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Heart of the Farm - Farming Your Finances

Sandy Stuttgen, Jenny Vanderlin, and Heather Schlesser

Summary

Heart of the Farm – Women in Agriculture’s Farming Your Finances (FYF) is a two-day workshop which teaches understanding of the Farm Financial Model, Balance Sheet and Income Statement. Financial analysis and projections are used to guide the planning needed for a farm ownership case study.

Seven farm women from four Wisconsin counties, Marathon, Clark, Wood and Dodge, attended FYF in 2017. Pre- and post-workshop evaluations, and quiz scores of the material were used to determine attendees value and understanding of the topics.

The 2017 FYF participants were surveyed six months after the workshop. Respondents (n = 4) reported “My husband and I can visualize better why certain items are not profitable to continue” and “I better understand how the numbers of the farm work and how to use them for planning/decision making.” Additional responses included, “I have reviewed my farm's Balance Sheet and Income Statement which another prepared” and “I created my own Income Statement using my farm's Schedule F, and I calculated my farm's debt to asset ratio and rate of return on assets.” Participating in this workshop has allowed their understanding of “the difference between tax return preparation numbers, lending officer numbers, and productivity numbers,” “why my loan officer needs the information they do” and “I understand my book work/accounting better.” Following the workshop, one attendee used what she had learned at the workshop to create the expansion plan for her current small business.

Details

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