February 6, 2009
Use by February 21, 2009
Contacts: Jessica Prosper, 518-483-7403; Molly Ames, 315-788-8450
Free Finance Training Available for Farm Managers in NNY
“Good financial management skills can help you stay on the farm”
In the current economic climate, costs, cash flow, and controlling
profit and loss are top-of-the-mind for business owners. Farm business
managers in need of practicing or improving their financial management
skills can take free in-person and online courses offered by Cornell
Cooperative Extension in late February and early March.
Managing with Finance: A Basic Finance Class for Farm Business Managers
will be offered at three locations on Tuesday, February 24, 1-3pm: in
Malone at the Distance Learning Center at North Country Community
College, and in Lowville at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis
County; on Wednesday, February 25, 1-3pm at Cornell Cooperative
Extension of Clinton County, Plattsburgh, and Cornell Cooperative
Extension of Jefferson County, Watertown; and on Friday, February 27,
1-3 pm in Canton at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence
County Learning Farm.
Course organizer Jessica Prosper, a farm business management educator
with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Franklin County, says, “Accurate
and detailed business records are essential tools for evaluating
financial health and needs. Financial statements developed with the data
from those records can be used for a practical numbers-based analysis of
your business.”
An online edition of the Managing with Finance: Basic and Intermediate
Skills will begin in early March. Online instructor Molly Ames, a farm
business management educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of
Jefferson County, says, “The online version of this finance course
provides farmers with the flexibility and convenience of working from
home to practice the skills needed to complete and use financial
statements, income and expense and cash flow reports, and trend analysis
statements.”
“Farm business managers need to use budgets and cash flow analysis to
make informed decisions, particularly now when tight control of costs
can make a critical difference in a farm’s bottom line,” Ames adds.
The computerized course will be available online beginning Sunday, March
1st with a specific course section each week for three weeks. Each
week’s section will include hands-on exercises and virtual classroom
support with audio and chat features. Each week’s work provides the
foundation for the following week’s exercises.
Dairy farmer Michael Kiechle of Garden of Eden Farm, Philadelphia, says,
“With today’s economic environment and the prediction of $13.95 milk
pricing, you have to know whether it costs you $12.95 or $15.95 to make
milk. Good records give you the information you need to make profitable
decisions. Farmers often go on a gut reaction that may or may not
accurately reflect your actual costs. You have to have the numbers to
confirm or correct your assumptions. Good financial management skills
can help you stay on the farm.”
Kiechle participates in the Dairy Farm Business Summary that gathers
farm data in a number of categories and allows a farmer to measure his
farm’s performance against other similar size farms across New York
state. He says he uses the data he collects for his Summary year-round.
“For example, I have used my records to analyze whether or not I was
making money putting up my own feed compared to buying corn meal,”
Kiechle says. “Having a good set of records also makes my life easier at
tax time and a banker can see you are serious about managing your
expenses and profit when you keep good records.”
The in-person and online courses are both eligible for FSA Borrower
Training Credits. For more details, contact Cornell Cooperative
Extension for the Canton site: 315-379-9192 (Jessica Prosper); Lowville
site: 315-376-5270 (Peggy Murray); Malone site: 518-483-7403 (Jessica
Prosper); Plattsburgh site: 518-962-4810 (Anita Deming); Watertown site:
315-788-8450 (Molly Ames).
Additional resources for farm managers can be found on the Northern New
York Agricultural Development Program website at
www.nnyagdev.org. # # #
