Record Keeping B Agribusiness Farmers and Land Record Keeping ...

General InformationRecord keeping is a very important aspect of a successful business, such as farming. A wellkept record book is able to help the farmer determine whether or not his operation isprofitable. It is the basis for good business planning and improvements. Therefore, a farmerwho wants to improve his/her cash flow is encouraged to keep accurate records of his/heroperation. In this record keeping book, we have tried to make it easy for you, the farmer tobe able to keep records on the spot without complications. We believe that record keepingshould be fun and have made it so by reducing the complexities found in the farm serviceagency’s farm family record book. From these records, you can derive all the data you needfor completing farm service records.We have prepared two record keeping books one for expenditures and the other for sales.They both start with daily record keeping pages for twelve months. Next are monthlyrecords, where daily totals are transferred at the end of each month. These are followed bythe record of annual totals and others. You can carry these recorded keeping books with youat all times, for immediate entries, to avoid forgetting your daily transactions.The production of this instant record keeping book has been inspired by the complaints ofsome small family farmers regarding the complexities in the direct use of the Farm ServiceAgency’s farm family record keeping book. More record keeping materials will bedistributed to you as they become available. It is the in intention of the Small farm researchCenter to assist in your endeavor to become a better, more productive and more profitablefarmer. The source of some of the records in this book is from the Farm Family RecordBook of the FmHA form FmHA 432-1 (Rev. 7-94).How to use this BookThe book is mostly self explanatory. Each section begins with a brief explanation of itscontents and how to keep the records. The farm record keeping instrument on page 6 callsfor very familiar entries, such as name of operator, location of operation, owned or rented,total acreage owned, total acreage rented, farm product, number of acres planted andharvested, output, unit, price per unit, and year. This being the record of sales, other recordsinclude daily record keeping for sales of farm products, monthly summary of all daily sales,annual revenues from the sale of farm products (obtained from the daily totals), and projectedand actual farm budget for the year- 5 -