Farm records are important to the financial health of the farm. Good records do not ensure your farm will be successful; however, success is unlikely without them. Accurate and up-to-date records are essential to successful farm management. Before any financial, budgeting or financial decisions can be made, farm records must be maintained.
Farm records are like report cards students receive in school, with a farm report card, you can tell how well you are managing your operation compared with other producers in your class. You can also see the strengths and weaknesses of your farm operation. In this article, attempts will be made to highlight the various uses of farm records.
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Types of Farm Records
Broadly speaking farm records can be whatever type the originator wants it to be and to serve whatever purpose it is intended for. In this light farm record types are not fixed and can be made or drawn to suit individual or specific needs.
This dynamism should also reflect the configuration/format of the tables, examples are:
1. Daily farm records.
2. Records of farm implements and equipment.
3. Record of agricultural inputs.
4. Records of livestock and livestock products.
5. Records of animal feeds.
6. Production records.
7. Records for farm use.
8. Farm expenditure record
Some of the types of farm records are enumerated below:
(1) Farm Diary: This is a record of day to day activities of the farm. It is possible to trace weaknesses in the farm business. Farm diary takes care of crops, date of planting, amount of seed used, harvest date, etc.
(2) Farm Inventory: This record takes care of the livestock (types, number, etc.), buildings etc. It gives information on the state of the item, the ones that need replacement, repair, borrowed, or hired out.
(3) Input Records: This record gives details of the size or quantity of input utilized to the farm e.g. fertilizers, feed for livestock, amount of seeds used, labor, medication, stock of livestock, etc. It enables the farmer to know whether he is using too much animal feed or too many seeds as the case may be, before too many losses are incurred.
(4) Production Records: This record measures the productivity of the land and the success of farming operations generally. It shows whether a particular livestock is doing well or not.
(5) Scale Records: This record tells a farmer how much he is making. It helps the farmer not to spend too much and also helps him in adequate farm planning.
(6) Consumption Records: Not all produced are put to sale. This records the quantity harvested and consumed by the farmer and his family, or given out, but not sold.
(7) Profit and Loss Accounts: This record has two sides. The left side has to do with liabilities and payments (purchased and expenses) While the right-hand side is concerned with Assets and revenue (Sales and Receipts).
There are three basic types of farm records: resource inventories, production accounts of livestock and crop operations, and income and expense records.
1. Resources Inventories – As a farmer you use resources such as land labour, machinery, breeding stock, management, and financial capital.
They are information about existing circumstances in the planning process. Resource inventories specify the condition of soil, water, air, plant, animal, and human resources (SWAPA+H). Resource inventories provide realistic, objective data about the planning area, and are crucial for sound decision-making.
You must assign value to these resources and maintain current inventories so that you know the foundation from which you operate, from this resource base, you produce food and fibre.
| S/No. | Items | Quantity | Values ( |
| 1 | Land | 4 hectares | 5,000,000.00 |
| 2 | Farm Building and Structure | 2 | 13,000,000.00 |
| 3 | Machinery & Equipment | 4 | 7,000,000.00 |
| 4 | Pigs | 50 | 2,000,000.00 |
| 5 | Broilers | 500 | 2,500,000.00 |
| 6 | Layers | 350 | 1,050,000.00 |
| 7 | Crops | 2 hectares | 1,800,000.00 |
| 8 | Fertilizer | 75 bags | 675,000.00 |
| Grand Total | 33,025,000.00 |
The table above shows the various resources employed in the farming enterprise and that will form a basis for subsequent planning and performance monitoring and evaluation to see if the farm enterprise is making progress and also the areas that will need to be improved on.
Another example of a resource inventory farm record is shown below:
| Item/Feed Type | Unit/Quantity | Cost/Unit | Total Cost |
| Broilers starter | 10 | 7,000.00 | 70,000.00 |
| Broilers finisher | 8 | 7,000.00 | 56,000.00 |
| Layers Mash | 7 | 6,500.00 | 45,500.00 |
| Growers Mash | 6 | 6,500.00 | 39,000.00 |
| Hog mash | 30 | 2,500.00 | 75,000.00 |
| Fodder | 200 | 800.00 | 160,000.00 |
| Total | 445,500.00 |
2. Production accounts of livestock and crops – The production accounts of livestock and crops show how this resource base is combined with other inputs to yield physical output, consequently, production records such, as the relationship of feed to weight gain, cow to the number of calves, fertilizer to crop yield, or land to total production, are most critical to your farm’s profits. The under-listed are different types of records depicting the production processes and activities.
| Items | No. of Implement/Equipment | Amount/Units | Total Amount |
| Rakes | 5 | 4,200.00 | 21,000.00 |
| Shovel | 7 | 2,300.00 | 16,100.00 |
| De featheringMachine | 2 | 22,000.00 | 44,000.00 |
| Total | 81,100.00 |
| Activities | No of workers | Amount/worker | Total Daily Expense |
| Land clearing | 3 | 2,000.00 | 6,000.00 |
| Cleaning ofPoultry | 2 | 2,000.00 | 4,000.00 |
| Picking of eggs | 2 | 2,500.00 | 5,000.00 |
| Grand Total | 15,000.00 |
3. Income and Expense Records – because farmers interact in a market economy, the cost of the feed and revenue from the market hog/value or the cost of the fertilizer and the price of grain, are equally important. These income and expense records are related to each other and translate production accounts into Naira and kobo (figs 3 and 4).
