the new crops will grow well and will find a market in his area. Almost all the governments of the world today have departments or ministries of agriculture which have been established for the purpose of advancing agricultural welfare by spreading technological information. Often these agencies perform extensive experimentation with new crop varieties, new cultivation techniques, and improved breeds of livestock, thus reducing the burden of risk upon the individual farm manager contemplating such changes. Considerable experimentation and research are also carried out by private agricultural supply firms that hope to improve their competitive position in the marketplace by developing a valuable new product. In some of the developing countries, traditional patterns of land tenure and laws of inheritance may result in one farmer holding many quite small plots at some distance from each other. To reduce the resulting labour inefficiency and low productivity and to spur development of large-scale agriculture, governments in these countries have frequently legislated to permit or compel consolidation of such holdings (see land reform). Advertisement Some kinds of farm work are directly productive, some are indirectly productive, and some are not productive at all. Work such as plowing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, feeding, and milking is directly productive. Maintenance of fences, buildings, and machinery, though often necessary, is not directly productive. Such work as trimming shrubbery and mowing lawns, unless it adds to the market value of the farm, is not considered productive. Similarly, capital can be highly productive, as in the case of livestock; indirectly productive (e.g.,tractors, buildings, and supplies); or unproductive, as a large, showy barn or house. Land, too, can be highly productive, moderately so, or waste. Analysis of farm records has shown that farmers often overequip their property, thus using buildings and machinery to less than full capacity. Generally speaking, small farmers have been shown to have a higher proportion of their total investment in buildings than in machinery. In the developing countries, where relatively large quantities of human labour and relatively small amounts of capital are employed, a rather different problem exists. In these areas, farm managers need large numbers of people to work the fields during planting and harvest and far smaller numbers to perform routine cultivation tasks. In consequence, these countries face a problem of underemployment of agricultural labour during much of the year. Financial management and large-scale operation The financial tools a farmer can use to analyze, plan, and control his business include financial statements, profit and loss statements, and cash-flow statements. A financial statement tells the amount of money invested in farm assets, outstanding debts, the owner’s equity in the business, and the degree to which the farm is liquid and solvent. Liquidity is the ability to meet financial obligations on time, whereas solvency is the ability to pay all debts if the business is forced to discontinue. A profit and loss statement shows sources and amounts of income and operating expenses. Comparison of profit and loss statements over a period of years tells which resources have been most profitable and whether there has been an advance or decline in net income. A cash-flow statement shows the sources and uses of funds at given periods during the year. Such a statement provides a useful check on the accuracy of the farm’s other business records. Advertisement For the traditional farmer, land and labour (his own and that of his family) are the major resources. Under favourable conditions, the farmer has changed his role from labourer to operator-manager; much larger farm units with high capital investments have resulted. Such conditions include the existence of a considerable body of applicable scientific knowledge, an opportunity for greater efficiency from large-scale operations, the existence of good markets and transportation, the opportunity to routinize and centrally direct farm work, and an absence of community antagonism to large-scale agriculture. The trend to the substitution of capital for labour is especially noticeable in the United States, for example, where capital accounts for a steadily increasing proportion of farm inputs. In the United States in 1940, capital comprised 29 percent of farm inputs, labour 54 percent, and land 17 percent; by 1976 capital accounted for 62 percent of farm inputs, labour 16 percent, and land 22 percent. Capital typically replaces labour when large machines do the work of several men using smaller implements; when chemicals replace the scythe and hoe for weed control; when milking parlours, pipelines, and bulk tanks replace handmilking operations; when a mechanized installation replaces the fork and bushel basket in dairy, beef, or hog feeding; when automated sprinklers bring irrigation water to crops; when cisterns and lagoons handle animal waste; when combines and forced-air crop drying speed the harvesting of small grain; and in similar substitutions. The technical knowledge that a modern large-scale farm manager must possess is frequently held to be far greater than that required of most businessmen with equal investment; the capital required to operate such a farm is beyond the reach of many. In consequence, financial-management techniques resembling those of industry are often employed. Capital is imported from the outside; production is scheduled to meet quantity, grade, and timing requirements; and labour is given specific tasks, as in a factory. Recognizing the economic benefits of large-scale agriculture, many underdeveloped countries have attempted to create conditions for its existence. National governments, often with outside help, have financed large-scale development programs, involving irrigation or improvement of huge acreages by means of dams, drainage facilities, and canals, and these have revolutionized the lives of many traditional farm managers within the space of a few years. Improvements in crops and