Farm Management

Article originally appeared in Coschocton Tribune

Farm Management Resources

By Emily Adams

Every once in a while I hear from clientele that OSU Extension is a best kept secret. Therefore I am constantly trying to get the word out about the useful services and resources that we offer. There are a number of farm management resources that you may not be aware of that are available at farmoffice.osu.edu. This website focuses on all things related to successful farm management including agricultural law, taxes, budgets, farm transition planning, custom rates, cash rent leasing, and more.

In today’s agricultural economic climate, it is as important as ever to make wise business decisions in our farming operations. One program that helps with the decision making process is the Ohio Farm Benchmarking Program. There is a technician based out of Licking County available for our area to complete a financial analysis of your farming operation.  This analysis will help you understand where your areas of profitability are in the business.  We will give you tools to understand the numbers behind your analysis, and will show you how to use them to further your success.  An analysis like this allows you to look at how different decisions could impact the profitability of your farm in the long term. You can learn more about this program at farmprofitability.osu.edu.

Another popular publication throughout the year is the custom rate and machinery costs. This is published every other year and is based on survey data collected from farms all over Ohio. The latest report came out last spring based on 2016 data from 365 farmers throughout the state.  Some of the most commonly asked information in my office are rates for general farm labor, bush hogging, seeding pastures, grain storage, making and baling hay, hay storage, and grain harvest. All figures in this document include the average rate with a range of low to high responses. There is no magic number for any of this custom farm work, but this gives you a starting point to set your fee or negotiate a rate.

I am also often asked about rates for cash rental of farmland for crops like corn, soybeans, and hay as well as pasture ground. There is some information available from OSU Extension for Ohio, but at this point it is only for the western part of the state. Since these rates are higher than eastern Ohio, they are not very useful. However, there is some data from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service that is specific for Coshocton County. I also have some local data available at the Extension Office.

Just remember that there are lots of factors that need to be considered when negotiating a rental rate for farmland. The soil type and fertility is obviously important for potential yield. But physical features like the overall size of the field, ease of equipment access, and potential for wildlife damage can all play an important role in determining a rate as well. More than anything, I cannot emphasize enough the recommendation for a written lease. A great resource for leasing information is AgLeases101.org.

Today I’ll leave you with this quote from Stephen Covey, “We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals.

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