The various farm enterprises have items, materials, implements, and equipment that are used in their operations, though some of these materials/things overlap. Requisite knowledge of them will help in keeping adequate records and eventually sound financials.
Below is a categorization of these things and they are by no means exhaustive:
1. Poultry Enterprise
Stock – (Day old chicks, Broilers, and Layers), feed, feeders, drinkers, battery cages, building/housing, heating, spade, shovel, egg trays, eggs, fencing, medical supplies
2. Piggery Enterprise
Stock – Piglets, gilts, Sow, Boars), building, farrowing pens, pens, heating equipment, ventilation/cooling equipment, wheelbarrow, boots, fencing, medical supply
3. Crop Enterprise
Stock – Various seeds, seed drill, pruning shear, hand fork, tractor, combine harvester, fertilizer spreader, crowbar, different types of hoes, cultivator, rake, set of hand trowels
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Uses of Farm Records
Broadly speaking farm records are useful for the under-listed
(1) They help in decision-making for proper management.
(2) They help to plan and implement farm business.
(3) It is useful in preparing profits & loss accounts.
(4) It provides information on farm history and the level of production of the farm business (progress monitoring).
(5) It can help in obtaining adequate insurance policies for the farmer for his farm enterprise.
(6) Farm records provide useful information on taxes payable and for farm budget preparation.
(7) It provides a reliable basis for future planning.
Three Basic Types of Farm Records
1. Resources Inventories
You must count and assign value to your resources and inventory on your farm. These resources include both assets and liabilities. Assets are all items you own; liabilities indicate what you owe. Counting assets is relatively easy. With a notebook and paper, walk around your farm and survey your assets.
Record the number of milk cows, hectares of tilled land, etc valuing assets, is more difficult. Assets such as grain will probably be valued at the net market price for which they could be sold. Tractors could be valued at their original cost minus depreciation. Similarly, land could be valued at its market price (if developed for residential houses)or at its agricultural value.
Liabilities are easier than assets to count and value. A listing of debts to banks and other creditors usually is sufficient. The only difficulty is adjusting for accrued interest. Resources can be counted and assigned a value more often, but most farmers find an end-of-year most useful. Resources inventories are not a “flow” concept, but a “stock” measurement.
The most direct application of resources inventory is completing a balance sheet to determine your net worth. A resource inventory also is useful for computing non-cash expenses, such as depreciation. Resources on the farm often are used as collateral for a loan. A resource inventory provides a helpful summary of those assets to be used as collateral.
Finally, with an up-to-date inventory of your farm’s resources, you can consider options for growth and diversification more carefully and efficiently.
2. Production Accounts
Production Accounts are used to measure the performance of crop and livestock enterprises on the farm, some production information can be derived from income and expense records, for example, where the total kilogram purchased might be noted. This information while useful, usually is not specific or complete enough. More detailed production accounts can and should be kept, usually classified as crop, livestock, or labour records.
Often included under crop records are farm maps. Farm maps are used to describe soil conditions cropping patterns, field layouts, and building locations. Other written crop records show crop rotations, yields, fertilizer rates, and pesticide applications. This information can be summarized and will indicate the efficiency of production.
Livestock and poultry records usually include subsections for mortality, breeding, performance, and feed information. Mortality records list the number of livestock and track disease problems. Breeding records ensure that only superior individuals or groups of individuals are used to parent-offspring with desired characteristics.
Performance records for livestock are divided between birth and productive information. Birth records indicate the date of birth, important dates in the animal’s life, parental evaluation, and weaning information. Production records refer more directly to herd size, rate of gain, and kilogram sold and purchased.
Finally, feed records are important in evaluating overall production efficiency. Feed normally constitutes at least 50 percent of the total cost of raising an animal for meat. The type of feed ration, its formulation and the rate of feeding should be monitored closely.
Another major category of production record keeping is labour. Labour records are important particularly when labour shortages are a problem. By knowing the amount and timing of labour required per operation of an enterprise you can better plan what enterprises are feasible when faced with labour constraints on the farm.
3. Income and Expense Records
A transactions journal and general ledger are useful for recording income and expense records. In the transactions journal, you record financial transactions as they happen. In the general ledger, you begin organizing your farm records into a meaningful format.
Important uses of the transactions journal and general ledger are to provide information for the income statement and cash flow statement. With the income statement, you can calculate farm profit. The cash flow statement is a summary of the timing and flow of Naira in and out of the farm business. It helps you meet cash obligations.
For most farmers, a simple yet suitable transactions journal is the farm check book. It helps you keep track of the majority of income and expense transactions needed for a complete set of records, with the information from the transactions journal; the farmer organizes cash receipts and expenses in the general ledger by date and category.
In conclusion, up-to-date records are essential to successful farm management. Records are used among others to: evaluate past performance of the operation, provide a financial picture of the present situation, and serve as a planning guide for future decisions.
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