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General Farm Management & Strategy

Balancing Business and Financial Risk

Total risk can be divided into two major categories: business risk and financial risk. Business risk involves the variability of the farm’s return to assets. Business risk arises from variability in production levels (e.g., yield variability), output prices (e.g., corn price variability), and input prices (e.g., fertilizer price variability), as well as changes in legal aspects of the business and personnel.

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Reducing Corn Production Costs in 2016

Recorded February 1, 2016 | A discussion on research based fertilizer ane seeding rate recommendations to reduce corn production costs.

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The Financial Downturn: Back to the Future (Reversion to the Mean)

Mike Boehlje presents his Distinguished Professor Seminar on the Purdue campus. Mike discusses the downturn in the U.S. agriculture sector, applied research he has conducted with Purdue colleagues related to this topic and programming provided by Purdue.​

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International Benchmarks for Soybean Production (2015)

This paper examines the competitiveness of soybean production for important international soybean regions using 2012 to 2014 data from the agribenchmark network. This network collects data on beef, cash crops, dairy, pigs and poultry, horticulture, and organic products for 32 countries.

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Capturing the Upside & Buffering the Downside

Recorded November 30, 2015 | Key management strategies farmers can use to successfully manage their farms during the economic downturn in agriculture.

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​Long-Term Outlook for U.S. Ag. Economy

Recorded October 30, 2015 | Discussion focuses on the macroeconomic outlook and expected impacts on exchange rates and interest rates, a review of factors driving change in the crop sector including shifts in supplies taking place, and a review of expected returns for corn and soybeans and prospects for farmland prices in the the Midwest.

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Buying (Selling) Inputs in the Current Business Climate

Grain farmers are facing significantly lower prices and incomes in 2015 compared to previous years which have resulted in intense pressure to lower costs by aggressive negotiation on land rents and purchased inputs. Much of this negotiation has focused on price–farmers are asking/expecting price reductions, but suppliers of fertilizer seed and chemicals in particular are hesitant to adjust prices down.

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Agricultural Productivity Growth and Regulation

This paper uses measures of regulation from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University at St. Louis to examine the impact of regulation by these agencies on state-level agricultural productivity.

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Becoming a “Best in Class” Farm

Corn Belt agriculture is in the midst of transitioning from one of the most profitable periods on record to what could be an extended period of tight margins for most corn and soybean operations. Now that the 2015 planting season is drawing to a close, you should take time to reevaluate your farming operation and consider how you can make sure your farm is strategically positioned to be a “best in class” operation in the years ahead. Doing so will help ensure that your farm will thrive, not just survive, in an era of tight operating margins.

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Strategic Positioning: Focus vs. Flexibility

The mantra of almost all strategic planning discussions and recommendations is that a company cannot be all things to all people – – it must be focused in its choice of customers and how it will create value for those customers.

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