Record Keeping in Farm Management

The purpose of this document is to discuss the importance of farm record keeping and provide producers with methods to start record keeping practices or improve their current procedures. Today’s complex world economy and the rapid pace of the farming industry makes it impossible for producers to manage a farm enterprise the way their parents did 30 years ago. Without a proper understanding of record keeping and its current and future implications, the farm operator will not make it very far in today’s business environment. Many farm operations are facing significant financial distress due to drought conditions across the state of South Dakota. This, coupled with a poor understanding of financial performance, generates serious problems for many producers, who may be facing farm business bankruptcy. Producers can do little about the drought, except taking precautionary measures and implementing water management techniques, but they can do a lot with respect to financial performance