LT 5. Farm Manegement

AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT
(ABVM 211)
FARM MANAGEMENT
(4 ECTS)
COMPILED BY:
MILKESSA TEMESGEN (M.Sc.)

ZERIHUN NIGUSSIE (M.Sc.)
JULY, 2012
AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT: FARM MANAGEMENT
Topic one: Concepts of Farm Management and Decision Making
Definitions:
Farm management is a science that deals with the proper combination and operation of
production factors including land, labor and capital, and the choice of crop and livestock
enterprises to bring about the maximum and continuous return to the most elementary
operational units of farming.
Farm management as a subject matter is the application of agricultural science, business
and economic principles in farming from the point of view of an individual farmer. The
principles may serve as a guideline for collecting and using requisite information for rational
decision making. They also provide a set of tools for the preparation of farm budgets and
production programs.
Farm management can also be defined as a sub-branch of agricultural economics which deals
with decision making on the organization and operation of a farm for securing maximum and
continuous net income consistent with the welfare of farm family.
This definition best fits the two aspects of farm life by providing an area of common ground
for their close inter-relationship in the direction of maximizing profit and utility functions
from the output of the farm as a whole.
Thus, in simple words, farm management can be defined as a science which deals with
judicious decisions on the use of scarce farm resources, having alternative uses to obtain the
maximum profit and family satisfaction on a continuous basis from the farm as a whole and
under sound farming programs. Farm management seeks to help the farmer in deciding
problems like:
 What to produce? (e.g. selection of profitable enterprises)
 How much to produce? (e.g resource use level)
 How to Produce? (e.g. selection of least cost production method)
 When to buy and when to sell, and in organization and managerial problems relating to
these decisions.
In other words, Farm Management tries to answer the basic economic questions related to a
given farm conditions. Thus, Farm management may in short be called a science of decision-
making or science of choice in farm business. The need for it arises out of changes in the
farm conditions as well as changes occurring outside of the farm, and hence need of
continuous adjustment of farm operations to these changes becomes inevitable. The principal
changes frequently encountered by the farmers are: fluctuations in price, variations in
weather, inventions in farming methods, and changes in socio-economic environment
including changes in government policy and social responses and values.
Jimma, Haramaya, Hawassa, Ambo, Adama, Bahirdar, Wolaita Sodo and Samara Universities
1.1 Preliminary Concepts

Agriculture defined as the sum total of the practices of crop and livestock production on
individual farms. Hence, the agricultural production of country is the sum of contributions of
the individual farm units, and the development of agriculture means the sum of developments
of millions of farm units.
Farm defined: A farm is the smallest unit of agriculture which may consist of one or more
plots cultivated by one farmer or group of farmers in common for raising crop and livestock
enterprise. It is both a producing unit as well as a consuming unit.
Family farm: A family holding (farm) may be defined briefly as being equivalent, according
to the local conditions and under the existing conditions to technique, either to a plough unit
or to a work unit for a family of average size.
Farm Firm: The farm is a firm because production is organized for profit maximization.
Hence, it is a business unit of control over factors of production. On the other hand, it is a
household unit demanding maximum satisfaction of the farm family. The manager of the
farm comes to understand the twin objectives by linking one with the other.
Stock and flow inputs: Stock inputs are resources which are consumed during the
production period, like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and the like. They can be stored, if not
used currently, for future use. As against this, flow inputs like labor and management, if not
used, cannot be stored for the next season.
Management of Farm vs. Farm Management: Generally speaking, management of farm
aims at maximizing production in the sphere of agronomy, whereas, farm management is
concerned with maximizing profit in the realm of agricultural economics.
Economic unit: It is the sum of resources for which costs, returns and net income can be
worked out. As such, a farm is an economic unit.
The very concept of farm management has a fascinating appeal to the mankind, as there is
not a single creed which is not affected by this bread-butter subject. It is the study of farmer,
as a producer of food and other raw materials, who occupies a strategic position in the
economic life of a country. Politically, farmers together exert a considerable influence on the
type of government they like in the developing countries.
Farm management investigations give thrust and direction to farm business improvement by
providing useful information to planners, farmers and extension workers. Better
understanding of the sequential flow of new technology is provided by farm management
research that contributes to more realistic projection of production potential. Again, basic
information provided by farm management studies on specific farm projects, such as land
reclamation, settlement, irrigation and drainage, serves as an aid to formulating national
policies. Farm management has an inherent capacity of developing strategic approaches to
making the best use of scarce resources and, as such, can view the threats and problems that
lie ahead as veiled opportunities for showing its potential as one of the nation’s saviors.
Hence, there is bound to be far greater awareness and understanding of the role of farm
management in the nation’s economy.
1.2 Nature and Characteristics of Farm Management
Farm management is basically both an applied and pure science. It is a pure science because
it deals with the collection, analysis and explanation of factors and the discovery of
principles (theory). It is an applied science because the ascertainments and solutions of farm
management problems (technology) are within its scope. Farm management science has the
following distinguishing characteristics from other fields of agricultural sciences.
1. Practical science: It is a practical science, because while dealing with the factors of
other physical and biological sciences, it aims at testing the applicability of those facts
and findings and showing how to put these results to use on a given farm situations. A
farmer has to select a method which is more practicable and economical to his particular
farm situation taking into consideration the volume of work and financial implications.
2. Profitability oriented: Farm management is interested in profitability (considers the
costs involved in producing each unit of output in relation to returns). Biological fields
such as agronomy and plant breeding concern themselves with distaining the maximum
yield per unit irrespective of the profitability of inputs used. Farm management is
interested in optimum results/yields which may not necessarily coincide with the
maximum production point. In brief, when other sciences deal with physical efficiency,
farm management deals with economic efficiency.
3. Integrating science or interdisciplinary science: The facts and findings of other
sciences are coordinated for the solution of various problems of individual farmers with
the view of achieving desired goals. It involves different disciplines to decision making.
It considers the findings of other sciences in reaching its own conclusions. Principles of
farm management integrate results by physical sciences under specific set of conditions.
4. Broader field: It uses more than one discipline to make decisions. It gathers knowledge
from many other sciences for making decision and farm management specialists have to
know the broad principles of all other concerned sciences in addition to specialization in
the business principles of farm management.
5. Micro-approach: In farm management, every farm unit is considered as unique in
terms of available resources, problems and potentialities. It recognizes that no two farms
are exactly identical with respect to soil, other production resources, farmers’ managerial
ability, etc. Each farm unit has to be, therefore, studied, guided or planned individually.
6. Farm unit as a whole: In farm management analysis, a farm as a whole is considered to
be the unit for making decisions because the objective is to maximize the returns from
the whole farm instead of only improving the returns from a particular enterprise or
practice. Farm management considers all possible aspects of crop and livestock
enterprises of a given farm. The principles of farm management, thus, help to get the
optimum enterprise mix that would yield the highest income to the farmer from the total
farm organization.
1.3 Objectives and Scope of Farm Management

The central theory of farm management is the theory of optimal decision-making in the
organization and operation of a farm for profit maximization. To this end, the objectives and
scope of farm management are discussed as follows:
Objectives of Farm Management
Looking at the farm structure as a whole, it is apparent that the objective of farm
management are those that have to do with the two aspects of the same farm as a producing
unit and as a consuming unit along with the harmonization of their behavior and goals.
Broadly speaking the objectives of farm management are:
 To study the existing resources-land, labor, capital and management-and the
production pattern on the farm.
 To perform the strategic task of finding out the deviation of the resources from their
optimum utilization.
 To explain the means and the procedure of moving from the existing combination of
resources to their optimum use for profit maximization.
 To outline conditions that would simultaneously obtain its objectives of profit
maximization and maximization of family satisfaction through optimum use of
resources and judicious income distribution.
 To workout costs and returns on individual enterprises and on the farm as a whole.
Scope of Farm Management
Farm management is generally considered to fall in the field of microeconomics. That means,
in a way concerned with the problems of resource allocation in the agricultural sector, and
even the economy as a whole, the primary concern of farm management is the farm as a unit.
It deals with the allocation of resources at the level of an individual farm. It covers the whole
aspects of individual farm business which have bearing on the economic efficiency of the
farm. These include:
 The types of enterprises to be combined/enterprise relationships
 The kinds of crops and varieties to be grown/choice of input-output combinations
 The dosage of fertilizer to be applied
 The implements to be used
 The way the farm functions are to be performed
 Investment decisions
 Appraisal of farm resources
 Farm planning and budgeting
 Farm prices, credit and profits
 Risk and uncertainty

