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Ag Finance Boot Camp: Sharpen Your Financial IQ

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By Mike Wilson

Ramping up your business skills makes sense any time, but especially now, with thin projected margins for agriculture. If you can spare a day, join us for the 2017 Farm Futures Ag Finance Boot Camp, taking place Jan. 18 at the Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center in Bettendorf, Iowa. This one-day workshop, sponsored by FarmerMac, Farm Credit and Grinnell Mutual, is designed for business-focused farmers, bookkeepers and office managers of all skill levels. In just one day you will:

— learn to more accurately assess the strengths and weaknesses of your farm operation, and understand how to work with lenders to get what you need; 

— be able to use financial information to improve, year-over-year, and learn the importance of accurate year-end information; 

— learn why working capital is considered a risk management tool for your operation, how your decisions impact working capital, and why it matters to your agricultural lender; 

— learn the difference between cash and accrual accounting and how to use them both in management analysis; 

— learn why contribution margin analysis is more valuable to your operation than net income; 

— learn how to determine if you need to employ management accounting in your farm business. 

Using financial standards in your business.

Today’s business environment in agriculture is becoming increasingly complex. The accounting systems that farmers and ranchers use must generate information for external reporting to creditors, government agencies and others. You also need good information to make good business decisions.

The Farm Financial Standards Council (FFSC) offers two sets of guidelines to aid farmers in capturing this information, preparing reports and performing financial analysis in a uniform manner. Attendees will be able to get these guidelines for free by attending the boot camp. Perhaps even more important, FFSC experts will be on hand to lead sessions and help answer questions on how the standards can help make your business more profitable. 

Time is running out. To register, go to www.farmfuturesbootcamp.com or click the boot camp tab at www.farmfuturessummit.com. The boot camp is just $225 per person, and room rates at the Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf are just $69.99 per night. While you’re browsing, be sure to register for the Farm Futures Business Summit, Jan. 19-20 at the same venue and convention center. 

We are bringing experts to the workshop to help you learn how to manage the business of farming. If you fully engage and take advantage of this opportunity, you will master new skills that will help you the rest of your career. 

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Neiffer to Head Farm Financial Standards Council

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neifferPaul Neiffer (center) was elected to serve as 2015-16 president of the Farm Financial Standards Council during the organization’s annual conference held in July in Kennewick, WA. Neiffer is a principal with ClifftonLarsonAllen, LLP, in Kennewick. Neiffer is flanked to his right by Stephen Severe, CFO of Padlock Ranch, Ranchester, WY, who will serve as the organization’s vice president. The secretary/treasurer of the Council is Janice P. Bitter, vice president of Farm Credit East, Homer, NY.

While meeting in Kennewick, the Council approved the adoption of new versions of the Financial Guidelines for Agriculture and the Management Accounting Guidelines for Agriculture. Both documents have undergone revisions to style and format and the new versions will become available in January 2016. The original Financial Guidelines were introduce in 1993 as a guide for bringing industry-wide uniformity in assisting farm and ranch owners / managers and their accounting teams to develop standardized financial recordkeeping formats and programs. The organization’s new membership program was also discussed at the meeting.

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Council Members Featured at Farm Futures Boot Camp

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Over 80 farmers and land owners from as far away as Washington, D.C. and Upstate New York attended the 2014 Farm Futures Ag Finance Boot Camp held in St. Louis on February 20. Addressing the group were officers and board members of the Farm Financial Standards Council. Topics during the day-long event included the role of financial record keeping, the basics of understanding balance sheets and income statements, using ag accounting in decision-making, and an open panel forum on key issues. The program was hosted by Farm Futures magazine and was sponsored by John Deere, Farm Credit, and the Council.

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FFSC Teams with Farm Futures for Ag Finance Boot Camp

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Farm Futures magazine will partner with the Farm Financial Standards Council to hold a one-day seminar on farm financial management on Jan. 6 at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark hotel. The meeting is designed for all farmers who want to boost skills that can lead to better farm management decisions.

“Many farmers tell us they struggle to understand the numbers behind their business,” says Mike Wilson, Farm Futures editor. “Our most recent farmer survey shows farmers with the best business skills are three times as likely to run high-profit farms.”
The learning event comes at a crucial time for U.S. agriculture, as lower grain prices, farm bill uncertainties and high input costs squeeze profits.

“The Ag Finance Boot Camp is ideal for farmers who want to become better managers and navigate the volatility so common in farming,” says Wilson. “Great business management starts with a broad understanding of dollars and cents.”

