Jay Olsen out of Snow College in Ephraim, UT was at the Ag Advancement Center Wednesday, April 18 and Thursday, April 19 to visit with students and community members regarding financial decision making when it comes to farming and ranching. Olsen is the Director of the Ag program at Snow College and has worked on a grant for seven years dealing with the importance of farm management education.
“We create a report with enough information that creates a state average,” Olsen said. “Then we also provide a copy of a personalized report for the family, which can be used to compare to state averages, as well as to create benchmarks for the family to use on their own farm.”
Olsen will be analyzing data from three local farmers using a program called Finpack. This program is used by farmers, ranchers, and colleges to analyze finances. The program can tell how the farm is doing and what areas each operation is strong in and other areas that they might need to work on based on the data. By using the data from local farmers, Olsen hopes to illustrate the benefits of using such a program at the local and collegiate levels.
MCC student Kaitlin Farver sees the benefits of learning about how to analyze financials, “It has been very beneficial for me to hear all of this information. It is just another source to make sure we are on track and making a profit. We are lucky to be learning about this at such a young age. Many farmers and ranchers have never been exposed to this information and are now feeling behind and overwhelmed and wishing they had a tool like this.”
MCC professor was thrilled to have Olsen on campus, “It is good for the students to see actual financial records from a ranch and look at the cost that goes into the operation and what it costs for each entity within the farm and ranch organization.”
Olsen and Snow College are collaborating with several community colleges in ND, SD, UT, & NE regarding this initiative.
