May 4, 2011 — Farmers actively engaged in business management planning practices are seeing increased growth, while their counterparts who generally do not undertake farm business management planning activities are faced with less or declining incomes.
This is one of the findings in a new study by Ipsos Reid, recently previewed at a meeting of the Agricultural Management Institute (AMI), which surveyed Ontario farmers on their farm business management practices and attitudes.
The study included six focus groups and 20 in-depth interviews with farmers as well as telephone interviews with 500 farmers of various farm types across the province.
“This survey shows that there is a connection between farm business management planning and farm business growth,” says Gerald Renkema, the newly elected chairperson of the AMI, the organization that commissioned the study.
According to the survey, 22 per cent of respondents are categorized as “planners,” farmers who are most likely to have a formal business plan for their operations, have average total farm sales, and are actively setting farm profit targets each year.
The full study report and findings will be made available to the general public in the early summer on the AMI website at www.takeanewapproach.ca.
AMI currently has 26 farm business management projects underway within the province. The organization promotes new ways of thinking about farm business management and aims to increase awareness, understanding and adoption of beneficial business management practices by Ontario farmers. The Agricultural Management Institute is part of the Best Practices Suite of programs for Growing Forward.
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