livestock, marketing techniques and organization, and transport and power have in some cases increased agricultural productivity and income several times over. Since capital and management have been in the hands of government, the traditional farm manager has, however, often lost some of his independence, and not all such programs have succeeded. Poor planning and management by government authorities and resistance from the farmers themselves have led to some expensive failures. Reducing market risks The marketplace for agricultural commodities is exceptionally risky for three important reasons. First, no single farm producer can place or withhold enough of a single item on the market to affect the market price; second, the quantity of a commodity taken off the market does not increase in proportion to price declines; third, the farm manager cannot respond to falling prices by quickly switching production from an unprofitable item to a profitable one. To reduce his risks and safeguard profits, the farm manager may specialize or diversify depending on conditions; he may also use the futures market (see below). A specialized farm manager concentrates his effort on the production of one item such as wheat, cotton, milk, eggs, or fruit. By such specialization he can realize the benefits of large-scale production and can make the most money from an enterprise in which he is highly skilled. On the other hand, the specialist is vulnerable to sudden changes in the market, to plant and animal diseases, and to soil exhaustion resulting from cultivation of a single crop. Diversification—the spreading of one’s talents over more than one farming enterprise—may be accomplished horizontally or vertically. Horizontal diversification means the production of more than one item for sale. In vertical diversification, the farm manager handles raw products after harvest by processing, packaging, transporting, or even selling at retail. A poultry farmer who produces eggs and washes, candles, grades, packages, and markets them at retail is said to be vertically diversified. He has taken on some of the jobs that could have been performed elsewhere, and as a result he generally receives a better return for his efforts. Programs of agricultural diversification have been carried out by some developing countries, with the government acting as a kind of national farm manager. Upon achieving independence, nations such as Ghana and Nigeria, in West Africa, found their economies highly dependent upon a single raw agricultural export (cocoa for Ghana; palm oil for Nigeria). Sharply falling prices for these commodities or epidemics of plant diseasewere seen to have disastrous effect on national prosperity. Erosion problems also caused concern. The governments responded by horizontally diversifying into other profitable crops and vertically diversifying in the establishment of industries to process these commodities or turn them into manufactured goods before export. A capable farm manager may use the futures market to try to minimize his risks. In the futures market, the farm manager contracts with a buyer to deliver a given quantity of some commodity at a specified date in the future for an agreed price. The buyer is often a speculator who hopes that prices will rise, enabling him to sell the commodity or the contract at a profit. Futures markets enable the farm manager to establish in advance a price for a crop or earn payment for holding a crop in storage. Futures markets also permit some farmers to speculate on a price increase without storing a crop, establish in advance the price of livestock feed intended for later use, and establish an advance price for livestock. Special Concerns Of Scale Farm management specifics vary all over the world; it is possible here to cite only some of the most typical practices in several leading agricultural countries. Large-farm management Research has shown that large farms produce more efficiently than small farms. In sugarcane production, for example, the most efficient farm may include many thousands of acres or hectares. Yet, a well-managed dairy farm might achieve greatest efficiency with two men and fewer than 100 cows. In the future, as technology advances, the farms that are managed most efficiently will probably be larger than the most efficient farms at present. Large farms can reduce costs by claiming volume discounts on their purchases. They can negotiate prices on fertilizer, seed, crop chemicals, petroleum products, machinery, and repair services. Large operators also have an advantage in selling their products. Managers of large corn farms, for example, can contract directly with a large processor for an entire year’s production of given quantity and quality for a specific date in the future, thus commanding a higher price. The middleman is eliminated, and production, handling, and processing can be prescheduled for greater efficiency. Large farms also have a smaller investment in machinery and buildings per crop acre. United States The increase in the capital requirements of United States farms has already been described above. These changes in American agriculture are, to a large degree, the result of a revolution in financial management. Up to about 1930, little outside capital was needed to finance farming operations. Today, capital investment has vastly increased; farmers obtain their production goods and services—land, machines, breeding stock, seed, fertilizer, and other necessities—in a variety of ways. Renting land is one way. In contrast to earlier days when land ownership was considered the ideal, renting land is now a widely accepted management practice. Large acreages of corn land in the Corn Belt, wheat land in the Great Plains, and cotton land in California and Arizona are operated by renters. Renting land enables farmers to operate on a much larger scale than would be possible under ownership. Specialized rice growers in the Sacramento Valley of California, who own tractors, tillage tools, and harvesters, receive rice-acreage allotments from the federal government. Such growers own no land, renting it instead from owners who