Farm Management

Designed to teach the farm managers of tomorrow, Farm Management emphasizes the strategic and operations aspects of managing a farm. Today’s farm managers will want to consult it as well to improve the effectiveness, objectivity, and success of their decisions. This innovative textbook is framed by the increasing need for farmers to develop and follow a business plan. Topics not found in traditional farm management texts include: Strategic management; How to evaluate, choose, and implement the business strategies that best fit the farm and the farmer; Production and operations planning; How to benefit from techniques and management tools used in general business; Quality management and control that will decrease costs and meet consumer demands; Production contract evaluation; Decision making beyond the traditional microeconomic analysis: decision making under risk and the development of scenarios to understand the impact of an uncertain future. Fundamental farm management topics and basics are not ignored in this all-inclusive text. Traditional material includes budgeting, marketing, enterprise selection, production planning, financial analysis, financial management, investment analysis, risk management, work force management, business organization, and control management. Student learning will be enhanced by review questions and a glossary in the book. Other ancillary material: study notes, virtual field trips, a test bank, class assignments, instructions on how to produce local examples to complement the examples in the text, and worksheets for students are available on the author’s website or on a CD-ROM.

Dr. Kent Olson is professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. He is involved in applied research, on-campus teaching, and extension education. He has taught farm management for 25 years on campus and in extension settings. His research emphasizes farm level management issues, especially the interaction between farming and the environment, sustainable agriculture, decision-making, alternative production technologies, and the impact of government policies. Dr. Olson has also been the state coordinator for two farm record associations in Minnesota. He grew up on a farm in north-central Iowa, graduated from Iowa State University, and was a farm management extension specialist at the University of California-Davis before joining the faculty at Minnesota in 1985. He and his siblings continue to own and manage a farm in Iowa.