SUCCESSFUL FARMING "SUPER POWER PROFITS" SEMINARS SET FOR LATE JANUARY

Don't miss the opportunity to learn first-hand what managerial accounting can do in your operation through one of three free seminars co-sponsored by Successful Farming Magazine and Asgrow seeds.  You'll hear from nationally-know management consultant and innovative Idaho producer, Dick Wittman and meet FBS clients who have already adopted managerial accounting in their operations.  Dates and locations are:

•	Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, January 28, 2008
•	iWireless Center (formerly "The Mark"), Moline, Illinois, January 29, 2008
•	Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, January 30, 2008

For the latest information click on Super Powering Profits

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Introduction

By now you've likely wrapped up harvest and fall tillage, stored your equipment for the winter and begun marketing that crop.  You've done a great job with production, but what about your production and accounting data?

1.	Have you transferred yield monitor or scale tickets into usable yield and inventory records?
2.	Do you know what it actually cost to produce the 2007 crop (and estimate costs for the 2008 crop)?

We're going to show how to answer those two questions quickly and accurately using FBS Integrated SeRVware.

Converting Yield Monitor Data

If your best source of yield data comes through a combine yield monitor then follow these instructions:

Step 1:  Select Import Crop Yield File (Input | Import/Export Data | Import Crop Yield File)
Step 2:  Choose your FODM device (Ag Leader, Greenstar, CNH, etc.) from the drop-down list and point to the yield file to import.
Step 3:  Match yield monitor batches with FBS Centers, Projects/Fields and Varieties.
Step 4:  Compare results in FBS with your mapping software.  Note that "raw" acres/yield per acre in FBS are based on FBS field acres and the assumptions the yield monitor uses regarding acres covered and grain flow.  The final acres and variety distributions are calculated in Step 6 below.

Converting Scale Tickets

There are two approaches for importing individual harvest loads into FBS.

Step 1:  Record loads on an Xpaper form using a digital pen (see above) or type directly into Excel.  Note that you don't need to enter or calculate net weight or quantities.

Step 2:  Optical character recognition (OCR) converts the Xpaper form into an Excel spreadsheet.  Review and correct the data.

Step 3:  Select Input | Import/Export Data | Digital Paper Interface.  (An Import Grain Tickets option is also available.)

Step 4:  Point to the Excel file and click on the Harvest Map button.

Step 5:  Click on the Load from Actual button to match FBS definitions with the Excel spreadsheet.  Click the Transfer Harvest Data button to import loads

Calculating Harvest Acres and Variety Distribution

Up until this point acres have been estimated (from the yield monitor) or unknown (from scale tickets) and varieties have not been assigned.  This final step "cleans up" the raw acres and yields and only needs to be done once at the end of the season.

Step 6:  Select Input | General | Crop Input | Calculate Harvest Acres.  Specify the time period, centers and fields you want to calculate and whether the acres are to be based on project-center/field acres or planted acres.  Finally, if you wish to prorate each load between varieties planted in a field, check Update Harvest Seed.

Compare the report above with the original harvest record from Step 4 under the Yield Monitor Import.  Note that Total Harvest acres have changed to reflect Project/Center rather than Field acres and variety acres and yields have been prorated based on the original planted acres.

Valuing the Crop Inventory Once you've determined the final yield, e.CLIPSE managerial accounting / inventory valuation can value the resulting inventory based on lower of cost or market.  We'll cover the methodology in a future article (and you learn more about managerial accounting at the "Super Power Profits" seminars covered in the first story).  Below is the cost detail from the "40" field from which scale tickets were imported.

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