List created by Geoff Benson, NCSU, Gordon Groover, VPI&SU
The following list offers a starting point for finding information that might be helpful for people interested in farm business management and economics tools and information. A search of the internet will turn up many more useful sources. Please note that the owners of web addresses (URLs) change them periodically for a variety of reasons. If you find links in this list that are no longer operational, please notify Geoff Benson at geoff_benson@ncsu.edu.
Your local Extension Office
Federal Government Agencies
North Carolina State Government Agencies
Current Agricultural News and general Information
Farm Management Sites
Enterprise Budgets & Budgeting
Machinery Costs
Labor and Personnel Management
Risk Management Educational Information
Ag Finance and Credit
Record Keeping
Ag Software Directions and Computer Usage
E-Ag Business or Online Purchasing
Sources of Assistance
Alternative Enterprises and Value Added Enterprises
Your local Extension office is a good first stop when looking for information. Look in your telephone book under Government for the local phone number. Information is also available on the internet.
•For links to other state extension services, go to the USDA web site, http://www.reeusda.gov/1700/statepartners/usa.htm
•For links to US Universities go to http://www.clas.ufl.edu/CLAS/american-universities.html •US Department of Agriculture has a variety of resources and information at: http://www.usda.gov/
•Search for USDA Publications and information at: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/
•National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA: http://www.usda.gov/nass/
•Economic Research Service, USDA: http://www.ers.usda.gov/
•Government Printing Office: http://www.gpo.gov/
•Federal Register (where government regulations are published): http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html
•Census of Agriculture: http://www.nass.usda.gov/census/
•Statistical Abstract of the United States: http://www.census.gov/statab/www/
•Small Business Administration (Free business publications): http://www.sba.gov/
North Carolina State Government Agencies
•Office of the Governor (with links to other departments and agencies):http://www.ncgov.com/
Current Agricultural News and General Information
•Doane's Agricultural Report (http://www.doane.com/products.php) is a weekly newsletter with market update. The annual subscription includes a reference notebook with good materials and one-pagers on crop, livestock, economics, machinery, business management. The subscription also gives you access to eDoane that has more detailed market data, weather, and machinery prices. Costs $118/ year call 1.800.535.2342 ext. 220. Also, you can use Doane's to get books for your library (http://www.doane.com/bookshelf/shop.php)
•NCDA Market News: http://www.agr.state.nc.us/markets/mktnews/
•Chicago Mercantile Exchange: http://www.cme.com/trading/prd/ag/index.html
•Chicago Board of Trade: http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,963,00.html
•@Agriculture online at http://agriculture.com/ and their newsletter (subscribe at: http://www.agriculture.com/newsletters/index.html)
•Farms.Com at http://www.farms.com subscribe to their newsletter at the bottom of the page.
•AgWeb.com news: http://www.agweb.com/
•AgriBiz http://www.agribiz.com/
•AgLaw http://www.agriculturelaw.com/ •The Farm Business Management Information Network for BC (FBMInet-BC) is an information technology project funded by the Canada/BC Farm Business Management Program: http://fbminet.ca/bc/index.htm
•U of Minnesota, Center for Farm & Financial Management: http://www.cffm.umn.edu/
•Iowa State University Extension, Ag Decision Maker http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/main.htm
•U. of Illinois ,Farm Decision Outreach Central (FARM.DOC) http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/farm.doc/
•Kansas State University: http://www.agmanager.info/
•Penn State (Geared to limited resource farms and alternative enterprises: http://agmarketing.extension.psu.edu/siteMapR.html
•Spreadsheet Templates for Farm and Ranch Management http://www.montana.edu/wwwextec/
Enterprise Budgets & Budgeting:
•National Ag Risk Education Library Budget Section: http://www.agrisk.umn.edu/budgets
•Searchable database of enterprise budgets and budget software: http://www.agecon.okstate.edu/survey_new/indexNew.asp
•NCSU Enterprise Budgets:
http://www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/extension/Ag_budgets.html
•VPI Enterprise Budgets: http://www.ext.vt.edu/cgibin/WebObjects/ Docs.woa/wa/getcat?cat=ir-fbmm-bu
•BudSys is a Microsoft ExcelŽ computer application for farm enterprise budget development. It is comprised of several budget templates that can be customized: http://cherokee.agecon.clemson. edu/ budgets/BudSys_Download.htm
•Selecting New Enterprises for Your Farm http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AgEcon/pubs/radio/ra0010isaacs.html
•U KY Enterprise Budgets http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AgEcon/pubs/software/budgets_livestock.html
Machinery costs:
•Suggested Procedures For Estimating Farm Machinery Costs For Extension Audiences by William F. Lazarus And Roger Selley at: http://agecon.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/pdf_view.pl? paperid= 3765& ftype=.pdf
And their web site: http://www.apec.umn.edu/faculty/wlazarus/machinery.html
•Machinery Cost Calculator at U Tenn. http://economics.ag.utk.edu/mcc.html
Labor and personnel management:
•Ag Help Wanted: Guidelines for Managing Agricultural Labor http://aghelpwanted.org/
•Bernie Erven at Ohio State: http://aede.osu.edu/people/erven.1/HRM/index.htm
•Farm Personnel Management pub from U Missouri, NCR329, http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/regpubs/ncr329.htm
•Agricultural Personnel Management Program University of California. Explore all the links on this site and Billikopf's Labor Mgt Pages are very useful: http://are.berkeley.edu/APMP/
•USDA Office of the Chief Economist -Agricultural Labor Affairs http://www.usda.gov/oce/oce/labor-affairs/affairs.htm. Subscribe
to their newsletter at the bottom of the homepage. Good sources
of info on H2-A workers.