 Planning the marketing of farm produce
All the above aspects of farm business, which fall within the purview of the subject of farm
management, are so interlinked and drawn together, that is systematic study of all of them is
required to understand the business of farms within the circle of scarcity and choice.
1.4 Farm Management Problems in Developing Countries
Farm management problems in developing countries may vary from place to place depending
largely upon the degree of agricultural development and the availability of resources. The
following are some of the most common problems in the field of farm management.
Small size of farm business: The average land holding size or operational holding in
developing countries like Ethiopia is very small. The land holdings are fragmented too.
Excessive pressure of population creates unfavorable man-land ratio in most parts of the
country. This combined with excessive family labor, which depends upon agriculture, has
weakened the financial position of the farmers and limited the scope for business expansion.
Farm as a household: In most parts of the country family farms perpetuate the traditional
combinations of crops and methods of cultivations. Thus the equation between agricultural
labor and household labor becomes an identity. This makes difficult for the farmer to
introduce business content and incorporate new management idea in his farm operations.
Home management, thus, heavily influences and gets influenced by farm decisions
Inadequate capital: Capital shortage is peculiar feature of farming in developing countries.
Most often, peasant agriculture (which is mostly subsistence) is labor intensive and
characterized by serious deficiency of capital. Generally small size of farms, problems of
tenureship and unremunerative prices have set the farmer under perpetual poverty. New
technologies demand higher inputs such as more fertilizers, plant protection measures,
irrigation and better seeds as well as investment in power and machinery. Small farmers
cannot meet the financial requirements from their own funds. Hence, low cost, adequate and
timely credit is their most pressing need if they have to put their firm-farms on growth paths.
Under-employment of factors of production: Underemployment of factors of production in
developing countries emanate from: small size of the farms, large family labor supply,
seasonal nature of production, lack of subsidiary or supporting rural industries, etc.
Slow adoption of innovations: Small farmers are usually conservative and sometimes
skeptical of new technologies and methods. The rate of adoption, however, depends; largely
on the farmers’ willingness and ability to use the new information (once they get it effective
they will become eager to adopt it). However, since established attitudes and values do not
change overnight the extension efforts take time to get the research results commercially
adopted and existed on the farms. It calls for training and substantial financial requirements.
Inadequacy of input supplies: Farmers may be willing to introduce change yet they may
face the difficulty in obtaining the required inputs of required quality, in sufficient quantity,
and on time to sustain the introduced changes. Shortages of foreign exchange in developing
countries seriously limit importation of needed supplies and materials. Domestic industries
generally lack raw materials, skills, capital or combination of these to manufacture the
needed farm supplies or inputs.
Managerial skill: The most important and difficult problem for many years has been the
managerial skills of large number of small-scale farmers in the country. This is necessary to
make millions of ultimate users of research results develop progressive attitudes and be
responsive to the technological charges. Education of the farmers on a mass scale is, thus
most important. Even illiterate people can be educated through demonstration of the
application of new techniques and better uses of the inputs available.
Communication and markets: These are two important elements of infrastructure necessary
for introducing economic content in the farm organizations. Lack of adequate communication
systems and the regulated market organization stand as a major bottleneck in the way of
improving the management of farms on business lines. Substantial investments therefore
need to be made on roads, marketing systems, and other communication facilities in almost
all parts of the country.
1.5 Characteristics of Farming as a Business
Farming as a business has many distinguishing features from most other industries in its
management methods and practices. The major differences between farming and other
industries are:
a. Primary forces of production: Agriculture is primarily biological in nature. A slight
change in the environment may cause serious difficulties. One day of cold, for example,
may destroy the whole of a standing crop. Unforeseen changes in the environment such
as plant or animal diseases and storm can cause a considerable damage. Most of the
other industries are less likely to be affected by such circumstances.
b. Size of the production unit: Farming is a small-sized business as it gives little scope
for division of labor. In this business the farmer is both the laborer and the capitalist.
c. Heavy dependence upon climatic factors: Weather changes may involve
readjustments. As a result of dependence on climatic factors, management practices in
farming must be much more flexible than in other industries.
d. Frequency and speed of decisions: Farming requires many and speedy decisions on the
part of the farmer and the farm workers.
e. Changes in prices: Agricultural prices and production usually move in opposite
directions. Because of the effects of climate and biological factors, a relatively large
volume of production of a given farm commodity is usually followed by a decrease in
price, and a smaller volume results in increase in prices.
f. Fixed and variable costs: Of the total costs, portion of fixed costs is more in agriculture
than in other industries. This high proportion of fixed costs tends to make the
adjustments in production more difficult.
g. Inelastic demand for farm products: Agriculture deals with production of food and
raw materials. As standard of living improve and income increases, the demand for
agricultural products will increase less rapidly than that for industrial products. On the
one hand, if increased production comes from the decreased marginal returns phase,
costs will go high. Higher production may reduce prices so low that total returns might
not increase or even may decrease.
1.6 Farm Decision Making Process
As indicated before, farm management is concerned with the allocation of limited resources
among a number of alternative uses which requires a manager to make decisions. A manager,
first, must consider the resources available for attaining goals which have been set. Limits are
placed on goal attainment because most managers are faced with a limited amount of
resources. Decision-making is the most important responsibility of a manager of a farm
business or other type business. Decisions form the life-wire of the farm business. A
successful manager is one who has the skill to choose between alternatives in a constrained
environment and effective at attaining the stated objectives at best.
In a farm business, goal attainment is confined within some limits set by the amount of land,
labor and capital available. These resources may change overtime, but they are never
available in infinite amounts. The level of management skill available or the expertise of the
manager may be another limiting resource. If the limited resources could only be used one
way to produce one agricultural product, the manager’s job would be much easier. The usual
situation allows the limited resources to be used in several different ways to produce each of
a number of different products. In this case, the manager may be faced with a number of
alternative uses of the limited resources and must make decisions on how to allocate them
among the alternatives to maximize profit from the total business. This is one of the reasons
why decision making is mentioned in the definition of farm management. Without decision
nothing would happen. Even allowing things to continue as they are implies a decision,
perhaps not a good decision but a passive decision nevertheless.
The process of making a decision can be formalized into a logical and orderly series of steps.
Following these steps will not ensure a perfect decision but ensure that the decision is made
in a logical and organized manner.
1. Identify and define the problem: A manager must constantly be alert to identify
problems as quickly as possible. Most problems will not go away by themselves and
represent an opportunity to increase the profitability of the business through wise
decision making. Once identified the problem, it should be concisely defined. Good
problem definition will minimize the time required to complete the remainder of the
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decision making steps. Definition of the problem involves locating the root cause of the
problem identified. This helps to identify factor responsible for the problem identified.
For the case of low yield identified as a problem, the possible cause can include low
input use such as fertilizer which may depend on several factors.
2. Collecting relevant data and information: Once a problem has been identified, the
next step should be to gather data, information and facts, and to make observations
which pertain to the specific problem.
3. Identifying and analyzing alternatives: Once the relevant information is available, the
manager can begin listing alternatives which are potential solutions to the problem.
Several alternatives may become apparent during the process of collecting data and
transforming data into information. Each alternative should be analyzed in a logical and
organized manner to ensure accuracy and to prevent something from being overlooked.
4. Making decision: Choosing the best solution to a problem is not always easy, nor is the
best solution always obvious. Sometimes the best solution is to do nothing or to go back,
redefine the problem and go through the decision-making steps again.
5. Implementing decision: Selecting the best alternative will not give the desired results
unless the decision is correctly and promptly implemented. Resources may need to be
acquired and organized. This requires some physical actions to be taken.
6. Evaluation: This is the last step in the process of decision making. It involves
comparing the result or performance of your farming business before and after the
implementation of the solution.
Classifying Decision
Decision made by farm manager can be classified in a number of ways. One way of
classification system may be to consider decisions as either organizational or operational in
nature.
Organizational decisions are those decisions made in the general areas of developing plans
for the business, acquiring the necessary resources and implementing the overall plan. Some
of such decisions include: decisions regarding selection of the best size of the farm, what
scale should be the farm operation, decisions regarding (how much land to purchase or lease;
how much capital to borrow; the level of mechanization; construction of buildings and
irrigation facilities, etc.). Therefore, organizational decisions are related to planning and
organization of the farm that tend to be long run decisions which gives shape to the overall
organization of the farm and are not modified or reevaluated more than once a year.
Compared to operational decisions, organizational decisions require heavy investment and
have long lasting effect.
Operational decisions are made more frequently than the organizational decisions and
related to the many details made on a daily, weekly or monthly basis and are repeated more
often than the organizational decisions as they follow the routines and cycles of agricultural
production. Operational decisions are frequent which involve relatively lower investment
and their effect is short lived. Some of such decisions include:
 Selecting fertilizer and seeding rates for a given field and year
 Making changes in livestock feed ration
 Selecting planting and harvesting dates
 Marketing decisions and daily work schedules
 What to produce (selection of enterprises)
 How much to produce (enterprise mix and production process)
 How to produce( selection of least cost method)
 When to produce (timing of production)
Topic Two: Production Resources and Management
2.1 Farm Resources

Productive resource is any good (commodity) or service used in the production process to
create another good (commodity) or service. In the production process, firms use factors
(inputs or agents of production) which are often classified into four categories: land, labor,
capital and entrepreneurship.
Land: It consists of those gifts of nature which are not the result of human effort and it
includes land, water, sunshine, natural forests, minerals, wild animals and local climate. It is
often made productive as a result of human effort. Land is the basic resource which supports
the production of all agricultural commodities with unique characteristics compared to other
resources. The specific characteristics of land include:
1. Land doesn’t depreciate or wear out provided that soil fertility is maintained and
appropriate conservation means are used.
2. Area space and location of land are immobile: that is land cannot be moved or shifted
to be combined with other resources such as machines, seed, fertilizer or water, rather
the latter have to move to the land in the production of crops or livestock.
3. Each farm or specific parcel of land is unique: each parcel of land contains one or
more distinct feature such as soil types, topography, climatic factors and the existence of
natural hazards such as flooding, wind, etc.
4. Land is said to be fixed and limited in quantity (Supply): this is to say that the area
of land at country level cannot be increased or decreased (supply of land is fixed) but for
an individual farmer, land can be increased or decreased.
Therefore a farm manger should use these unique qualities of land for proper decision
making to make the farm enterprise perform well.
Labor: The term labor describes the effort of human beings that include hired labor, family
labor and farmers' labor. Labor is needed for every type of production. It can be more
productive as a result of time and effort devoted to training.
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The amount of labor (the labor input) used over a particular farm or plot of land depends on
the number of individuals employed and the number of hours worked. Mostly labor is
measured in man-day, where one man-day is equal to 8 hrs of work for an average man with
average strength, skill and experience. The most important characteristics of labor useful for
managerial decisions include:
1. Labor is flow resource that it cannot be stored like seed or labor is available for specified
time.
2. It is the service that is hired or purchased not the labor unlike land and capital items, i.e
the worker sells his/her work or services.
3. Labor is a lumpy or indivisible input. This is to say that it is not possible to employ half
a man (but possible to divide seed or fertilizer).
4. In agricultural sector, the operators and other members of the family provide all or
largest part of labor in a farm. This labor (family or community labor) doesn’t generally
receive direct cash payment unlike manufacturing sector, so its costs and values can be
easily overlooked or ignored.
5. The human factor is another characteristics distinguishing labor from other resources.
That is if an individual employee is treated as inanimate object, productivity and
efficiency suffers. Therefore, the hope, fears, ambitions, likes and dislikes, worries and
personnel problems of the owner/operator and the employees must be considered in any
labor management plan.
Capital: It presents all resources which are the result of past human effort. Which means it
consists of all manmade goods which are used in the production of other goods. The capital
category includes a wide variety of items ranging from durable items such as building, dams,
roads, and machinery to stock of materials like seed and fertilizer which may be used in a
single production season. Capital should not be confused with money since money itself is
not a productive resource. It only becomes productive when it is used to buy physical items
or hires services.
Management (Entrepreneurship): Entrepreneurship involves organizing and coordinating
the different farm resources (land, labor and capital) so as to get the maximum output and
profit. Management function is primarily a mental process, each choice and action whose
results are conditioned by the attitudes, values and goals of the manager. The manager’s
goals and value systems unconsciously determine what he will observe, what variables he
will consider, what information he will gather, and which alternatives he will choose. Thus,
the formulation of these goals is essential in effective management because they give
direction to the whole managerial process.
Factors of production could be fixed or variable. The difference between fixed and variable
factors relates to the time horizon involved. In economics, there are two main horizons: the
short run and the long run. The short run is a relatively short period of time in which the
quantity of some factors of production such as equipments and buildings cannot be varied.
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Such factors are called fixed factors. Factors of production whose quantity can be varied in
the short run are called variable factors. The long run, on the other hand, is a relatively long
period which allows the variation of all factors of production including plants and
equipments.
Variable resources in summary:
a. The resources whose uses vary with the level of production are known as variable
resources.
b. Volume of output directly depends on these resources.
c. Costs corresponding to these resources are known as variable costs.
d. Variable resources exist both in the short run and in the long run.
Seeds, Fertilizers, Plant protection chemicals, feeds, medicines etc., are examples of variable
resources.
Fixed resources in summary:
a. Resources whose use remains the same regardless of the level of production are called
fixed resources.
b. Volume of output does not directly depend up on these types of resources.
c. Costs corresponding to these resources are known as fixed costs
d. Fixed resources exist only in the short run and in the long run they are zero
Example: machinery, farm buildings, equipment, implements, livestock, etc.
2.1 Rewards for using farm resources
The reward for using land is rent. Rent can be paid in cash or in kind by using farm produce.
Rent can be paid annually, seasonally, etc. based on the terms of agreement.
The reward for using labor is either salary or wage. It is salary for those who are on the
payroll receiving monthly salaries and wage for the casual laborer.
The reward for using capital is interest (cost of using money). The rate of interest charged
depends on the source of the capital. For instances private money lenders charge higher rates
as compared to formal financial institutions.
The reward for using management/entrepreneur is profit. This is so because the ultimate aim
of any producer is to maximize profit. Here the principle of “carrot and stick” holds. If a
manager performs well, he is given a carrot in the form of a pat on the back for a job well
done or promotion or an award. On the contrary, if he fails by recording a loss or poor
performance, he is given a “Stick” in form of query, dismissal, warning or demotion.
2.3 Farm Resources Valuation
Valuation is the practice of attaching prices to a given asset like buildings, vehicles, growing
crops, and stored products at the end of an accounting period or at the time of sale for a
particular farm organization. The price shows what farm assets worth at a particular time.
Valuation process involves getting a realistic measure of the current value of the assets of the
farm business. The first step in asset valuation is to list the resources available in physical
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terms and the second step is placing values on the assets. The five methods of valuation
include are briefly explained below
Valuation at cost: This method involves entering the actual amount invested on the asset
when it was originally acquired. A major set-back of this procedure is that after the business
has been in operation for some time, the original cost is not of much value since the
conditions might have changed at the time of valuation.
Valuation at market price: The market price of an asset at the time of consideration can be
taken as its value. Example grains, feeder, livestock and land. This method may, however,
over or under-estimate the value depending on the states of affairs in the economy. For
instance the market price for the land may be based on the price of a similar piece of land or
what the owner is willing to sell it for. Yet, it’s common phenomenon that land appreciates in
value over time.
Valuation at net selling price (PNS): Some costs such as cost of advertisement and
transportation may incur at a time of selling an asset. In this valuation method, whatever
price that can be obtained in the market for the asset, that is, market price (P m) less the cost of
selling (CS) is taken as a price of asset at a particular point in time. Mathematically it can be
shown as: PNS = Pm – CS.
Valuation by reproductive value: An asset can be valued at what it would cost to produce it
at present prices and under present methods of production. This method is more useful for
long-term assets and has little or no application for short-lived assets.
Cost less accumulated depreciation: This method is appropriate only for depreciable assets
like machinery and buildings. Value of the asset is set equal to the ‘book value’. Book value
is computed as the difference between the initial cost and the accumulated depreciation of the
asset from acquisition to the time of valuation.
Depreciation
Depreciation is the loss in value of capital asset overtime due to age, obsolescence and wear
and tear. Depreciation, therefore, is a function of time and use, and it involves prorating the
original cost of an asset over its useful life. An important but difficult consideration is the
rate at which depreciation should take place. Some managers assume 10%, 20%, etc. but the
best choice depends on the depreciation rate that is closest to the actual rate of loss in value
for the period under consideration. Different assets loss values at different rates; hence
different methods of depreciation have been developed. These methods of depreciation are
discussed as follows:
Annual Revaluation Method
The annual revaluation method is based on the resale value of the asset in the market.
In this approach Depreciation (D) = Original Price – Resale Price of the asset to date
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If the original price of an asset was Birr 2,000 in 2009 and Birr 1,800 in 2010 the
depreciation is 200 (i.e., 2,000 – 1,800 = 200). The problem with this method is that it may
not be easy to find a comparable product being sold in a market at a time of estimating
depreciation. Or in an economy with run-away inflation, a recent experience of rising world
price, appreciation rather than depreciation of assets might be apparent. For instance an asset
purchased in 1975 for Birr 2,100 was sold for Birr 2,500 in 1983 because the new price of
virtually the same asset has gone up to Birr 6,000.
Straight Line Depreciation Method
The straight-line depreciation method assumes that an asset depreciates at a constant rate
over its economic life. The method is, therefore, useful for assets that loss value constantly
over their entire life. Depreciation (D) by this method is the difference between the purchase
price (P) and the salvage value1 (SV) divided by the use full life of the asset in years
(n).Mathematically:
Example, An asset costing Birr 4,000 initially has a salvage value of Birr 400 and expected
life of 10 years. For this asset the yearly depreciation is given by [(4000 – 400)/10 =
360].The depreciation schedule over years appears as shown in the table below.
Table 1: Straight line depreciation for an asset initial cost Birr 4000 and SV Birr 400 and n=10 years
Year Depreciation Remaining value at the end of the year
1 360 3640
2 360 3280
3 360 2920
4 360 2560
5 360 2200
6 360 1840
7 360 1480
8 360 1120
9 360 760
10 360 400
Declining Balance Method