The sessions will be taught by professionals affiliated with the Farm Financial Standards Council.

“I am excited that we have this opportunity to work directly and hands-on with a group of farmers and ranchers from across the country,” says Jim Keirn, Ag consultant and FFSC president. “While we hope those at the Boot Camp will get great information from what our members present, we also look at this as a way to get some real feedback on the materials we’ve prepared and the way they are being used.”

Topics for the boot camp include:

• Why financial recordkeeping for agriculture is more than cash-basis accounting
• Real-life application of the basic principles of ag accounting, including standardization of definitions, measures, ratios, benchmarking and analysis methods
• How to improve the financial condition of your operation through sound financial analysis and improved financial decision-making skills
• Understanding balance sheets, income statements, cash flows, liquidity and profitability measures

A panel discussion will focus on key financial topics for farmers and ranchers, such as financial literacy required to do accrual-based accounting; accounting on the farm vs. outside services; training available for accounting software and financial management; and how to use recordkeeping to improve borrowing power.

Attendees will be given a link to download their choice of either the “Financial Guidelines for Agriculture” or the “Management Accounting Guidelines for Agriculture,” provided by the Farm Financial Standards Council. The “Financial Guidelines” document will be the January 2014 edition, which includes a new, extensive section on hedging.

The Ag Finance Boot Camp costs $100 when participants register by Dec. 1; the cost rises to $150 per person after Dec. 1. Farm Futures has arranged for a special room rate of $85 per night at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark hotel. For convenience, the boot camp takes place a day before the Farm Futures Business Summit, Jan. 7-8, at the same hotel.

The boot camp is sponsored by John Deere and Farm Credit Services. To see the agenda and register, click here. Farm Futures is a Penton/Farm Progress publication.

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New FFSC Leadership Elected

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FFSC Officers

New officers Barbara Wheeling, Jim Kelm, and Paul G. Neiffer.

Jim Kelm was elected president of the Farm Financial Standards Council during the organization’s annual conference. Kelm is principal of Kelm Management/Dairy Business Consulting, based in Red Wing, Minnesota.

Kelm has been a member of the Council since 2002 and previously served as secretary/treasurer and vice president. He is a University of Minnesota graduate and served as a farm business management instructor at Riverland Community College prior to establishing his consulting business.

Barbara Wheeling, dean of Business and Professional Accounting at Montana State University – Billings, Billings, Montana, was elected vice president of the Council. She has been a member of the Council’s board of directors since 2007 and previously served as the organization’s secretary/treasurer.

Paul G. Neiffer, CPA, was elected secretary/treasurer of the Council. A principal with the AgriBusiness Group of CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP, Yakima, Washington, Neifffer is a graduate of the University of Washington. In addition to his work with CLA, he authors a monthly column for Top Producer magazine called “The Farmer CPA.”

See more details of the conference here.

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Executive Summary: Council Pursues Online Education and FFA Programs

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In early 2011 members of the FFSC Executive Committee determined that if the Council was going to fully realize its vision as the definitive resource of financial guidelines to benefit agricultural producers, it would need to do more than just make the Guidelines documents available as downloads on its Web site.

At a special meeting held in St. Louis in July 2011, it was determined that the Council should proceed with the exploration of developing on-line education programs that would offer coursework in agricultural financial recordkeeping….to bring the Guidelines to life in a learning atmosphere.

A special group of Council members were selected to begin developing a feasibility study regarding the scope of such a project — Tim Ohlde, ABA representative to the Council; Ken Hilton, former president and a professional in the field of software development; Kathy Rancour, then FFSC President and a producer; and Barbara Wheeling, representing academia. They were assisted by Carroll Merry, FFSC administrator.

Over the next few months a Request for Proposal for the feasibility study was developed and sent to a number of organizations for consideration. After reviewing the responses to the RFP, it was determined that the best ‘partner’ for developing the education program further would be Alex White, most recently with Virginia Tech.

Mr. White has a long list of credential which qualify him to develop this program for the Council, not the least of which is the fact that he was involved with what was then the Farm Financial Standards Task Force when the very initial meetings were held which led to the development of the Guidelines we know today.

He attended the 2012 FFSC Annual Conference in Bloomington, IL and met with and addressed the Council members attending. His final recommendations were received in early September and the Executive Committee met again in St. Louis in early October to review his proposal.

