1967 Farm Business Summary: Monroe, Niagara, Genesee Counties

Abstract

This report is a summary of the 1967 farm business records of 22 Monroe, Niagara, and Genesee County dairymen. These farmers are cooperators in the Extension Service farm business management program of the three counties. There are approximately 40 counties in New York State in which such projects are operated in cooperation with the College of Agriculture at Cornell. Farmers participating in the farm business management program keep financial and physical records of their farm business. Throughout the year Cooperative Extension Agents assist the farmers in keeping, closing and using their records. At the end of each year, the records are summarized by the Department of Agricultural Economics at Cornell and meetings are held to analyze the records and study the principles of farm business management. Between 1960 and 1967 the number of dairy farmers in New York State decreased from approximately 40,200 to about 26,300. Projections based on this trend indicate that the number of dairymen in 1975 will be approximately 16,500. One of the major factors that will determine whether a dairyman of today is a dairyman in 1975 is his ability as a manager. Some dairymen will expand, others stay at about the same size and still others will quit farming. It is a challenge to each dairyman to decide upon the best course of action for himself and his family. A study of your business records and budgeting of some possible changes for the future will help you to make this decision. The primary objective of these business management projects is to help cooperators do a better job of keeping and using records, and thus improve their skill as farm managers. This report has been prepared in workbook form for use in a systematic study of individual farm business operations. The 1966 data from 731 New York dairy farms and the 1967 data from the 22 Monroe, Niagara, and Genesee County dairymen can be used for comparison. The summary and analysis presented in this booklet should also be useful to farmers in this area who are not enrolled in the business management projects. Others connected with the agriculture of the area, such as teachers of agriculture and farm credit representatives, should also find it useful in teaching farm management and analyzing farm businesses