MacGyver might have had the television show, but when it comes to working with what’s at hand to get a job done, few people are better at this than farmers and ranchers. We’ve become accustomed to improvising and making what we have work when the right tools or resources aren’t always available. 

In fact, we’ve been doing this for years in the field and in the back office. When it comes to agricultural accounting, we’ve been using tools designed for standard business accounting despite the glaring differences.

While creativity and ingenuity on the farm are definitely assets, there’s plenty to be said for having the right tools for the right job, especially when it comes to efficiency.

Farms don’t exist in isolation; they’re part of a system with multiple variables that impact crop growth, livestock viability, and farm profitability. That ecosystem is carefully monitored as any change in any single variable ripples throughout a farm’s operations and management. For centuries, a failure to predict the impact of those changes or even forecast them could be catastrophic for a farmer. Thankfully, ag tech has grown by leaps and bounds meaning we have the capacity to understand far more about our land, our crops, our livestock, and our operations than ever before. That understanding and the leveraging of that data leads to farm profitability.

Agricultural software is a bit like land management. There are built in features that make acreage more attractive and more useful, but ultimately, how well you know the land impacts your ability to optimize it. But, if you don’t understand the layout or properties of the land and the local environment, it can reduce your  return on investment.

Farm management software isn’t that different. Every agricultural software platform has applications designed to help farm and ranch managers maximize their operation. With agricultural software, if you don’t understand what the programs are capable of, you may be missing ways to increase efficiency, decrease costs, and forecast your farm’s future.

"If you’re struggling with a main street accounting program today, it might be time to reach out to a higher-level, farm-focused program for your business."  So says Editor Willie Vogt in the April 2017 Farm Industry News cover story, "Raising Your Accounting Game."