The declining balance method assumes a fixed rate of depreciation every year. Since the
value of the asset is greater at the beginning, if the rate is applied the amount of depreciation
is also greater at the beginning and less at the end. The salvage value is not subtracted from
the initial cost. Yet, the rate is applied to each successive remaining balance till the salvage
value of an asset is reached. This method is, therefore, useful for asset which loss value fast
1
Salvage value is the value of an asset at the end of its economic life
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at the beginning of its economic life. Considering rate of depreciation to be 20% annually,
schedule of depreciation using the declining balance method is shown in the table below.
Table 2: Depreciation of an asset using declining balance method (Cost Birr 4000, SV Birr 400 & n=10 years)
Year Depreciation Remaining value at the end of the year
1 20% of 4000 = 800 3,200
2 20% of 3200 = 640 2,560
3 20% of 2560 = 512 2,048
4 20% of 2048 = 409.60 1,638.40
5 20% of 1638.4 = 327.68 1,310.72
6 20% of 1310.72 = 262.14 1,048.58
7 20% of 1048.58 = 209.72 838.86
8 20% of 838.86 = 167.77 671.09
9 20% of 671.09 = 134.22 536.87
10 20% of 536.86 = 107.37 429.50
Sum-Of-Years Digit Method (SOYD)
Annual depreciation is given by multiplying cost less salvage value (i.e., salvage value is the
estimated residual value of a depreciable asset or property at the end of its useful life) by the
fraction of remaining useful life (RL) to sum-of-years digit (SOYD).
The sum-of-years-digit (SOYD) is obtained by summing up the digits 1 to n for an asset with
a useful life of n years. For example, if the useful life of an asset is 10 years the sum of the
digits is given as 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 = 55. Or use simple formula below to
find SOYD.
The sum forms the denominator for the fraction while the numerator is the remaining useful
years of life of the asset at the beginning of the accounting period. Thus the fraction for the
first year of the asset is 10/55. For the second and third years the fractions are 9/55 and 8/55,
respectively. The depreciation schedule for the asset costing Birr 4,000 and salvage value of
Birr 400 is shown in the table below. In this method the asset losses values at a fairly
constant rate.
Table 3: Depreciation of an asset using the sum-of-years-digits method (Cost Birr 4000, SV Birr 400 & n=10 years)
Year Annual Depreciation Remaining balance
1 10/55 (4000-400) = 654.55 3345.45
2 9/55 (4000-400) = 589.09 2756.36
3 8/55 (4000-400) = 523.64 2232.73
15
4 7/55 (4000-400) = 458.18 1774.55

5 6/55 (4000-400) = 392.73 1381.82
6 5/55 (4000-400) = 327.27 1054.55
7 4/55 (4000-400) = 261.82 792.73
8 3/55 (4000-400) = 196.36 596.36
9 2/55 (4000-400) = 130.91 465.45
10 1/55 (4000-400) = 65.45 400.00
Topic Three: Analysis of Farm Records and Accounts
3.1 Farm Records and Accounts

Farm records are important to the financial health of the farm. Good records do not ensure
the successfulness of the farm; however, success is unlikely without them. Farm records are
like grade report papers students receive in higher institutions. With a farm record report, you
can tell how well you are managing your business operation and you can also see the
strengths and weaknesses of your farm operation.
Farm record is an account of the various activities carried out on the farm on a regular basis.
Such activities include farm purchases, utilization of farm inputs, number of livestock kept
and equipment procured. It also includes crop cultivated, seed planted, cultural activities
carried out, quantity harvested, etc.
Types of Farm Records
There are different types of records that are important for decision-making. And there is no
single widely accepted design for farm record. However any farm record has to provide the
most important requirements. These most important requirements include simplicity,
specificity, ease of accessing information, and comprehensible to another user. The most
important farm records are discussed below.
Inventory Records: Inventory is the listing of assets owned by the farming business. The
farm tools and equipment inventory contains information of the asset such as name, the year
of purchase, the cost price, the expected years of life, the annual depreciation and the
beginning and end of year values. The common types of farm records are production record
and sales record. Farm inventory record contains list of assets owned by the farm. Examples
include crop and livestock inventory records. The crop inventory record contains information
concerning the quantity and value of crops at the beginning and end of the accounting period;
and the livestock inventory record shows the number of each type of livestock owned and
their value at the beginning and end of the accounting period.
Income or Receipts Records: Income or receipts records can be classified by enterprise with
details of each transaction like product sold, units produced and total value.
16
Home Consumption Record: The home consumption record usually contains the product,
price per unit, total weight and the value of home consumed products. In subsistence small
scale farming the proportion of home consumed products out of the total production could be
substantial.
The Crop and Livestock Expenses Record: The crop or livestock expense record, which is
similar to the direct expense record shows date of purchases, the seller, quantity purchased,
unit price and total cost.
Farm Labour Record: This often includes both family and hired labour components. On
enterprise basis the number of workers, the hour spent by each person and the wage are
recorded. Hired labour costs are often transferred to the general expense record.
Durable Assets Depreciation Record: It records type of asset, purchase date and condition
at purchase, purchase value, expected useful life (service period), and the rate of depreciation
of the asset. The methods of determining the depreciation of farm durable items is already
discussed earlier. The data will help in determining the salvage value which is the value of
the assets at the end of its useful life i.e., scrap value.
Net Farm Profit Record: It records the values and sources of receipts (crop, livestock),
value of home consumed products and the gross farm receipts for a given year.
Farm Accounting
Commercial farming involves many transactions and book keeping. Books of account present
summary of records on business transactions. Accounting systems should be designed to
provide information efficiently and quickly at the least cost as well as capable of offering
protection to the business by exposing theft or fraud.
Types of Farm Accounts
Some farm accounts that could be prepared and kept by a farm management include balance
sheet and net income statements. We will discuss these independently.
a. Balance Sheet
It is also called the net-worth statement. It shows the value of farm assets that would remain
if the farm business is liquidated and all outside clams paid. It is like taking a snap shot of the
business at a particular point in time. The net-worth statement sometimes gives information
on the solvency of the business and is used as a basis for credit access because it shows the
ability of the business to meet short-run financial demands. If the total assets exceed the total
liabilities the business is solvent, that is, the greater the net-worth, the better the solvency
position of the business. Components of balance sheet are given below:
Assets
An Asset is anything of value owned by a business entity. In order to ascertain the condition
of a business with regard to its immediate obligations, its assets are categorized according to
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their liquidity. A net-worth statement requires an inventory of all properties or assets as well
as records of all liabilities of the business. There are three classes of assets. These are:
 Fixed Assets: Are those assets which cannot be easily converted into cash to meet
current obligations. Examples of fixed assets are land, buildings and other permanent
improvement like fence.
 Working Assets: Are those assets which are used up within the production process of
the business. Their values may be regarded as being transferred slowly to the products
during the farm operations. They are liquidated at a faster rate than fixed assets.
Examples of working assets are farm equipment (like hoes and machete), and donkeys.
 Current Assets: Are also called liquid assets. Examples of current assets are cash in
hand bills receivable within a short time, crops and feeds in hand.
Liability
Liabilities are those legitimate claims that can be made against a business. It is useful to have
classification of the liabilities that correspond to that of the assets. Liabilities are classified
according to the time they become due for payment. These classifications of liability include
long-term, intermediate and current liabilities.
 Long-Term Liabilities: Are those that will not fall due for payment in a lump sum
within a short period of time. They may fall due to a period like twenty years. Examples
of long-term liabilities are real estate mortgages 2 and long-term land leases. These are
not commonly used by subsistence farmers.
 Intermediate Liabilities: Are those obligations that are deferred for the time being but
which will be paid within a few years like five years or less. Examples of intermediate
liabilities are promissory notes, obligations based on crop or livestock in the process of
production and ready to mature within a few years.
 Current Liabilities: Are those obligations that are payable within a year. These
payments when due demand the immediate attention of the farm manager.
Net-worth
The net-worth statement is supposed to show absolute equity or the amount by which assets
in the business exceed its outstanding liabilities. The term “balance sheet” depicts that the
total assets be equal or greater than total liabilities in case the entire business is to close down
and all liabilities are to be met. The net-worth figure indicates ultimate rather than immediate
solvency of the business. Ultimate solvency measures whether total assets are equal to or
greater than total liabilities. When total liabilities are not covered by total assets the business
is said to be insolvent or bankrupt. The size of the net-worth figure, therefore, gives the farm
manger an idea of the distance of the business from solvency. The greater the net-worth
means the farther away from insolvency. Immediate solvency refers to the relationship
2
An agreement by which somebody borrows money from a money-lending organization such as a bank or
savings-and-loan association and gives that organization the right to take possession of property given as
security if the loan is not repaid
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between current liabilities and current assets which can be used to pay them off if the need
arises. A farmer could be immediately insolvent, that is, unable to pay its immediate debt if
current, working and long-term assets do not exceed the sum of the current, intermediate and
long-term liabilities.
It should be noted, however, that the effect of changes in price level on the value of
permanent assets such as land, building and livestock might have a marked effect on the net
worth. If the market price of a piece of item such as land increases continuously and if this is
not reflected in the net-worth statement, the true net-worth has not been shown. If the net-
worth statement is being used as a basis for credit, the credit worthiness of the business is
understated. Therefore caution must be taken when looking at net-worth statements.
Examination of the individual item to get a true picture of the financial standing of a business
is necessary. Also, the net-worth does not tell the whole story. A man with larger net-worth
may have more to worry about than one with a smaller net-worth. It depends largely on the
ratio of total assets and liabilities in the form of obligations and the nearness of their
maturity.
Table 4: Example of Balance Sheet Statement as of December 31st, 2009
Current assets 56,400 Current liabilities 54,900
Noncurrent assets 478,000 Noncurrent liabilities 173,000
Total assets 534,400 Total liabilities 227,900
Net-worth 306,500
Total liab. and Net-worth 534,400
Once balance sheet statement is prepared, ratio analyses can be used to drive financial
control functions which include measuring performance of business, monitoring financial
progress, determine trend of a farm. Ratios can be compared across types and sizes of
businesses more than money value.
b. Net Income Statement
It is the statement which presents the difference between the gross receipt and total cost of
production. It is also explained as the surplus resulting from business operations which could
be withdrawn without reducing the future scale of the business. Sometimes it is referred to as
farm income or operating statement. For the purpose of constructing the income statement,
four types of record are required. These are the farm inventory, receipt records, expense
records, and home consumption records. In a nutshell, the net farm income is the difference
between gross receipts and total cost of production. These two components of the net income
statement are explained as follows
Gross receipt: Also called the total value of product or the total output multiplied by price
per unit of produce. It is composed of:
i. Sales of capital (e.g., machinery, if any)
ii. Sales of crops, livestock and livestock products
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iii. Change in inventory of crops, livestock and livestock products

