Topics
Each year, the industry expert faculty who plan and facilitate the MAST program are committed to providing a first-rate educational experience that can be directly applied to your personal farm management goals. In doing this, the faculty prepare sessions that deal with emerging trends and topics within the industry, but they also prepare sessions on the tried and true best practices in farm management:
Land Ownership & Leasing
Use economic principles to develop an understanding of the management aspects of agricultural land ownership and leasing. Land-buying decisions are reduced to numerical exercises that can be implemented in a computer spreadsheet. Topics cover historical perspectives and using spreadsheets to guide land purchase or rent decisions.
Machinery Ownership & Leasing
Learn how to calculate machinery costs in farm operations and identify different machinery costs. Topics include economies of size related to machinery ownership, leasing versus purchasing, and estimating total costs of owning and operating machinery compared with custom rates.
Human Resource Management
Recruiting and retaining a capable workforce is a major challenge in agribusiness. Topics range from writing job descriptions and designing compensation packages to improving communication, reducing conflicts, and creating an empowered workforce.
Risk Management
Gain a better understanding of the risk inherent to farm and ranch operations and a practical toolbox for quantifying the risks associated with various management decisions. Topics cover traditional and contemporary risk management concepts, including diversification, insurance, financing, contracts, futures, and options.
Tax & Policy Management
Regulatory issues are a concern in production agriculture, especially in the taxation and environmental areas. We discuss how current policy issues affect producers and present strategies for dealing with these issues. Limited liability companies and leasing issues also are addressed.
Financial Analysis
Review tools and concepts needed to better manage enterprise budgeting and financial planning. Financial statements illustrated include the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and statement of changes in financial position. The financial planning section discusses scenario analysis and major investment and farm growth decisions.
Marketing
Develop the knowledge and tools needed to take an informed and balanced approach to marketing decisions. Topics include marketing plan development, futures and options basics, pricing strategies, and fundamental and technical analysis. Issues related to the marketing of value-added and identity-preserved products also are addressed.