"Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud / Turn forth her silver lining on the night?"  ~ John Milton "Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold." ~ Maurice Setter "Every cloud has its silver lining but it is sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint." ~ Don Marquis "Every silver lining has a cloud." ~ Mary Kay Ash. "My father used to say that if we ever had the money you have, we would eat steak and ice cream three times every day!" ~ Pollyanna "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." ~ The (late and not so strong) Friedrich Nietzsche "We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."~ Charles Swindoll "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas Edison Every so often a "teachable moment" comes along which challenges us to adapt, reengineer or regroup our everyday lives.  The last major catharsis in agriculture, the "Farm Crisis" of the 1980s, radically transformed the assumptions and practices of producers and lenders alike.  Now the highly-efficient survivors of that storm are facing an even more turbulent forecast.  Dairy, beef and pork segments have been under the shadow of ominous clouds for months, and it's only a matter of time before crop producers' parade is rained on. Fortunately, FBS users have exclusive access to tools and strategies capable of tapping into the "silver lining" within these dark clouds. This month we look at the first of four "silver linings."
1.	Greater Data Processing/ Business Process Efficiency.
Most commercial farming operations have achieved an enviable level of efficiency in their production practices—comparable to the "best practices" in other manufacturing industries.  (Much of this can be attributed to emulating the technology and scale of other operations.)  When it comes to information management and completing routine business processes, however, most producers' practices more closely reflect the byzantine paper-shuffle employed by the medical world than Wal-Mart's real-time MIS. For example, it's not unusual for the same piece of information to be entered or processed in three or more unrelated information "silos."  In a typical scenario, the dollar value of input purchases and crop/livestock sales are entered into a "generic" accounting program, then dollars (along with units) recorded again in a specialized production program and finally transferred into a spreadsheet for quantitative analysis (closeouts, cost analysis, inventory control).  This makes no more sense than repetitively filling in the same form each time you visit a doctor's office or check into a hospital.
FBS users can achieve significant efficiency through two technologies.
	Just a few of the electronic interfaces FBS users can use to increase efficiency.
The first is through electronic interfaces with other systems.  FBS software links with over 60 on- and off-farm information sources ranging from yield monitors, PDAs/smart phones, spreadsheets, PigCHAMP™, scale tickets, feed mills and packers.  In most cases this information is "free" (already recorded by a vendor or on-farm technology) and massive quantities of data can be imported almost instantaneously.
	Real-time data integration.
The second efficiency-enhancing technology is FBS's exclusive integrated production/financial database design.  Whether data is imported from external sources or hand-entered, it's recorded only once in either a production or accounting database which interlocks and relates with other databases.  All the functions and reports use the same set of definitions saving time in setup and eliminating the need to "bridge," copy or re-enter information from module to module. Producers who are already performing these functions in manual and/or unrelated systems will enjoy significant time savings which will come right off their bottom lines.  However, there's much more to be gained by everyone from an automated, integrated design—as we'll explain in upcoming issues.

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IT'S SARAH ON THE LINE!

Next time you call FBS Support you'll likely be speaking with Sarah Dixon, FBS's new Technical Services Manager.  In addition to answering support questions, Sarah is also in charge of product testing and customer relations and will likely assist with training.  She's already implemented a new "instant" desktop sharing tool that will enhance your support experience.

Sarah brings a lot of useful experience to FBS, first as Animal Science major at Southern Illinois University and second through work experience in agribusiness and customer service.  She and her husband live in the country where they are raising two girls.  You can reach Sarah by calling 800.437.7638/Extension 100 or e-mailing support@fbssystems.com.

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GARY MOVES FROM CUBICLE TO TRACTOR CAB

After nearly 22 years in the "hot seat" as FBS's National Support Manager, Gary Simpson is moving to the tractor seat full-time.  As Gary's cropping operation has grown he's transitioning to an "on-call" position with FBS Support.  In addition to being a "real farmer" who's also an FBS expert, Gary assists his two teenage daughters in excelling in the cattle show ring.

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WEBINAR SCHEDULES

Join us for these free webinars at 10:00 am CST:

•	Getting Crop Audit ready for harvest on Monday, October 5.
•	Real-time LifeCycle budgeting on Monday, October 12.
•	Smart Feeder reports on Monday, October 19.
•	Taking advantage of new features in Version 8.1 on Monday, October 26.

If you'd like to attend any of these virtual meetings, e-mail norm@fbssystems.com by 8:00 am CST on the day of the webinar to receive login instructions.  Please note that these webinars may be subject to rescheduling or cancelation due to schedule conflicts.

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SOFTWARE Q&A – WITH Q'S FROM YOU, OUR CLIENTS! Send us your questions/problems–be they short, long, simple or downright frustratin'!–about SeRVware and we'll handle them right "on the air" for the benefit of all. Q. I notice an icon folder in the data directory window under the FBSWIN directory on the Change Company screen.  What is it?     User-Defined Icons User-Defined Text Menu A. Two types of User Defined Shortcut Menus were added in version 8.0:  Text and User defined icons.  This function allows you to define a list of shortcut menu items for selected tasks to the FBS home screen rather than working down standard menus.  These shortcuts are company specific.  For example you can specify a task that you perform frequently such as adding checks or deposits; or you can link to a module that use frequently such as Life Cycle Budget.     1.   At the FBS Home Screen, click Setup.     2.   At the Utilities Menu, click User Defined Menu.     3.   To add a menu shortcut icon, click the Add button.     4.   Enter a Description, specify the Menu Selection Item, and Picture from the drop down lists.  Note:  (You can click on the graphics to specify the picture.  The graphics must be located in a folder named "Icons" in the main FBS folder.  They can be the following types of pictures:  JPG, BMP, or GIF; or actual icon files (ICO).)     5.   Click Save to accept your changes or Cancel to exit.     6.   From the Utilities>Set Preferences menu, set the "CM:  Type of User Menu" preference to "1" to choose icons or "2" to choose "Text".     7.   Restart FBS and return to the selected company.     8.   Click on the desired icon or text to open the shortcut. Top of Page         sales@fbssystems.com 800.437.7638

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