Top Farmer Conference: January 10, 2025

As one of the most successful and longest-running management programs specifically crafted for farmers, the Purdue Top Farmer Conference is a one-day event for agricultural producers and agribusiness professionals looking to navigate the complexities of today's agricultural landscape. Participants will have the opportunity to network with peers and hear from farm management experts and agricultural economists from Purdue, Farm Credit Services of America, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Acres, a land value data analytics company.

April 15, 2021

Precision Agriculture and Technology

by: Michael Langemeier and Michael Boehlje

Precision agriculture utilizes biotechnology and nutritional technology; monitoring, measuring, and information technology; and process control technology to increase resource efficiency, reduce input cost, and/or improve product value.  This series of articles will discuss precision agricultural technologies, potential payoffs of using these technologies, and the capabilities and skills that will be needed to manage these technologies.

ARTICLES WITHIN PUBLICATION:

Importance of New Technologies for Crop Farming

March 5, 2021

Adoption of technology has been important to production agriculture for decades. Through the adoption of technology and improved managerial practices, aggregate agricultural U.S. farm output in the United States tripled from 1948 to 2017 with almost no corresponding increase in aggregate input (USDA-ERS, 2021). For reasons explained below, the adoption of technology in production agriculture…

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Information Technology and Value Creation

March 12, 2021

The use of information technology systems or digital technology has evolved through a number of stages over the last two to three decades. During the 1990s, it was recognized that more accurate and timely data could be used to make better decisions.

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The Role of Information in Today’s Uncertain Business Climate

March 18, 2021

The increasing role that knowledge and information play in obtaining control of resources, increasing profits, and reducing risk in farming is occurring for two fundamental reasons. The first reason is the dramatic growth in knowledge and information of the chemical, biological, and physical processes involved in agricultural production.

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Adoption of Precision Agriculture Technologies

March 26, 2021

This article discussed the adoption of precision agriculture technologies. Adoption rates have been very high during the last ten years, and given the increased venture capital devoted to developing these technologies is likely to continue at an accelerated pace.

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Potential Payoffs of Precision Farming

April 2, 2021

This article discussed the possible payoffs for the agricultural producer, for the value chain, and for the
environment associated with the further adoption of precision agriculture. As we develop technologies
and tools to expand the toolkit for precision farming and digitization systems and platforms to enhance
farmer’s profit margins as well as create value for the value chain and society as a whole, the farming
sector will be increasingly transformed from “growing stuff” to biological manufacturing.

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Automation and Robotics in Production Agriculture

April 9, 2021

This article discussed trends in automation and robotics in the general economy, and provided examples
of using these technologies in production agriculture. Possible benefits of the adoption of automation and robotics will include reductions in costs, improvements in productivity, increases in the production of value-added products, reduced downtime and improved capacity utilization, and reductions in operating risk.

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What Will Be the Capabilities and Skills Needed to Manage the Farm of the Future?

April 15, 2021

A recent article discussed a number of automation and precision agriculture technologies that will be increasingly used in production agriculture. The adoption and use of these technologies will require additional expertise and skills of managers and the workforce on the farm in the future. This article explores the capabilities and skills that may be needed…

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RELATED RESOURCES

Crop Budget Spreadsheet

November 12, 2024

This spreadsheet can be used along with the Purdue Crop Cost & Return Guide to examine gross revenue, costs, and earnings for crop enterprises.  The user can evaluate up to three full-season crops, and the wheat double-crop soybean system. Updated December 2024.

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Agricultural Jobs & Labor Update

August 2, 2024

Labor availability and labor retention are big issues in the U.S. economy and that’s especially true for agribusiness firms and for commercial scale farm operations. According to the latest Purdue Agricultural Job Market Report, job postings are up by 50%. More employers are seeking entry-level candidates with higher levels of education. Additionally, it has become more common for employers to include salary information in their job postings as a way to encourage applications. In this episode of the Purdue Commercial AgCast, host Brady Brewer joins Josh Strine, a Ph.D. student in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics, to discuss the Purdue Ag Jobs Dashboard.

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2023 Indiana Farm Custom Rates

March 24, 2023

The rates reported in this publication were compiled from questionnaires received from farmers, farm owners, farm custom operators, and professional farm managers in Indiana. Purdue Extension Educators distributed the questionnaires at meetings and events statewide during the last month of 2022 and the first three months of 2023. Respondents were asked to report custom rates they had either paid or received during the past year.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Top Farmer Conference 2025

January 10, 2025

A management programs geared specifically for farmers. Surrounded by farm management, farm policy, agricultural finance and marketing experts, and a group of your peers, the conference will stimulate your thinking about agriculture’s future and how you can position your farm to be successful in the years ahead.

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Purdue Income Tax School: Ag Tax Webinar

December 19, 2024

The 2024 Ag Tax Webinar, part of the Purdue Income Tax School, will provide in-depth coverage of selected agricultural and farm income tax issues to supplement material provided at the two-day in-person or virtual tax schools. The 2024 webinar will be taught by Guido Van Der Hoeven, an expert on agricultural tax issues and one of the authors of the 2024 Agricultural Tax Issues book, on Monday, December 19, 2024, starting at 9:00 am ET.

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(Part 1) 2024 Indiana Farmland Values & Market Trends

September 11, 2024

Interested in the latest trends and insights on U.S. & Indiana farmland values? This AgCast episode shares insights from the Farm Sector Balance Sheet, USDA data collection methods, regional variations in land values, and the influences of factors such as interest rates and development pressures on farmland prices. Gain an in-depth understanding of trends, market dynamics, and future expectations for farmland values.

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August 2024 PAER issue: Farmland Prices Increase Despite Downward Pressure

August 9, 2024

Indiana farmland prices have continued the trend of record highs in 2024, according to the latest Purdue Farmland Value and Cash Rent Survey. The average price of top-quality farmland reached $14,392 per acre, a 4.8% increase from June 2023. Average and poor-quality farmland also saw gains, with prices increasing 3.7% and 4.4% to $11,630 and $9,071 per acre, respectively.

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Comparing Net Returns for Alternative Leasing Arrangements

August 7, 2024

Obtaining control of land through leasing has a long history in the United States. Leases on agricultural land are strongly influenced by local custom and tradition. However, in most areas, landowners and operators can choose from several types of lease arrangements. Flexible cash lease arrangements provide a base cash rent plus a bonus which typically represents a share of gross revenue in excess of a certain base value or threshold.

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