iv. Product consumed in home
v. Accounts receivable
vi. Non-farm receipts
Total cost of production: It is the sum of operating costs and fixed costs. This excludes
family and operator’s labour and management. These elements are excluded here because the
farm and family are closely associated in a traditional agricultural setting.
Operating Costs are those costs that vary with the level of output and which need to be re-
incurred at each period of the production process. Items included in the operating costs
include cost of hired labour, machinery and equipment repairs & maintenance costs, crop
expenses, livestock expenses, utilities (e.g., light, water, telephone, etc.), etc.
Fixed Costs are those costs that do not vary with output in the short run. They are costs that
must be met whether the harvest is good or not and whether we produce or not. Items
included in this cost category are: depreciation on machinery and buildings, wages of
permanent workers, interest on debt, property tax, insurance, repairs of buildings,
improvement on land, etc.
Net farm income: This is the difference between total revenue (gross receipt) and total cost.
It measures the return to unpaid family labour, land, capital and management. The net farm
income which measures the return to unpaid family labour, operators land, labour capital and
management is traditionally represented as:
Farm income = Gross Receipts – total cost of production + change in inventory
Table 5: Net income statement for year ending 31st December, 2010
Inputs Value Outputs Value
Variable costs Sales and receipts
Seeds 50 Livestock 44
Fertilizer 150 Chickens 150
Hired labour 200 Eggs 200
Feeds 120 Cotton 600
Groundnut 300
Sorghum 400
Sub-total 520 Sub-total 1,694
Fixed costs Home consumed product
Taxes 10 Sorghum 600
Permanent staff 300 Vegetables 50
Repairing on buildings 50 Maize 420
Interest on debt 60
Sub-total 420 Sub-total 1070
Total cost of production 940 Total farm receipts 2,764
Opening inventory Closing inventory
Sheep 144 Sheep 100
20
Chickens 150 Chickens 350

Ducks 50 Ducks 60
Grains 240 Grains 260
Fertilizer 100 Fertilizer 80
Goats 120 Goats 160
Sub-total 804 Sub-total 1,010
Change in inventory 1010 – 804 = 206
Net farm income = total farm receipts – total cost of production + change in inventory
= 2,764 – 940 + 206
= 2,030
3.2 Measures of Financial Success and Capital Position

Components of the net-worth statement and the net income statements of the farm business
can be used to indicate the strengths and weakness of the farm business in financial terms.
An important function of management is to make use of these indicators in developing new
plan and learn for better performance of the farm business.
The net income defined as the gross farm income less gross farm cost. The net farm income
could be improved by increasing the gross farm income or decreasing the farm costs or both.
If the net farm income, however, is low the manager should examine the gross farm income
which is directly related to the yield.
For some factors might be over or under utilized by the farm firm, input factors used in the
production of the output need to be re-examined. The farmer being a price taker needs to
improve the efficiency of use of the resources (factor inputs) at his disposal. If low gross
farm income is due to low output price the demand elasticity of the product will be
instrumental in determining the revenue position of the farm. Logically, the farmer might
explore all possible ways of bargaining for better prices for his output through co-operatives,
government legislation, etc. However, attaining higher product price does not necessarily
guarantee higher gross income, for a product with inelastic demand will result in low gross
income.
Also a low net farm income might be due to high cost. Examine such cost items as feeds,
labour, machinery and other supplies might reveal areas of possible wastage that need to be
avoided to cut down on input costs. However, if waste is minimal a different set of input
package might have to be considered.
The net farm income might be misleading because it may not be a good reflection of the
amount of capital, labour and management involved in the production process. It is,
therefore, necessary to examine other measures of financial success such as return to labour,
management, land and capital and three ratios (gross, operating and fixed) which are also
obtained from the net income statement.
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Measures of Financial Success

The Gross Ratio
The gross ratio (GR) is the total farm expense (TFE) divided by the gross income (GI), that
is:
The total farm expenses figure is obtained by summing the operating and fixed costs. In the
case of farm given above (Table 5), farm total operating cost is Birr 520 and the total fixed
cost is Birr 420 and Birr 2,970 is gross income. Gross ratio (GR) = 940/2,970 = 0.32. This
ratio shows that the total farm cost was about 32% of the gross income. A less than 1 ratio is
desirable for any farm business. The lower the ratio, the higher the return per dollar invested.
A higher but less than 1 ratio might be tolerated for a large farm involving heavy capital
investment. A greater than 1 ratio is disastrous for a farm business and might indicate over
utilization of certain resources. If this happens management should consider ways of
reducing costs and increasing gross income. The gross ratio measures the overall financial
success of a farm. It is a long run planning tool for determining the performance of the entire
farm business.
Operating Ratio
The operating ratio (OR) is the total operating cost (TOC) divided by the gross income, that
is, OR = TOC/GI. For the typical farm with data given in Table 5 the operating ratio
calculated as: OR = 520/2,970 = 0.17. The operating ratio shows the proportion of the gross
income that goes to pay for the operating costs. The operating cost is directly related to the
farm’s variable input usage. An operating ratio of 1 means the gross income barely covers the
expenses on the variable inputs used on the farm. In other words, such a business could
survive only in the very short run and could fold up if correct adjustments are not made to
improve the usage of variable resources in terms of reducing costs and / or increasing gross
income. A thorough investigation into the details of such component part will definitely help
in identifying the necessary adjustments needed to correct the situation.
The Fixed Ratio
The fixed ratio (FR) is the total fixed cost (TFC) divided by the gross income (GI), that is:
Fixed ratio for the stated farm is calculated as FR = 420/2970 = 0.14. The ratio shows that
the fixed expense is 14% of the gross income. If the fixed ratio is close to 1, some of the
fixed resources are either left idle or underutilized. However, in the event that these resources
are fully utilized the high fixed ratio might be due to the farmer’s over estimation of the
expected gross returns in his choice of enterprise or due to unpredicted biological conditions
militating against yield.
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Among the aforementioned ratios measuring the financial success of a farm business, the
gross and the operating ratios are the most import. The gross ratio measures the ultimate
solvency and success of the farm business. The decision of whether to liquidate the farm or
not depends on the gross ratio figure. A greater than 1 gross ratio means that an alternative
and more profitable enterprise should be considered. The operating ratio which is directly
related to the variable resources is the decision making tool with regards to factor
adjustments during a production period. The fixed ratio which is an indication of the
percentage of the gross income accruing to the fixed resources is an exante decision tool, that
is, an important decision parameter before and not during the production period.
In the traditional farm setting, the operating ratio is more important than the fixed ratio for
most of the resources used are variable while fixed items are almost negligible.
Measures of Capital Position
While the measures of financial success are based solely on the income statement, the
measures of capital position are based on data presented in the net-worth statement. The
ratios which indicate how solvent the business is over different time periods are the current
ratio, working capital ratio, net capital ratio, asset-to-debt ratio and debt-to-net worth ratio.
Current Ratio
The current ratio (CR) is defined as the current asset (CA) divided by the current liabilities
(CL). Mathematically:
Based on the balance sheet statement given in Table 4the current assets worth Birr 56,400,
and the current liabilities amount to Birr 54,900, hence the current ratio is 56,400/54,900 =
1.03. The current ratio generally shows the ability of the business to meet financial
obligations or its solvency. A current ratio of greater than 1 implies that the current assets is
more than the amount the farm need to pay for the current liabilities. A narrow current ratio
shows that problems exist especially if bills fall due for payment at the wrong time. The
current ratio is often called the acid test because it is a test that can be performed quickly.
Net Capital Ratio
The net capital ratio (NCR) is defined as the total asset (TA) divided by the difference
between the liabilities (TL) and the proprietor’s equity (PE).
This ratio shows the overall solvency of the business, and indicates changes that are possible
in the future. It shows the degree of safety of the entire farm business and determines the
possibility of borrowing more capital. If the proprietor’s equity of the farm is Birr 100,000,
23
the NCR is given by the total asset (TA) divided by the difference between total liabilities
and the proprietor’s equity (TL-PE). Which means 534,400/(227,900-100,000) = 4.18. Total
asset and Total liabilities figure are taken from Table 4. This ratio shows at a glance by how
much the assets on the farm have to decline to be exceeded by the liabilities other than the
proprietor’s equity. A high ratio is desirable for a risky firm business. Yet, a safe ratio
depends on the type of farm and the degree of uncertainty and risks involved.
Asset-to-Debt Ratio
The asset to debt ratio (ADR) is the total asset (TA) divided by the total liability (TL), that is:
The asset to debt ratio is a close approximation of the net capital ratio if the proprietor’s
equity is negligible. The asset-debt ratio is, however, not as useful as the net capital ratio
because it may give a distorted position of the business. Using data from balance sheet
statement in Table 4 the ADR is calculated as:
ADR = 534,400/227,900 = 2.34
The asset to debt ratio of 2.34, which is lower than the 4.18 calculated for the net capital
ratio, indicates a less solvent capital position of the business. The larger the proprietor’s
equity the less useful is the asset to debt ratio for measuring the capital position of the farm
business.
Debt-to-Net Worth Ratio
The debt to net worth ratio (DNR) is defined as the total liabilities (TL) divided by the net
worth (NW), that is:
This ratio indicates the ease with which the proprietor can meet financial debts internally
when, and if the creditors demand. A less than 1 ratio is preferred to enable the proprietor
meet his financial obligations internally. The total liabilities (current, intermediate and long-
term) given in Table 4 are summed up to Birr 227,900 and the net worth was Birr 306,500.
Therefore, debt-to-worth ratio is equal to 227,900/306,500 = 0.74. This ratio of 0.74 indicates
that the total liabilities were less than the value of the net worth. Hence the proprietor can
meet its debts internally.
Topic Four: Farm Planning and Budgeting
4.1 Farm Planning

