Gross margin budgeting and management

Gross margin budgeting and management FB06 Individuals who wish to improve understanding of crop gross margin level farm finances and how they can be used as a management tool, including comparative analysis and bench marking techniques. It is also suitable for students or recent graduates in practical farming, agronomy or land management industry An entry level course suitable for individuals with a practical or training level awareness of farm finances A one day classroom-based course TBC Chris Winney, Farm Business and Rural Consultant

Classroom module (one day):

•    An overview of crop output, variable (direct) costs and the gross margin calculation
•    How to prepare a crop gross margin from raw farm data, including an understanding of opening and closing stocks
•    Identifying the sources of farm and external gross margin data sources
•    Understanding the management uses for gross margin data
•   Practical exercise to compare Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) options against traditional cropping, which will include looking at the breakeven yields/prices against the SFI options, drawing up conclusions and developing an SFI action plan for a case study farm

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

•    Define the key components of a gross margin account and appreciate the difference between variable (direct) and fixed (indirect) cost. Be able to use the concepts of opening and closing valuation balances in calculating a crop gross margin.
•    Identify the sources of farm data and examine the strengths and weaknesses of the data.
•    Identify the sources of external gross margin data for budgeting and benchmarking.
•    Assess the management uses for farm gross margin accounts
•    Complete a comparative analysis exercise.
•    Develop conclusions and action plans based on the output of a comparative analysis exercise