•Immigration and Naturalization Service: http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/index.htm
•AgCareers - job listing for US: http://www.farms.com/careers/
•Cornell University's PRO-DAIRY Program, Human Resource Management: http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/prodairy/hrm.html
Risk Management Education Information
•Southern Region RM Center - Kenneth W. Stokes TX A&M http://stephenville.tamu.edu/~kstokes/
•USDA/Risk Management Agency http://www.rma.usda.gov/
•National Ag Risk Education Library, University of Minnesota,
Center for Farm Financial Management: http://www.agrisk.umn.edu/
•For Dairy, University of Wisconsin: http://www.aae.wisc.edu/future/
•USDA Agricultural Income and Finance report http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/erssor/economics/ais-bb/
•U. of Illinois Farm decision outreach central: http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/index.html The following software packages are listed because information is available about farm applications and use. There are many other useful software packages available.
•QuickbooksT: The QuickBooks Farm Accounting CookbookT. http://www.goflagship.com/products/cbkhome.htm. To order, call their toll-free sales line (800-545-5380) or print out an online order form, fill it in, then mail or FAX the completed order to Flagship Technologies, Inc.
•QuickBooks teaching materials from Alan Barefield U. Tenn. These materials can be downloaded from the following site: http://economics.ag.utk.edu/pubsbusiness.html
•QuickenT: http://www.Quicken.com•Using Computers to Manage The Modern Business, QuickBooks Pro 2002, Alan Barefield and Jennifer Allen
•Using Computers to Manage The Modern Landscaping Business, QuickBooks Pro 2001, Alan Barefield, Jennifer Allen and David Yates
•Using Computers To Manage The Modern Nursery, QuickBooks Pro 2001, Alan Barefield, Jennifer Allen, Dallas Manning, David Yates and Jack McDaniel
•Quicken software http://www.intuit.com/products_services/personal_finance/
•Quicken materials from Damona Doye, at OK State U are available at the following site (also see links at this site) http://agecon.okstate.edu/quicken/
Ag Software Directories and Computer Usage
•The Farmer's Guide to the Internet: http://www.rural.org/Farmers_Guide/ Available from UK Rural Studies, LGG Books, University of Kentucky, 407 Agricultural Engineering Bldg., Lexington, KY 40546-0276
E-Ag Business or Online Purchasing
•E-markets http://www.e-markets.com/
•XSAg http://www.xsag.com/Chem/Buyers.Asp
•PowerFarm http://www.powerfarm.com/
•Machinery prices and auctions http://farmershotline.com/
•Machinery prices http://www.ironsolutions.com/
•Cash Rent Network http://www.farmers-national.com/CashRent/ •US Small Business Administration: http://www.sba.gov
•NC Small Business Center Network, NC Community College System http://www.ncccs.cc.nc.us/
•NC Small Business and Technology Center http://www.sbtdc.org
•NC Cooperative Extension Service http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/
•Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) http://www.score.org
Alternative Enterprises and Value Added Enterprises
•National Agricultural Library: http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/afslinks.htm
•University of Wisconsin http://www.uwex.edu/ces/agmarkets/starting.html
•The Ohio State University: http://abe.osu.edu/Value_added/page0003.html
•Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture http://www.misa.umn.edu/publications/bizplan.html
•Iowa State University: http://www.ciras.iastate.edu/
•Penn State: http://agalternatives.aers.psu.edu/ and http://agmarketing.extension.psu.edu/Default.html
•Cornell University: http://www.cals.cornell.edu/agfoodcommunity/afs_temp3.cfm?topicID=426
•USDA-NRCS: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/RESS/altenterprise/toolkit.html
•University of Tennessee: http://economics.ag.utk.edu/pubs/business/pb1630.pdf
•Missouri Alternatives Center: http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/