The general findings of the Feasibility Study were:

• The timing is right for such an on-line program to be launched
• While there are similar programs in place being offered by various organizations, the Council is in the
unique position of being able to provide the information as a generic and neutral body with no
specific geographic restrictions, academic allegiances, or other ties/liabilities.
• The program has the firm endorsement from many of the founders of the original Task Force and
current leaders within the industry
• Such a program will take a period of time to develop and could require a very substantial monetary
commitment from the Council and/or financial supporters
• If designed and implemented properly, such a program would be self-funding into the future and could provide some financial security to the Council

A result of that meeting was the establishment of a Council subcommittee consisting of Kathy Rancour, immediate past president of the Council, Barbara Wheeling, a long-time Council member and current Secretary/ Treasurer, and Curt Covington, the ABA-designated representative to the Council. This group will be leading the direction as Phase II of the proposal moves forward. This phase is dedicated to the identification of specific markets for the program, a specific definition of the product, and the task of identifying possible ‘partners’ which have the required learning platforms in place and would be willing to work with the Council on a licensing basis.

The goal for Phase II is to have recommendations in place by Dec. 31.

The FFA Project

This is an activity that is occurring parallel and simultaneous to the development of the On-line Education Program. As background: the Council was approached mid-2011 by the FFA Organization to assist that group in updating their financial education programs being taught at the vocational agriculture level. The irony was the timing of this contact with the planning underway to pursue a feasibility study for developing the On-line Education Program.

Subsequently, a meeting was held in November 2011 in conjunction with the American Bankers Association’s Agricultural Banking Conference in Indianapolis. Attending the meeting were: Tim Ohlde and Carroll Merry, representing FFSC; Dr. David Kohl; Dr. Freddie Barnard; Dwight Armstrong, CEO of the FFA Organization, Rebecca Carter, an Education Specialist with the FFA; and Christine White, Director, Educational Programs Division of the FFA. Danny Klinefelter, Texas A&M, participated via conference call.

The group discussed the proposed On-line Education Program at length with the result being a commitment by the FFA to assist in developing the modules and provide technical support as well as providing assistance in identifying potential financial resources.

The FFA also asked that the Council provide two members who could work with the FFA over a period of time in developing new financial education programs for their vocational agriculture program. Scotty Elston, AgTexas Farm Credit Services, and Jim Kelm, Kelm Management, subsequently volunteered to serve as these representatives of the Council and to work with the FFA on its project. They are attending FFA meetings on behalf of the Council.

At this time, both the FFA assistance project and further development of the On-line Education Program are ongoing.

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Covington Briefs ABA Committee on FFSC Plans

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Curt Covington, Bank of the West, Fresno, CA, and an ABA-designated representative to the Farm Financial Standards Council, provided a briefing on the activities of the Council to members of the planning committee at the 2012 ABA National Agricultural Bankers Conference held Nov. 4 – 7 in Milwaukee.

With an audience of nearly 40 lenders from across the country in attendance, Covington provided an overview of the On-line Education Program as well as the FFA project (see Executive Summary) which are top Council Priorities.

Covington discussed the evolution of the education program and how it was fitting to the Mission of the Coun- cil. “This takes the Council to the next step in being a provider of education,” he explained to the group. He noted the desire of the Council to find a ‘partner’ that already has an on-line learning platform in place and said an ultimate goal of the program would be to offer some type of accreditation or certification.”

Joe Kessie, Lake City Bank, Warsaw, IN, an ABA committee member and also a member of the FFSC Board of Directors, explained the growing relationship between the Council and the FFA Organization. “This can be a perfect fit for so many,” he noted. “The Council wants to achieve greater industry recognition and acceptance of the Guidelines and the FFA is looking for uniformity in the ag finance programs they are distributing to vocational agriculture instructors around the country.”

John Blanchfield, Senior Vice President, ABA Center for Agricultural and Rural Banking, told the group of the very early development of the Council and the role of the ABA in working with the very early Farm Financial Standards Task Force, which was the original name of the Council.

Responding to questions about Council funding, FFSC Administrator Carroll Merry explained the overall make- up of the Council and the fact that outside of sales of the Guidelines documents, the Council has to rely solely on contributions in order to allow it to continue to function.

“It is anticipated that the On-line Education Program would be self-funding once it is fully developed,” Coving- ton told the group. “The ABA, and the members of this group, may want to be open to some kind of financial sponsorship as the Council works to get the program up and running,” he concluded.

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