1969 Farm Business Summary: Cortland County

Smith, Robert S.; Blixt, Ira; Crispell, Carl

1969 Farm Business Summary: Cortland County

Abstract

Each year for more than 10 years a group of Cortland County dairy farmers have cooperated in a farm business management program. Financial records of cooperating farmers have been summarized and analyzed with the objective of providing members of the group with standards of comparison by which to judge their own management performance, Starting in 1959, membership in the group has varied between 13 and 30 farms, with a consistent turnover of membership, as farmers have been encouraged to participate for three years only. In 1969, 31 Cortland County farms were included in this summary. Between 1960 and 1968, the number of dairy farmers in New York State decreased from approximately 40,000 to about 25,000, Projections based on this trend indicate that the number of dairymen in 1980 will be approximately 13,000. One of the major factors that will determine whether a dairyman of today is a dairyman in 1980 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 callenge 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. The summary and analysis presented in this booklet should also be useful to farmers in Cortland County who are not enrolled in the business management projects, and to others connected with the agriculture of the County.

Date Issued

1970-03

Publisher

Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University

Types

report