Relating Farm Financial Terms to Real Life

By Kayla Brashears | KFBM Area Extension Specialist
Published on Aug. 30, 2022

A producer that works with any type of lending institution may hear their lender use words like liquidity, solvency, and profitability. Their banker may tell them their Term Debt Coverage Ratio is less than 1:1, so the new farm purchase is off the table. A producer may know that their Debt-to-Worth is good or their Current Ratio is bad.

USDA-FSA’s Livestock Indemnity Program

By Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Aug. 9, 2022

USDA’s Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) is administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and is intended to help compensate producers for greater than normal levels of livestock deaths from adverse weather, disease outbreaks, and predator attacks. The program can also partially compensate producers for lost value resulting from injury.

Hay Production Cost Increases in 2022 and Management Implications

By Greg Halich | Associate Extension Professor
Published on Jul. 29, 2022

Costs for hay production have skyrocketed in 2022.  Fertilizer is driving the bulk of the overall increase, followed by fuel, and then general cost increases for other categories (what could be considered “general inflation”).  While we can debate the exact causes of all these increases (i.e.

Historical Farm Income and Expenses

By Lauren Omer Turley | KFBM Area Extension Specialist
Published on Jul. 29, 2022

Agriculture seems to be on a roller coaster recently with the volatile commodity markets, energy costs, and the tough summer weather.  Looking back over the last ten years, grain farmers have seen a wide range of commodity prices and yields.  There has been much more variance on the income side than the costs per acre.  It is interesting to look

I Have This Farm, Now What?

By Michael Forsythe | KFBM Area Extension Specialist
Published on Jul. 29, 2022

What do I do with the farm I just bought?  Although this sounds like a question that should be asked before you buy the farm, there may be circumstances that cause you to acquire a farm before deciding what to do with it.  You may decide you want to move your family out of the city to a rural area so you buy a house and a small farm.  You might

High Path Avian Influenza Update and the On-Farm Financial Impacts from an Outbreak

By Jordan Shockley | Associate Extension Professor
Published on Jun. 30, 2022

In 2014/15, the U.S. poultry industry experienced one of the most significant animal health emergencies due to high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), also known as “bird flu.”  There were 232 confirmed cases in poultry flocks that impacted over 50 million birds during this time.

Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence

By Steve Isaacs | Extension Professor
Published on Jun. 30, 2022

IFMA 23, the biannual congress of the International Farm Management Association was held in Copenhagen, Denmark in late June.

Agricultural Sales Tax Exemption Now Streamlined

By Laura Powers | KFBM Area Extension Specialist
Published on May. 31, 2022

On March 20, 2022, Governor Andy Beshear signed Senate Bill 121 enacting a streamlined process for eligible farmers to receive a sales tax exemption on eligible purchases.  As this bill was given “emergency” status, the bill became effective upon the Governor’s signature.

The Cost of a Bad Hire

By Steve Isaacs | Extension Professor
Published on May. 31, 2022

Desperate times often require desperate actions, and no time seems more desperate than when the needs are great, time is limited, and labor is short. You need help and you need it now! Add the competition from $15-18/hr service sector wages to the mix and the situation seems almost hopeless.

3 Tips for Farm Management During Rising Inflation

By Jennifer Rogers | KFBM Area Extension Specialist
Published on Apr. 28, 2022

With input prices on the increase and so many things changing with our economy, it is important that producers think about how to manage during rising inflation.  There is nothing that we can do to control the prices that we have to pay for products, we can only make sound management decisions about what we purchase and how we manage cash, and t