have no rice allotment. Growers prepare the ground, irrigate it with water supplied by the landowner, and contract for application of seed and fertilizer. When the crop is ripe, the growers harvest the rice with their own combines and haul it to a warehouse for drying and storage. In upland areas of the valley, other growers raise tomatoes under contract from a canner, renting their land from a general crop farmer. Farmers who do not wish to tie up capital in high-priced farm machinery can contract for harvesting of such crops as wheat, corn, grain sorghum, and barley. An airplane operator may seed, fertilize, and apply weed spray for a rice grower. Vegetables, fruit, and nuts may be picked under contract by shipper-packers whose crews move from farm to farm. Similar operations in livestock include sheepshearing, dehorning, branding, and artificial insemination. Rental of machinery is another management device farmers use to obtain the services of equipment too expensive to be owned individually. Rental of livestock also is receiving attention. In the northeastern United States dairy farmers lease cows. The owner of the cows may be a contracting firm, a local bank, or an individual investor for whom the bank serves as agent. The scheme is useful both to older farmers who wish to retire but want to retain their interest in dairying and to young dairy farmers who want to expand but have limited capital. Soviet Union Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, large landholdings were expropriated by the state and the land was distributed among the peasants. In 1928 collectivization of Soviet agriculture was initiated on a large scale; a three-part structure composed of state farms (sovkhoz), collective farms (kolkhoz), and private plots emerged. The state farms were owned, managed, and operated by the state. Workers on state farms were salaried employees of the state; farm managers were state appointees. During the 1960s and ’70s state farms increased sharply in numbers. Much of the increase was the result of new state farms being established in the virgin land areas and the consolidation of smaller collective farms into state farms. The collective farm leased land from the state and was worked by members of the collective under an elected committee that, as the management unit, had the responsibility of organizing land, labour, and capital in accordance with production requirements. For years, payment to collective members consisted of their share of the collective’s produce or income from its sale. Each individual’s share was determined by a workday unit that took into account the time spent performing a job and the level of skill required for the job. In the last few decades prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union (in 1991), most collective farms had shifted to a monthly wage similar to that used by state farms. Private plots up to two acres (0.8 hectare) in size and operated by individual workers occupied less than 3 percent of the planted area in the Soviet Union but produced nearly half the potatoes, 40 percent of the eggs, 20 percent of the meat, and 13 percent of the vegetables. Though the Soviet farm manager’s role did not include primary decision making, there was a trend from the 1960s toward more management autonomy in farm production. The Soviet government promoted greater efficiency in agriculture by increasing the level of inputs and by improving incentives to farm labourers. These measures included financial concessionsto farmers and expanded use of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, and drainage. The Soviet farm manager performed additional functions that in other countries are carried out by government and welfare officials, such as providing roads, recreation, education, health care, and welfare to members of the collective. Israel A unique feature of the management of agriculture in Israel is its cooperative settlements, which evolved as a result of the needs encountered by immigrants who were new both to their surroundings and to farming as a profession. The two basic types of cooperative settlement are the moshavand kibbutz. A moshav is a village containing up to 150 farm family units and supported by a strong multipurpose cooperative organization. Each family is an economic and social unit, living in its own house and managing and working its own fields. Although each farm family is independent, its social and economic security is ensured by the cooperative structure of the village, whose organization markets the produce, purchases the farm and household equipment, and provides the farmer with credit and other services. A kibbutz, numbering from 60 to 2,000 members, is a true collective based on common ownership of resources and on pooling of labour and income; it functions as a single democratic unit. Under the supervision of a manager, each member performs an assigned task but receives no salary or wages, because all the members’ needs are provided by the kibbutz. Israel’s agriculture is highly organized into farm societies. One society, the Farmer’s Federation, has a membership of 7,000 citrus growers. There are plantation development companies and associations of wine, fruit, milk, and cotton producers. Australia A significant characteristic of farm management in Australia is the emphasis on production for export markets. Since the production of fine wool is the most important rural industry, grazing of sheep is a leading enterprise. Production of wheat, meat, dairy products, and fruit for export also figures large in the nation’s agricultural economy. Australian export production is highly organized through statutory marketing authorities. Ten such authorities supervise the marketing of wheat, dairy products, meat, eggs, canned fruits, dried fruits, apples and pears, wine, honey, and wool. Getting started in almost any farming venture in Australia requires substantial amounts of capital. Management of small and middle-sized farms Canada Canadian agriculture consists largely of family farms, managed and operated by the owners. Less than one farm in 100 has hired management. A Canadian farm