A successful farm business is not a result of chance factor. Good weather and good prices
help but a profitable and growing business is the product of good planning. With recent
24
technological developments in agriculture, farming has become more complex business and
requires careful planning for successful farm business.
Farm Planning means the preparation of an operational program for a farm which will ensure
the conservation of land and other resources. It’s important for the efficient use of production
factors thereby increase the net income and farmer satisfaction. Farm plans are particularly
required when there are limiting factors such as land, labour and capital. This necessitates
efforts to maximize returns to the limiting factors.
A farmer makes plans before starting production. For example, in crop production, the farmer
decides on the crop types (such as maize, yam, beans, etc.) and resources to put into
production (such as farmland, seed, fertilizer, labor for farm operations, etc.). The result of
crop production is the output, while the resources are the production inputs.
Production inputs and output are measured in different units-hectares, person-days,

kilograms, liters, and so on. Aggregation of the components is possible by using a common
unit of measurement. The unit of measurement is usually monetary (currency unit). Thus, the
values (quality and quantity) of inputs and output are expressed in monetary terms in a
budget. The monetary symbol used can for instance be ETB (Ethiopian Birr) or USD (US –
dollar).
Farm planning enables the farmer to achieve his objectives (e.g. Profit maximization or cost
minimization) in a more organized manner. It also helps in the analysis of existing resources
and their allocation for achieving higher resource use efficiency, farm income and farm
family welfare. Farm planning is an approach which introduces desirable changes in farm
organization and operation and makes farm a viable unit.
Farm plan is a programme of total farm activity of a farmer drawn up in advance. It should
show the enterprises to be taken up on the farm; the practices to be followed in their
production, use of labor and other resources , investments to be made and similar other
details. Farm planning can be done at two levels: simple farm planning and whole/complete
farm planning. They are explained below.
Simple farm planning: It is procedure adopted either for a part of the land or for one
enterprise or to substitute one resource to another. This is very simple and easy to implement.
The process of change should always begin with these simple plans.
Complete or whole farm planning: This is the planning for the whole farm. A whole-farm
plan is an outline or summary of the type and volume of production to be carried out on the
entire farm and the resources needed to do it. This planning is adopted when major changes
are contemplated in the existing organization of farm business. When the expected costs and
returns for each part of the plan are organized into a detailed projection, the result is a whole-
farm budget. Whole-farm planning and budgeting are used to assess the combined
25
profitability of all enterprises in the farming operation. Linear programming (explained in the
following subsection) can be used to select the optimal enterprise combination for a farm.
4.2 Farm Budgeting and Types of Budget
Farm budget is a detailed physical and financial plan for the operation of a farm and prepared
for specified period of time or season. The aim of a farm budget is to compare how profitable
different kinds of enterprises and their combinations are. There are two major categories of
farm budget. These are the total or complete budget and partial budget. A total or complete
budget is prepared when contemplating a complete reorganization of the entire farm
enterprise, like introducing irrigation technology to the farm. Partial farm budget, which is
more common, is used when introducing a new enterprise or purchasing a new equipment of
the farm. The aim of preparing a farm budget is to enable the farm manager get several
alternative plans for analysis so that he would be in a position to know which of them gives
the highest net farm income.
Farm Budgeting and Advantages

Farm budgeting involves considering the resources to be used, the choice of enterprises to be
pursued and calculation of expected receipts, expenditures and net farm income. Some of the
several advantages of budgeting are:
- Budgeting assists the farm manager to select factors of production more wisely. For
instance, once some fixed resources are invested in the farm business budgeting can be
used to test and compare returns from the whole farm and other added resources.
- As a planning tool, budgeting lets the farm manager to think more accurately, plan more
carefully and completely. Through the process of budgeting, the farm manager refines his
ideas and is better able to make more accurate decisions.
- Budgeting is money saving activity because it is cheaper to make mistake on paper than
in practice.
- Budgeting provides an excellent learning device on how to organize and reorganize
farms.
- Lending agencies use budgeting process as a basis for appraising the farm business of
their clients.
- Budgeting helps a farm manager to determine when to borrow money and how much to
borrow. It can also help him in setting up repayment schedules.
- Budgeting makes early warning possible where one can discover certain items, and
therefore costs, that could easily be dropped.
Budgeting Pre-requisites/Steps in Budgeting
Information needed to prepare a farm budget, whether complete or partial must follow the
following pattern
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– Stating objectives and listing of all the resources available to the farm. It is essential to
list all the resources available to the farm business - land, labour and capital. Making
changes which require more resources than the farmer can acquire could be disastrous.
Hence, objectives of making the farm plan or planned change must be carefully laid
down, properly understood and strictly operationalized within the resources listed.
– Estimate crop land size and livestock number. This helps to sketch map of available land
with crops on farm. In the case of crop enterprises the proposed changes could be
sketched out in other map for ease of reference.
– Estimating physical inputs and outputs. The farm manager needs to produce a list of
available labour in man-days; the quantity of hired labour, permanent labour and family
labour available should be specified by periods preferably on monthly basis. The
available capital including farmer’s savings and any amount borrowed need to be clearly
indicated. Finally the farmer or farm manager should examine his ability in effecting any
anticipated change (partial or whole farm).
– Estimating factors and product prices- Current market prices or a few years’ moving
average could be used as a proxy for factor and product prices.
– Decide which plan is possible- from the whole range of alternative plans available to the
farm manager he can reject outright those plans that do not interest him or those that he
cannot manage properly.
– Budget the Possible Alternative - The possible alternative plans are compared on the
basis of the gross margin per unit of the most limiting resources. For example,if labour is
the most limiting resource; the plan with the highest gross margin per man-day should be
selected.
– Implement the Best Plan- Once the farmer selects the best plan; it must be put into
operation. Farm owners should be ready to accept responsibility for the outcome of its
implementation.
Budget, an outcome of budgeting procedure, is a formal quantitative expression of plans on

production inputs and output. Budgets indicate the type, quality, and quantity of production
resources or inputs needed, and the type, quality, and quantity of output or product obtained.
Three types of budgets are used in agriculture: whole-farm budget, enterprise budget and
partial budget.
Whole-farm budget- A whole-farm budget is a quantitative expression of the total farm plan
summarizing the income, costs, and profit (Table 6). Income is what a farmer realizes from
farming activities, costs are what the farmer puts into production, and profit is the difference
between income and costs. In a whole-farm budget, the unit of analysis is the entire farm. A
whole-farm budget may consist of several enterprises. Example for whole-farm budget is
given in the table below.
27
Table 6: A whole-farm budget showing projected income, input costs, and profits
Amount Amount
Nr Income (Birr) Nr Variable input costs (cont…) (Birr)
1 Maize 56,000 15 Custom machine hire 9,350
2 Cassava 48,000 16 Miscellaneous 3,560
3 Beans 13,600 17 Total variable input cost (Σ7...16) 87,060
4 Yam 32,000 18 Income above variable input cost (6 – 17) 102,540
5 Poultry 40,000 Fixed costs
6 Total income (Σ1...5) 189,600 19 Land charge 2,000
Variable input costs 20 Insurance 4,850
7 Fertilizers 12,900 21 Interest on loans 24,000
8 Seeds and cuttings 3,000 22 Machinery depreciation 9,200
9 Chemicals 8,900 23 Building depreciation 3,600
10 Fuel, oil, and grease 4,000 24 Total fixed costs (Σ19...23) 43,650
11 Machinery repairs 3,650 Total costs
12 Feed 2,600 25 Total input costs (17 + 24) 130,710
13 Point-of-lay chickens 35,000 Profit
14 Labor 4,100 26 Profit (6 – 25) 58,890
Enterprise budget- An enterprise is a single crop or livestock type produced on a farm. An

enterprise budget lists all income and costs of a specific enterprise to provide an estimate of
its profit. Each enterprise budget is developed on a single common unit, such as hectares for
crops or head for livestock. An enterprise budget allows comparison of profitability among
different enterprises on the same farm.
Enterprise budgets, like whole-farm budgets, have three parts: income, costs, and profit.
Table 7 gives an example of enterprise budget. The enterprise budget in Table 7 presents
different levels of the same single technology.
An enterprise budget is different from a whole-farm budget in aspects:
– the number of enterprises considered (only one in an enterprise budget; in a whole-
farm budget, all enterprises in the farm are included)
– the size of enterprises (a single unit for an enterprise budget, the entire farm for a
whole-farm budget)
Table 7: An enterprise budget for the production of an improved open-pollinated maize variety at different N-fertilizer
application levels
N-fertilizer level (kg N/ha)
0 100 200
Nr (Treatment 1) (Treatment 2) (Treatment 3)
Gross income
1 Average yield (kg/ha) 2,592 3,983 4,331
28
2 Adjusted yield (kg/ha) (1 x 0.9) 2,333 3,585 3,898

3 Price (Birr/kg) 2.5 2.5 2.5
4 Sale revenue (Birr/ha (2 x 3)) 5832 8961.75 9744.75
Input costs (Birr/ha)
5 Land preparation 350 350 350
6 Planting
Materials (maize seed and seed
dressing) 40 40 40
Labor 20 20 20
Weed control (herbicides and
7 application costs) 400 400 400
8 Thinning 25 25 25
9 N-fertilizer 0 150 300
10 Other fertilizers 135 135 135
11 Miscellaneous 200 200 200
12 Harvesting (labor) 70 85 90
13 Shelling 30 32 35
14 Drying 60 64 67
15 Cost of capital 211 237 261
16 Depreciation costs( Brr/ha) 75 75 75
Total variable input costs (Birr/ha)
17 (Σ5...15) 1,541 1,738 1,923
18 Total fixed costs (Birr/ha) (16) 75 75 75
19 Total input costs (Birr/ha) (17 + 18) 1,616 1,813 1,998
Net profit
20 Net profit (Birr/ha) (4 – 19) 4,216 7,149 7,747
Partial budget- A partial budget is prepared to show the effect of change(s) in farm
operations. For example, farmers know that fertilizer application will likely increase maize
yield, and thus the gross income. The use of fertilizer also results in additional costs. To
decide whether to use fertilizer for maize production or not requires a partial budget analysis.
A partial budget could be prepared to ascertain the effect on net benefit of the following
possible changes:
– substituting one enterprise for another without any change in the entire farmland area,
for example, substituting 1 ha of soybean for 1 ha of maize
– changing to different levels of a single technology, for example, estimating the effect
on net benefit of changing from one level of N-fertilizer application to another in
maize production
29
– changing to different technology(ies), for example, changing from hand weeding to

herbicide use for weed control
Developing a partial budget for on-farm maize research involves collecting, organizing, and
analyzing experimental data in order to quantify the income, costs, and benefits of various
alternative maize technologies.
Table 8: A partial budget for maize production under different weed control methods
Weed control method
No Hand Boom Knapsack
weeding weedig spraying spraying
Nr Item Description (1) (2) (3) (4)
Gross farm gate benefits
1 Average yield (kg/ha) 1,266 3,986 3,797 2,833
2 Adjusted yield (kg/ha) (1 x 0.9) 1,139 3,587 3,417 2,550
3 Farm gate price (Birr/kg) 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75
4 Gross farm gate benefits (Birr/ha) (2 x 3) 854 2,690 2,563 1,913
Variable input costs (Birr/ha)
5 Weed control
– Labor 0 360 10 60
– Machinery 0 0 50 25
– Herbicides 0 0 160 160
6 Harvesting 42 70 70 70
7 Shelling 20 30 30 25
8 Total variable input costs (Birr/ha) (Σ5...7) 62 460 320 340
Net benefit
9 Net benefit (Birr/ha) (4 – 8) 792 2,230 2,243 1,573
Changes in net benefits from Treatment 1 to
10 Treatment 2, 3, or 4* (Birr/ha) 1,438 1,451 781
Change in total variable input costs from
11 Treatment 1 to Treatment 2, 3 or 4* (Birr/ha) 398 258 278
Marginal rate of return
12 Marginal rate (%) of return (100 x 10/11) 361 562 281
* Change in net benefits between Treatments 1 and 2 is 2,230 – 792= 1,438
Change in net benefits between Treatments 1 and 3 is 2,243– 792= 1,451
Change in net benefits between Treatments 1 and 4 is 1,573– 792= 781
* Changes in the total variable costs calculated in similar ways
A partial budget, like an enterprise budget, is based on a unit (for example, one ha maize
farm) but it is different from an enterprise budget in the type of costs used. An enterprise
budget uses total costs (variable input costs plus fixed input costs) while only variable input
costs are used in a partial budget. In a partial budget, income is the gross farm gate benefit.
The net benefit is the difference between the gross farm gate benefit and total variable input
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costs. Table 8 gives an example of partial budget. The partial budget in this case shows
different levels of the same single technology.
The objective of a partial budget in maize production is to recommend technology that is
agronomically different, economically superior, and socially acceptable to farmers.
4.3 Linear Programming
In a real life we all face decision about how to use limited resources such as: Oil in the earth,
Land, Time, Money, Workers, etc. Such problem requires a method to decide on the optimal
use of these resources. Mathematical programming is a management Science used to find the
optimal or most efficient way of using limited resources to achieve the objectives of an
individual or a business. Such a procedure where one can achieve an efficient way of using
resources is known as optimization.
Linear Programming (LP) is a mathematical procedure that uses a systematic technique to

