Relacionar Columnas THE PLANNING PROCEDURE Versión en línea THE PLANNING PROCEDURE por Nazly Martin 1 3. Identify enterprises and technical coefficients 2 Sensitivity Analysis 3 1. Formulate goals and objectives 4 2. Take inventory of the resources available 5 6. Preparing the whole farm budget 6 5. Choosing the enterprises (sectors) 7 4. Estimate gross margins for each sector The 2nd step is to complete an accurate inventory of available resources. The type, quality, and quantity of resources available determine which enterprises can be considered in the whole farm plan and which are not feasible. RESOURCES should be considered: Land; Buildings; Labor; Machinery; Capital; Management; Other. The primary goal is profit maximization in most planning techniques. Other goals may be maintaining the long-term productivity of the land; protecting the environment; guarding the health of the operator and workers; maintaining financial independence; allowing time for leisure activities. Although the whole farm budget may project a positive net income, unexpected changes in prices (input and output) or production levels may quickly turn that into a loss. Analyzing how changes in key budgeting assumptions affect income and cost projections is called sensitivity analysis. The resource inventory will show certain crop and livestock enterprises are feasible as the resources needed for their production available. The budgeting unit for each enterprise should be defined. It would be 1 hectare for crops and 1 head for livestock. Next, the resource requirements per unit of each enterprise, or the technical coefficients, must be estimated. E.g.: The technical coefficients for a hectare corn might be 1 hectare of land, 4 hours of labor, 3,5 hours of tractor time, and $85 of operating capital. • We need to estimate the income and variable costs per unit for each sector / enterprise. • The gross margin per unit (difference between total income and total variable costs) can be computed for each enterprise. • Gross margin is the enterprise’s contribution to fixed costs and profit after the variable costs have been paid. • Calculating gross margins requires the manager’s best estimates of yields or input for each enterprise and expected prices. • The calculation of total variable costs requires identifying each variable input needed, the amount required, and its purchase price. For many farmers the decision about what sectors (enterprises) to include in the farm plan is already determined by personal experience and performances, fixed investments in specialized equipment and facilities, or the regional comparative advantages for certain products. Other managers will want to define enterprise combinations by comparing them 1. To estimate the expected income, expenses, and profit; 2. To estimate the cash inflows, cash outflows, and liquidity; 3. To compare the effects of alternative farm plans on profitability and liquidity; 4. To evaluate the effects of expanding or otherwise changing the present farm plan