may vary in size from a factory-type broiler chicken plant of an acre or two (up to one hectare) to a cattle ranch that includes several townships. On a mechanized grain farm a farmer may operate 1,000 acres (400 hectares) or more with very little hired help. While most farmers in Canada own the farms they operate, there is a growing tendency to rent additional land. Current management trends also include increased use of commercial fertilizer and chemicals for pest control. Farm management practices vary widely. Some farmers who rent land pay cash rent. In other cases the landlord takes a share of the crop or a share of the income from the sale of livestock or milk. On farms where most of the income is derived from the sale of grain, it is common for the tenant to give the landlord one-third of all grain produced. The landlord supplies the land, pays the taxes and fire insurance on the buildings, and provides materials for maintaining buildings and fences. Integration, the management of two or more stages of production and marketing, is spreading, with the trend most noticeable with sugar beets and canning crops. United Kingdom British farmers are well known for their efficient management and use of mechanical aids. Milking machines are employed on all but the smallest farms; electricity is widespread; grain combines are common; and there is one tractor for about every 35 acres (14 hectares) of arable land. British farmers also use great quantities of commercial fertilizer per acre, the cost of which is subsidized by the government. The government also subsidizes the cost of lime, eradication of tuberculosis, and construction of silos and other capital equipment and pays part of the cost of voluntary consolidation of small farms into more efficient commercial units. Several agricultural commodities are subject to the authority of government marketing boards: some buy produce, others control producer–buyer contracts, and still others maintain broad control over marketing conditions. Cereals, potatoes, eggs, sugar beets, and wool are the principal products governed by marketing bodies. Denmark In Denmark successful farmer cooperatives play a major management role, extending credit and controlling production, marketing, import, export, purchasing, and sales. Through these cooperatives, Danish farmers enjoy the benefits of large-scale production and distribution despite the small size of individual farms. About 90 percent of Denmark’s output of pork and milk and about 50 percent of egg output is marketed cooperatively. The number of farms in Denmark has been declining in recent years, but those remaining are becoming larger. Average size in the late 1970s was 54 acres (22 hectares). The family farm predominates. Farm management in developing countries India Farm management practices in India range from the modern and sophisticated to some that have been in use for centuries. Illiteracy, inadequate water, unreliable power supplies, poor transportation and communications, making the timely acquisition of supplies and marketing of produce difficult—all hamper the development of modern farm management practices. For example, many farmers are unable to read the directions on a sack of fertilizer, to write an application for a production loan, or to calculate their profit and loss. Where progress has been made in introducing improved farm management techniques, visual and oral methods of instruction and training are being used successfully. Training techniques include on-farm demonstrations, farmer exchange programs, tours, short courses, literacy classes, exhibits, and audio–visual vans. Democratic Republic of the Congo Shifting cultivation is the typical method of farming in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The native farmer clears two or three acres (about one hectare) in the forest or savanna, crops it until the fertility of the land declines, then moves on to another area. Fertilizer, insecticides, and fungicides are not generally available. A land-settlement plan, called the paysannat system, in which strips of cultivated land were alternated with bush and grassland, was introduced in the 1930s to increase production. This system, however, has disintegrated since independence due to the lack of management personnel and government extension services and disruption of marketing channels. Often side by side with traditional farms are large modern plantations owned, managed, and operated by individual Europeans and corporations. Plantation crop yields are two to 10 times those of indigenous farms, probably pointing the direction of future development • livestock farming: Beef cattle management Beef production has become highly scientific and efficient because of the high cost of labour, land, feed, and money. Most brood-cow herds, which require a minimum of housing and equipment, are managed so as to reduce costs through pasture improvement and are… • poultry farming: Management A carefully controlled environment that avoids crowding, chilling, overheating, or frightening is almost universal in poultry farming. Cannibalism, which expresses itself as toe picking, feather picking, and tail picking, is controlled by debeaking at one day of age and by other management practices. The… • the agricultural sciences: Agricultural economics …tenure, land tenancy, farm labour, farm management, and taxation. From its beginnings at the University of Illinois in the 1940s, modern agricultural law has evolved to become a distinct field of law practice and scholarship.… • industrial engineering Industrial engineering, application of engineering principles and techniques of scientific management to the maintenance of a high level of productivity at optimum cost in industrial enterprises.… • agribusiness Agribusiness, agriculture regarded as a business; more specifically, that part of a modern national economy devoted to the production, processing, and distribution of food and fibre products and by-products. In highly industrialized countries, many activities essential to agriculture are carried on separately from the farm. These include the development and production…