find the most profitable combination of enterprises given resource is limited. Linear
programming models have linear objective functions that are maximized (or minimized)
subject to the resource restrictions. The method is widely used to find the optimum resource
allocation and enterprise combination.
The word linear is used to describe the relationship among two or more variables which are
directly proportional. For example, doubling (or tripling) the production activity will exactly
double (or triple) the profit and the required resources, then it is linear relationship.
Programming implies planning of activities in a manner that achieves some optimal result
with restricted resources.
More specifically, linear programming is defined as the optimization (minimization or
maximization) of a linear function subject to specific linear inequalities or equalities. The
mathematical representation of an LP problem is given below.
Subject to
and;
Where:
= Gross margin from jth activity
= Level of jth activity
= Amount of ith resource required for jth activity
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= Amount of ith resource available.
= the objective function to be optimized

LP procedure is better understood with example. Table 9 below contains information on two
crop enterprises or activities (Corn and Soybeans) regarding resources requirement and gross
margin for each enterprise. It also contains the resources available for the farm. The problem
is to find the optimal combination of the two enterprises given the restrictions. More
methodologically, the optimization problem, assuming the farm is composed of the two
enterprises, is how to determine the level of each enterprise in a farm given the resources
limit or constraint. LP procedure follows steps to solve the problem.
Table 9: Data for LP problem
Five Steps in the LP Procedure

i. Understand the problem-the first step to solve optimization problem using LP approach is
to get a clear understanding of the problem. In this particular case the problem is:
Determining the optimal combination of crops Corn and Soybeans given the constraints
ii. Identify the decision Variables-the level of each activity measured in common unit.
- X1 – hectares of corn to produce
- X2 – hectares of Soybean to produce
iii. State the objective function as a linear combination of decision variables
MAX: 120X1 + 96X2
iv. State the constraints as a linear function of the decision variables
- 1X1 + 1X2 < =120 ----------------- Land
- 5X1 + 3X2 <= 500 ----------------- Labor
- 200X1 + 160X2 <= 30,000------- Operating capital
v. Identify any upper or lower bounds on the decision variables
- X1 >= 0, no negative production level
- X2 >= 0, no negative production level
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A complete LP Model containing all information from steps I through V can be written
as:
MAX: 120X1 + 96X2
Subject to: 1X1 + 1X2 < =120 ----------------- Land
5X1 + 3X2 <= 500 ----------------- Labor
200X1 + 160X2 <= 30,000------- Operating capital
X1 >= 0
X2 >= 0
Solving an LP problem: Graphical Approach
In LP procedure, the constraints define feasible region or the area in which the optimal
combination of the activities would lie. The best point in the feasible region is the optimal
solution to the problem
For LP problems with two variables (X 1 and X2) it is easy to plot the feasible region and find
the optimal solution.
Determining the feasible region
Plot the first constraint (Land)
(0, 120)
Boundary line of Land Constraint
X1 + X2 =120
(120, 0)
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Plotting the Second Constraint

180
(0, 166.7)
160 Boundary of labour Constraint
140 5X1 + 3X2 = 500
120
100
X2
80
60 (100, 0)
40
20
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
X1
Plotting the third constraint (Operating capital)

200
(0,187.5)
180 Boundary line operating Capital
160
200X1 + 160X2 = 30,000
140
120 Feasible region
100
X2
80
60
40 (150, 0)
20
0
0 30 60 90 120 150 180
X1
Drawing a level curve for objective function starting from an arbitrary profit and move up
to a point where objective function line is tangent to the feasible region
34
Objective function
120X1 + 96X2 = 13,200
Optimal Solution
Objective function
120X1 + 96X2 = 10,000
Calculating the optimal solution

By enumerating each corner point in the graph, the optimal solution occurs where the Land
constraint and Labor Constraint intersect.
This occurs:
1X1 + 1X2 = 120..………………….. (1)
5X1 + 3X2 = 500……………………. (2)
From (1) X1 = 120-X2……………… (3)
Substituting (3) for X1 in (2) we get,
5 (120-X2) + 3X2 = 500 resulting X2 = 50
Using (3): X1 = 120-50 = 70
So, the optimal solution is X1 = 70 and X2 = 50. Therefore, the optimal enterprise
combination involves 70 hectares of corn and 50 hectares of Soybeans.
The gross margin is 120 * 70 + 96*50 = 13,200
Advantages and Limitations of LP

Advantages of L.P Limitations
1. Allocation problems are solved. 1. Linearity
2. Provides possible and practical solutions 2. Considers only one objective for optimization.
3. Improves the quality of decisions. 3. Does not consider the effect of time and uncertainty
4. Highlights the constraints in the 4. No guarantee of integer solutions
production.
5. Helps in optimum use of resources. 5. Single valued expectations
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4.4 Risk and Uncertainty in Agriculture
Risk is a situation in which all possible outcomes (results) of an activity are not certain (not
known), but the probabilities of alternative outcomes (results) are known or can be estimated.
Example, if a farmer know that his maize crop is likely to fail in one of the four years of
consecutive production period by 25% then this is a risk because even if he doesn’t know the
exact year he is expecting failure in one the four years of production period.
Uncertainty is a situation where all possible outcomes and the probability of the outcomes
are unknown or neither the outcome nor the probability are known . Uncertainty is not
insurable. It is a situation where an action has got a set of possible outcomes the probability
of which is completely unknown. For example, no one can assign probability to how many
times he will fall sick within a year. Farmer normally calculates his labor requirements on the
ground that his workers will be healthy throughout the year and that each labor will supply at
least eight working hours per day. Similarly, no one can precisely predict when he is going to
die. Farm manager may project his activity for the whole year and he may not reach the end
of that year before he dies. Any situation where one cannot predict what can happen is
normally regarded as uncertain situation.
Types of risk and uncertainty in agriculture
The more common sources of risk can be summarized into the general types as: production
risk, marketing risk, financial risk and technological risk
Production or yield risk: refers to the unpredictable impact of climate, crop and livestock
diseases and pests, and other natural and manmade calamities on outcome (output).
Price or marketing risk: are risk associated with the variability of output of price and its
effect on the farm income. Commodity prices vary from year to year and may have
substantial seasonal variation within a year.
Financial risk: a risk incurred when money is borrowed to finance the operation of the
business. That is, any time money is borrowed there is some chance that future income will
not be sufficient to repay the debt without using equity capital.
Technological risk: Another source of production risk is new technology. Will the new
technology perform as expected? Will it actually reduce costs and increase yields? These
questions must be answered before adopting new technology.
Probability and Expectations
To make decision in a risky world, a manager needs to understand how to form expected
value, how to use probability (chances of occurrence), and how to analyze the variability
associated with the potential outcome.
Forming expected values: The major methods used to form expected values are:
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 Average (simple and weighted average)

 Most likely method
 Mathematical expectation
Average (simple average)
Consider the following price over years for maize
Table 10: Annual maize price variation
Year Average of annual price
4 years ago 2.50
3 years ago 3.05
2 years ago 2.00
Last year 4.50
Summation 12.05
Average (expected value) = 12.05/4 = 3.01
Weighted average
This method usually weights the more recent values heavier than the older using some
predetermined weighing system on the basis of the decision maker’s experience, judgment
and performance. Example, using weighted averages to form expected value:
Table 11: Annual maize price variation with weight
Year Average annual price Weight price Result price times weight
4 years ago 2.50 1 2.50
3 years ago 3.05 2 6.10
2 years ago 2.00 3 6.00
Last year 4.50 4 18.00
Total 10 32.60
Weighted average 32.60/10 = 3.26
Most likely method
By this method, an expectation is formed by choosing the value most likely to occur (this is
the value that is relatively sure to occur). This procedure requires knowledge of the
probability associated with each possible outcome. The outcome with the highest probability
would be selected on the likely to occur.
Table 12: Possible maize yield with probability
Year Possible maize yield (qt/ha) over 4 years Probability
Year 1 15 0.1
Year 2 18 0.3
Year 3 25 0.4
Year 4 30 0.2
Total 1.00
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Four possible maize yields are shown along with probability of obtaining each yield. Using
the most likely method to from an expectation, a yield of 25 quintal per ha will be selected as
this yield has the highest probability and is therefore the most likely to occur. However, there
is no assurance that this yield will occur in any given year but it will occur 40% of the time
over a long period.
Mathematical expectation
When either the true or subjective probability of the expected outcome is available it is
possible to calculate the mathematical expectation of yield, price, cost, income or profit. It is
given as:
E(Y) = ∑(Y1P1 + Y2P2 + Y3P3 + ….+ YnPn)
Where E(Y) is the expected yield
Y1, Y2,…, Yn are the yield under the various states of nature (wet, dry and normal
years)
P1, P2, P3,…, Pn are the respective probability of the state of nature.
Example: Let’s assume that there are three states of nature based on past experience viz., wet,
dry and normal. The probabilities of occurrence of these conditions are 0.2, 0.3 and 0.5,
respectively. Consider maize and sorghum yield in the three states of nature as in the
following table:
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Table 13: Expected maize yield with varying state of nature

State of Nature Expected yield
Crop Wet years Normal years Dry years
Maize 35 25 15 24
Sorghum 15 25 20 22
The expected yield for maize is:

