Title

The Implementation of a Financial Software into an Educational Farm

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Ag Science and Natural Resources

Date of Award

Summer 2022

Abstract

In today’s world, education is essential for humanity to prosper. All human activities rely on education as a foundation. Education is an important factor in the development and new knowledge dissemination (Poungsuk, 2020). Each aspect of educational practices in science, agriculture, and finance is very important to maintain and perpetuate continuing development. In today’s educational program, educational farms are often multifunctional and allow for students to learn about all aspects of agriculture whether it is in livestock, horticulture, urban agriculture such as food processing systems, meat packaging, vertical farming (hydroponic systems), and so on. However, for an educational farm to be more effective, the farm manager needs to be able to conduct rigorous financial analyses for all enterprises. The efficient use of financial software fills in the need for educational farms to organize and analyze their finances and even assist with everyday tasks. FINPACK is financial software that was created by financial experts at the University of Minnesota to help agricultural producers conduct financial analyses for their business. A financial statement and a benchmarking analysis are two key components to perform a good financial analysis. Financial statements such as the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flow, help ensure that businesses are on track. Benchmarking complements financial analyses by allowing companies to compare themselves with other businesses to evaluate their performance. The benchmarking analysis showed that the educational farm was less liquid and less profitable than the average for-profit farm. However, the educational farm was very solvent; and in general, the educational farm operates differently from the typical or private for-profit farms. This study aims to assist a 1300 acres educational farm located in Northeast Texas with financial managerial performance by implementing FINPACK.

Advisor

Jose A. Lopez

Subject Categories

Agriculture | Life Sciences

Link to Full Text
COinS