E(Y) = (0.2*35) + (0.5*25) + (0.5*15) = 24
The expected yield for sorghum is:
E(Y) = (0.2*20) + (0.5*30) + (0.3*30) = 22
Finally the values 24 and 22 quintals are used for planning purpose.
Decision making under risk
There are several elements or components to any decision involving risk. Here three of them
are considered.
There are alternative decisions or strategies available to the decision maker;
There are possible events that can occur, such as variation in weather and variation in price
and these factors create the risk because the actual outcome is not known at the time the
decision must be made; and
The consequences or result of each strategy (decision) for each possible outcome (event) may
be expressed as yield, net returns or some appropriate value.
Example: Consider a fattening program or plan
Assume that a farmer plants alfalfa feed in a given hectare of land in the winter
Oxen are purchased in winter and graze on the alfalfa and sold in the spring
All oxen must be purchased and sold after fattening
Now the farmer’s problem is on deciding how many oxen to purchase. That is:
If too few oxen are purchased and the weather is good there will be excess grazing available
and opportunity for additional profit is given up.
If too many oxen are purchased and the weather is poor, there will be insufficient forage, so
that feed may have to be purchased and profit is reduced or a loss is incurred.
Let’s further assume that the farmer has decided on three choices: purchase 30, 40 or 50
oxen. These choices are the decision strategies and the weather can be good, average and
poor with probability of 0.2, 0.5 and 0.3, respectively.
39
The same three weather outcomes are possible for each of the possible strategies. This
creates nine potential consequences or results to be considered and it is helpful to organize
this information with decision tree or with pay off-matrix.
Decision tree (a diagram that traces out all possible strategies/acts), potential outcome
(events and possibility) and their consequences; and is illustrated as follow:
Table 14: Decision strategies with varying state of nature for oxen fattening program
Strategy Weather outcome Probability Net returns Expected Value
Good 0.2 6000
Buy 30 Average 0.5 4000 3800
Poor 0.3 2000
Good 0.2 5800
Buy 40 Average 0.5 5600 4160
Poor 0.3 0
Good 0.2 8000
Buy 50 Average 0.5 6000 4000
Poor 0.3 2000
The expected values are the summation of the net return weighted by their probability
(example, for the buy 30, the expected value is (0.2*600) + (0.5*400) + (0.3*200) = 3800
birr).
Pay-off matrix: This contains the same information as the decision tree but is organized in
the form of table and is illustrated below.
Table 15: Pay off matrix for oxen fattening program
Weather outcome Probability Purchase strategy
Buy 30 Buy 40 Buy 50
Good 0.2 6000 6800 800
Average 0.5 4000 5600 6000
Poor 0.3 2000 0 -2000
Minimum Value 2000 0 -2000
Maximum Value 6000 6800 8000
Expected value 3,800 4160 4000
Simple average 4,000 4133 4000
The Decision Rule

The decision rule includes the following: maximin, maximax, maximize expected value
and most likely outcome.
Maximin rule: This rule concentrates on the best possible outcome for each strategy. This
rule says that nature will always do the worst (pessimistic approach). Therefore, the strategy
40
with the best of the worst possible result is selected, that is, the one with the maximum of the
minimum value is selected. From the above table this rule select “buy 30” strategies as its
minimum on sequence of birr 2000 is higher than the minimum for the “buy 40 and 50”
strategy with the minimum consequence of birr 0 and 2000, respectively.
Maximax rule: This rule is just the opposite of maximum rule. That is, this rule selects the
strategy with the highest maximum value or the maximum of the maximum value. This rule
says nature will always do its best (optimistic approach). According to this rule “buy 50”
strategy will be selected since its maximum value is greater than the maximum value of the
other two strategies.
Maximize expected value: In this rule the decision is made by selecting strategy with the
highest expected value. Accordingly, this rule selects the “buy 40” strategy since it has the
highest expected value.
Most likely outcome rule: By this rule, the outcome that is most likely to occur (one with
highest probability) and then the strategy with the highest consequences for that outcome will
be chosen. Accordingly, the highest probability (0.5) and the corresponding highest
consequence (6000 birr) occur in the “buy 50 strategy”. Therefore, this rule selects “buy 50”
strategy.
The use of the different rules depends on the types of the decision maker’s attitude towards
risk and the existing financial condition of the business. There are 3 types of persons with
regard to their attitude towards risk.
Risk-averse person: Risk avoider person. Usually risk-averse person perform the one that is
sure to get with the highest probability even if the result is low. This person usually prefers to
use maximin rule for making decision. A person/business with weak financial position
mostly prefers to use this rule.
Risk taker (prefer): This is a person who tries to achieve the maximum output under risk
condition. This person prefers to use maximax rule for decision making. A person/business
with strong financial position mostly prefers to use this rule.
Risk indifferent person: A person who doesn’t care whether risk occur or not. This person
prefers the last two decision rule to make his/her decision.
Methods of Reducing Risk and Uncertainty
The various methods which can be used to reduce risk are discussed hereunder.
Diversification: Production of two or more commodities with negative correlation in their
performance parameters may reduce income variability if all prices and yields vary.
Selection of stable enterprises: Irrigation will provide more stable crop yields than dry land
farming. Production risk can be reduced by careful selection of the enterprises with low yield
variability. This is particularly important in areas of low rainfall and unstable climate.
41
Crop and livestock insurance: For phenomena, which can be insured, possible magnitude
of loss is lessened through converting the chance of large loss into certain cost through
insurance arrangement.
Flexibility: Diversification is mainly a method of preventing large losses. Flexibility is a
method of preventing the sacrifice of large gains. Flexibility allows for changing plans as
time passes, additional information is obtained and ability to predict the future improves.
Spreading sales: Instead of selling the entire crop output at one time, farmers prefer to sell
part of the output at several times during the year. Spreading sales avoids selling all the crop
output at the lowest price of the year but also prevents selling at the highest price.
Topic Six: Role of gender in Farm Business and Its Management
6.1 Division of labour in farm production

Tasks in farm production include cultivation, sowing, weeding, fertilizer application,
pesticide application, harvesting, processing, storage and marketing. Males and females play
their share based on the gender role defined by social system and the requirements of specific
tasks such as technical specifications. For instance both may share the tasks on equal basis or
each may focus on some activities leaving others to their counterparts (e.g. Men may go
fertilization application and women may undertake weeding).
6.2 Decision-making on farm production
The production process can be broken into five components: choice of crops (cash or food
crop?), time to perform a particular task (e.g. land preparation, sowing or weeding), decision
to adopt an innovation and choice of processing and storage method. The decisions on these
farm production processes can be made by women, men or both depending on the gender role
specified by society which varies from place to place.
Decision making on resource allocation and disposal of produce
Basic farm resources were discussed earlier. A farm family member or groups with final say
determines the allocation and use of resources. The outcome of resource allocation and
produce disposal decision has a direct implication on which field crop to select; task
allocation among household members; decision whether to hire labour; sale of surplus
produce; market choice and Livestock purchase.
In summary, gender among other factors, highly influences the performance of farm
business. Involvement in the decisions on production, labour division and resources
allocation drives the incentive to accomplish farm activities and bear the responsibility for
the outcome. Further, considering gender issues will assist to better direct development
projects and thus realize project goals as efficiently as possible.
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Topic Five: Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
5.1 Concepts and Definitions of Natural Resource and Environmental Economics

Natural resource and environmental economics emphasizes the links between the economy
and the ecosystem. It adopts a conceptual framework that views the economy as a subsystem
of a finite and nonexpanding ecosystem that imposes biophysical limits on economic growth.
This framework is consistent with the concept of sustainable development and sustainable
resource use. Addressing the interconnections between the economic and ecological spheres
requires that natural and environmental resource issues be approached from a
multidisciplinary perspective. Natural resource and environmental economics is one of the
disciplines in this nexus. Natural resource and environmental economics as a discipline is a
relatively recent theme of Economics.
What is Natural Resource Economics? It is the study of how to best govern scarce natural
resources, especially, such as air, ground water, marine fishery that are common rather than
private properties. The sort of questions and problems to be studied in the area of natural
resources economics include production, markets, management, uses, and abuses of natural
resources such as fisheries, forests, and non-renewable resources extraction.
What is Environmental Economics? It is the study of the impact of the goods and services
produced by economy, particularly market systems of allocation, on environmental quality
and ecological integrity. The sorts of questions to be studied under environmental economics
include: externality, economics of pollution, targets and instruments for their control, and
environmental valuation.
Natural resource and environmental economics, therefore, is the application of the principles
of economics to the study of how environmental and natural resources are developed and
managed.
Important concepts in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
Efficiency–is in terms of the missed opportunity. If it is possible to avoid wastage and make
some society beneficiary, that resource allocation is said to be inefficient. Example, in the
case of energy inefficiency, technical inefficiency, it is possible to avoid through employing
different techniques in which resource could be saved without hurting the final output. But
economics focus on allocative efficiency. Example it is possible to generate electricity from
fossil coal in a technically efficient way, but it produces pollution waste which costs society
in terms of health care. If that cost, not paid by the electricity supplier exceed its saving from
producing electricity from coal, then it is economically inefficient. This is due to choice in
resource allocation; it is possible to produce electricity from less polluting resource. The
concern of economics here is to choose the allocation of less polluting resource so that the
society as whole will be better off.
43
Optimality–is related to efficiency but it is distinct from it. To understand this concept has
the following in mind:
Some society is there;
Some overall objective that this society has, in terms of which we can measure the extent to
which some resource use decision is desirable from that society’s point of view.
So, resource use decision is socially optimal if it maximizes that objective given any relevant
constraints that may be operating. A resource allocation cannot be optimal except it is
efficient. So efficiency is the necessary condition for optimality but not sufficient.
Sustainability–is about taking care of intergenerational equity. Is the optimal allocation of
the resource means sustainable? If it is not, the sustainability should be the constraint for
optimality.
5.2 Economy–Environment Interlinkage
Every economic action can have some effect on the environment, and every environmental
change can have an impact in all economic activities. By 'the economy', we refer to the
population of economic agents, the institutions they form (which include firms and
governments) and the interlinkages between agents and institutions, such as markets. By
'environment', we mean the biosphere, the 'thin skin on the earth's surface on which life
exists', the atmosphere, the geosphere (that part of the earth lying below the biosphere) and
all flora and fauna. Our definition of the environment, thus, includes life forms, energy and
material resources, the high and low atmosphere. These constituent parts of the environment
interact with each other. As an example, consider the generation of electricity. In extracting
fossil fuels to use as an energy source, we deplete the stock of such fuels in the geosphere. In
burning these fuels to release their energy, we also release carbon dioxide (CO 2) and sulphur
dioxide (SO2), both of which may produce undesirable environmental impacts that reduce
human (and, therefore, economic) well-being.
The interlinkages between the economy and the environment are summarized in Figure 1.
Here we simplify the economy into two sectors: production and consumption. Exchange of
goods, services and factors of production takes place between these two sectors. The
environment is shown here in two ways: as the three interlinked circles E 1, E2 and E3, and the
all-encompassing boundary labeled, E4. The production sector extracts energy resources
(such as oil) and material resources (such as iron ore) from the environment. These are
transformed into outputs; some useful (good and services supplied to consumers) products
and some waste products, such as SO2. There is some recycling of resources within the
production sector, shown by the loop R1, and within the consumption sector, as shown by the
loop R2.
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E4: Global Life-

Support Services
Figure 1: The economy-environment interlinkage
The environment’s first role, then, is it serves as a supplier of resources. Its second role is as
a sink, or receptor, for waste products. These wastes may result directly from production, as
already mentioned, or from consumption: when an individual puts out garbage, or when they
drive to work, they are contributing to this form of waste. In some cases, wastes are
biologically and/or chemically processed by the environment. For example, organic
emissions to an estuary from a distillery are broken down by natural processes-the action of
micro-organisms into their chemical component parts. Whether this results in a harmful
effect on the estuary depends on a number of factors, including the volume of waste relative
to the volume of receiving water, the temperature of the water and its rate of replacement.
For some inputs to the environment, there are no natural processes to transform them into
harmless, or less harmful, substances. Such inputs, which are variously termed 'cumulative'
and 'conservative' pollutants, include metals such as lead and cadmium, and man-made
substances such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-
ethane). If, in our estuary example, PCBs are discharged into the water, then they will not be
broken down by either chemical processes' (oxidation) or through biological processes by
micro-organisms.
So far we have seen that the environment acts as a waste sink, as a partial recycling factory
for human wastes from production or consumption and as a source of energy and material
resources. The next role to be considered is that marked E 3 in Figure 1. The environment acts
as a supplier of amenity, educational and spiritual values to society. For example, people in
Europe may derive pleasure from the existence of wild life in tropical moist forests
45
('rainforests'), while native peoples living in these areas attach spiritual and cultural values to
them, and the flora and fauna therein. We need to make precise the sense in which such
values 'count' for economists.
What this simple example shows is that using the environment for one purpose (as a supplier
of material resources) can reduce its ability to supply us with other services, such as the
ability to breath clean air. This is why in Figure 1 the three circles E1, E2 and E3 are shown as
overlapping: there are conflicts in resource use. These conflicts would include the following:
– using a mountain region as a source of minerals means its amenity value is reduced;
– using a river as a waste-disposal unit means its amenity value is reduced and that we
can no longer extract so many material resources (fish to eat) from it;
– felling a forest for its timber reduces the electricity-generating capacity of a dam,
owing to soil erosion, and reduces amenity values since the forest's inhabitants
(animal and human) are displaced or destroyed;
– preserving a wetland for its aesthetic qualities forgoes use of the drained land for
agriculture.
The environment is, thus, a scarce resource, with many conflicting demands placed on it.
Returning to Figure 1, the boundary marked E4 represents the global life-support services
provided by the environment. These include:
– Maintenance of an atmospheric composition suitable for life.
– Maintenance of temperature and climate.
– Recycling of water and nutrients.
Property Rights and Externalities
Markets and efficient property rights markets
While it is possible to achieve efficient resource use without reliance on markets, the
informational and computational requirements are very high. An alternative to a market
economy is a centrally planned economy. A centrally planned economy is a form of
economic organization in which decisions regarding what to produce, how much to produce,
where to produce, how to distribute production, and the level of resource and commodity
prices are determined by government units. Efficient use of resources in a centrally planned
economy requires information on input requirements and output possibilities of alternative
production technologies for all locations and points in time; consumers’ willingness to pay
for all commodities over time and space; and transportation, marketing and distribution
requirements and costs. Based on this information, the government units have to determine
the production, consumption and prices for all resources and commodities for all regions and
time periods. Therefore, a centrally planned economy requires the orchestration of, literally,
thousands of economic decisions.
46
Purely competitive markets automatically achieve efficient resource use through the
independent profit-maximizing behavior of firms and the independent utility-maximizing
behavior of households, provided there exists an efficient set of property rights. Property
rights are institutional rules that govern and facilitate the use and exchange of resources and
commodities. Efficient property rights are a prerequisite for market transactions.
Market equilibrium price and quantities are influenced by the specification of property rights.
This is illustrated in Figure 2, which shows the market demand and supply curves for an
agricultural crop under pure competition. Under pure competition a) there is a large number
of producers and consumers; b) no single producer or consumer can influence the price
received or paid for the product; and c) there is no uncertainty regarding production
technologies, consumer preferences and prices. In Figure 2, D is the market demand curve. It
has a negative slope because buyers are willing to purchase additional units of the crop as the
price of the crop decreases, other things equal. Marginal cost (MC) is the market supply
curve that is the sum of the marginal cost curves above average variable costs for all firms
producing the crop. It is positively sloped because sellers are willing to sell more of the crop
as the price increases. The profit maximizing level of crop production is where P r = MC or
is also known as the privately efficient level of production.
Figure 2: Market Equilibrium
Privately efficient crop production (Q r) and price (Pr), and socially efficient crop
production (Qs) and price (Ps,), in a purely competitive market, D = demand; MC =
marginal cost; and MSC = marginal social.
In selecting the profit maximizing output, firms typically do not consider environmental
damages caused by production. For example, runoff from agricultural fields carries sediment,
47
fertilizers and pesticides to nearby streams and lakes, which can result in water pollution.
Marginal cost excludes damages caused by water pollution. Adding the marginal
environmental damages from crop production to MC gives the marginal social cost (MSC) of
crop production. The socially efficient level of crop production is Qs where Ps = MSC.
When farmers have a right to pollute water, they ignore the environmental damages from
crop production and select the privately efficient level of crop production, which is Qr.
Because MSC > MC, Qs < Qr and Ps > Pr, production and pollution are higher and prices are
lower when producers have the right to pollute water. When producers do not have the right
to pollute water, society has the right to take action to reduce pollution damages. Suppose
this action is in the form of a tax on production. Imposition of the tax causes the MC curve to
shift upward by the amount of the tax. An increase in MC causes the profit maximizing
production level to decrease. If the tax equals the difference between MSC and MC, then the
market achieves equilibrium where P = MSC and the privately efficient level of production
equals the socially efficient level of production.
Efficient Property Rights
Property rights are efficient if they satisfy four basic properties: ownership, specificity,
transferability and enforceability. Ownership is the legal mechanism for conveying property
rights to a resource. It determines who has the legal right to use a resource. In cases where
resources are privately owned, ownership is secured by payment in an amount that is
mutually agreeable to buyer and seller. Several types of ownership are possible. At one
extreme is exclusive ownership, which is the most restrictive form of ownership. Exclusive
ownership of a resource requires that all benefits and costs associated with the ownership and
use of the resource be borne by the owner. Suppose odor from a paper mill pollutes the air in
a nearby community. If the cost of air pollution is not considered by the paper mill, then,
owner exclusivity is violated. Exclusive ownership allows the resource owner to let another
party use the resource through different mechanisms like leasing. At the other extreme of the
ownership spectrum is res nullius which means that the property belongs to no one. While
exclusive ownership allows the resource to be bought and sold, res nullius prevents it.
Another form of ownership is res communis, which refers to common or communal property
that is owned and/or managed by a group of kindred individuals, such as a tribe or clan.
Specificity of property rights refers to the bundle of rights that apply to a particular property.
It determines what can and cannot be done with the resource. Consider what happens when
the cattle owned by a rancher graze on a neighbor's land, causing damages to the land. The
neighbor's property rights are being violated if the rancher does not have permission to graze
cattle on the neighbor's land. Under this specification of property rights (lack of permission
to graze), the rancher is legally required to keep the cattle off the neighbor's land. If the
neighbor's land is designated as open range, however, then the rancher has a right to graze
cattle on the neighbor's land. Under this specification of property rights, the only feasible
way to keep the cattle off the neighbor's land is for the neighbor to install fencing, which is
48
costly. If cattle grazing are not covered by a property right, then a conflict is likely to arise
between the rancher and the neighbor. Resource conflicts can be resolved when the rights of
the rancher and the neighbor are completely specified.
An efficient property right is transferable, which allows resources to be allocated to their
highest valued use. Transferability of one or more elements in a bundle of property rights
makes possible the leasing of private land, creation of utility easements and the existence of
restrictive covenants.
Ownership, specificity and transferability of property rights are of limited value in achieving
efficient resource use without enforceability. Enforceability requires that the property right
be enforceable and enforced when there is a violation. A right that is not enforceable is of
little value.
Even when enforceability is feasible, violations can occur. Two types of violations are
possible: unintentional and intentional. An unintentional violation is one that occurs even
though best management practices are being followed. Phosphorus pollution of the lake by
nearby farms is likely to occur when there is a heavy rain on the day following application of
manure. This type of pollution is unintentional. Pollution of the lake by industrial sources
would be intentional when the industry knowingly releases an amount of phosphorus to the
lake that exceeds the standard. Industrial sources might risk paying the fine when the
expected penalty (probability of a being caught times the amount of the fine) is less than the
expected benefit of exceeding the standard (reduction in phosphorus disposal costs).
Transaction Costs
While establishment of efficient property rights is a necessary condition for efficient resource
use under pure competition, it is not costless. The costs of achieving efficient property rights
are called transaction costs. Transaction costs are usually small when only a few individuals
are involved and the conflict is minor. However, transaction costs can be high when many
parties are involved.
Resolving resource conflicts constitutes a major perennial transaction cost. Examples of
resource conflicts in the Ethiopia include competition between agricultural, access to and/or
use of public lands for grazing, timber harvesting, water supplies, recreation and endangered
species; encroachment of prime agricultural areas by urban development and others. On a
global scale, resource conflicts are caused by global warming, deforestation, ozone depletion
and loss of biological diversity. Finally, enforcement of property rights entails major costs.
Market Failure
There are three conditions under which operation of markets fails to achieve efficient
resource use:
– The market is not purely competitive.
– The resource is a common property or open access resource.
49
– There are externalities.

Each of these conditions constitutes a market failure. The failure does not mean there is
something moral1y or ethical1y wrong with the market. Rather, it implies that the prices
generated in the market do not provide firms and households with the incentives needed to
achieve social1y efficient resource use.
Common Property and Open Access Resources
Natural resources can be managed as common property or open access resources. Common
property resources are resources that are owned in common and managed for a common
purpose. Owners have exclusive rights to the property but cannot exclude one another from
using it. There may or may not be restrictions on how frequently owners may use the
resource. If frequency of use is not restricted, as in a city park, then the resource tends to be
overexploited, which results in Garrett Hardin's tragedy of the common. If frequency of use
by owners is restricted like the tribal grazing lands in African countries, overexploitation can
be avoided. Open access resources are not owned by anyone (res nullius). Thus, it is not
practical to exclude others from using them, and there is generally no incentive for an
individual to limit his or her use of the resource. An example of an open access resource is
the ocean fisheries.
Externalities
Of the three sources of market failure just described, externalities have received the most
attention in natural resource and environmental economics. An externality exists when the
activities of an acting party influence the welfare of an affected party and the acting party
does not consider how its activities affect the welfare of the affected party. The acting party
is the party engaged in the activity responsible for the externality, and the affected party is
the party whose welfare is influenced by the externality. The acting and affected party can be
a household or a firm. Hence, externalities can take place between firms, between
households, and between households and firms. If the acting party engages in an activity for
the sole purpose of harming or benefiting the affected party, then the activity does not
constitute a true externality.
Major References
Cramer, G.L.; Jensen, C.W.; and Southgate, D.D. (1997) Agricultural Economics and
Agribusiness (7th edition). John Willy & Sons inc. New York
Halcrow, G. (1981) Eoconomics of Agriculture, International Student Edition. McGraw-Hill
international Book Company
Ronald D. Kay and William M. Edwards, 1999. Farm Management (4th edition).
WCB/McGraw Hill.
Tony Prato, 1998. Natural Resource and Environmetal Economics. Iowa State University
Press, Ames, USA.
50
V.T. Raju, & D.V.S. Rao (1990), Economics of Farm Production and Management, Oxiford
& IBH publishing co., New Delhi, India
51

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AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT

MILKESSA TEMESGEN (M.Sc.)

Topic one: Concepts of Farm Management and Decision Making

1.1 Preliminary Concepts

1.3 Objectives and Scope of Farm Management

 Risk and uncertainty

2.1 Farm Resources

Declining Balance Method

4 7/55 (4000-400) = 458.18 1774.55

Topic Three: Analysis of Farm Records and Accounts

3.1 Farm Records and Accounts

iii. Change in inventory of crops, livestock and livestock products

Chickens 150 Chickens 350

3.2 Measures of Financial Success and Capital Position

Measures of Financial Success

Topic Four: Farm Planning and Budgeting

4.1 Farm Planning

Production inputs and output are measured in different units-hectares, person-days,

Farm Budgeting and Advantages

Budget, an outcome of budgeting procedure, is a formal quantitative expression of plans on

Enterprise budget- An enterprise is a single crop or livestock type produced on a farm. An

2 Adjusted yield (kg/ha) (1 x 0.9) 2,333 3,585 3,898

– changing to different technology(ies), for example, changing from hand weeding to

Linear Programming (LP) is a mathematical procedure that uses a systematic technique to

= Gross margin from jth activity

= Level of jth activity

= Amount of ith resource required for jth activity

= Amount of ith resource available.

= the objective function to be optimized

Five Steps in the LP Procedure

Plotting the Second Constraint

Plotting the third constraint (Operating capital)

Calculating the optimal solution

Advantages and Limitations of LP

4.4 Risk and Uncertainty in Agriculture

 Average (simple and weighted average)

Table 13: Expected maize yield with varying state of nature

The expected yield for maize is:

The Decision Rule

6.1 Division of labour in farm production

Topic Five: Natural Resource and Environmental Economics

5.1 Concepts and Definitions of Natural Resource and Environmental Economics

E4: Global Life-

Figure 1: The economy-environment interlinkage

Figure 2: Market Equilibrium

– There are externalities.

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