Assignment On Farm Management and Manager 3

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CHAPTER ONE

FARM MANAGEMENT AND A MANAGER

What is Farm Management

Farm management is of the recent origin. The term “Farm Management” conveys

different meanings by different people. Some take it to be another name of

production economics or agricultural economics, while others consider farm

management as nothing more than the farmer’s art of carrying out the daily work

of supervision of farm.

Like any other economic problem, farm management as a rational resource

allocation proposition more particularly from the point of view of an individual

farmer. On one hand a farmer has certain set of farm resources such as land,

labour, farm buildings, working capital, farm equipments etc. On the other side, the

same farmer has a set of goals or objectives to achieve, may be maximum family

satisfaction through increasing net farm income.

Definitions

1. Farm management is that branch of agricultural economics which deals with

the business principles end practices of farming with an object of obtaining

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the maximum possible return from the farm as a unit under a sound farming

programme.

2. Farm Management may be called a science of decision making. Therefore it

can be defined as a science which deals with judicious decisions o the use of

scarce farm resources, having alternative uses to obtain maximum profit and

family satisfaction on a continuous basis from the farm as a wholes.

3. Warren: Farm management is the study of the business principles of

forming. It may be defined as the science of organization and the

management of the farm enterprise for the purpose of securing the greatest

continuous profits.

Objective:  Main object of farm management is to obtain the maximum net profit

from the various enterprises on a farm. The main aim is to get maximum net

returns from the farm as a whole. This leads to success. This object constitutes

selection, combination and execution of enterprises consistent with a sound

agricultural policy.

The farm management study is undertaken with the following objectives:

1. To study the input output relationship in agriculture and determine the

relative efficiency of various factor combinations.

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2. To determine the most profitable crop production and livestock raising

methods.

3. To study the cost per hectare and per quintal.

4. To evaluate the farm resources arid land use.

5. To study the comparative economics of different enterprises.

6. To determine the relation of size of farm to land utilization, cropping

pattern, capital investment and labour employment.

7. To study the impact of technological changes on farm business.

8. To find out ways and means for increasing the efficiency of farm business

through better input-output relationship and proper allocation of resources

among different uses.

Who is a Manager?

A manager is a person who is responsible for a part of a company, i.e., they

‘manage‘ the company. Managers may be in charge of a department and the people

who work in it. In some cases, the manager is in charge of the whole business. For

example, a ‘restaurant manager’ is in charge of the whole restaurant.

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A manager is a person who exercises managerial functions primarily. They should

have the power to hire, fire, discipline, do performance appraisals, and monitor

attendance. They should also have the power to approve overtime, and authorize

vacations.

The Manager’s duties also include managing employees or a section of the

company on a day-to-day basis.

Farm Manager

A farm manager is responsible for the management and general maintenance of a

farm. On a crop farm, a farm manager will supervise the fertilizing, planting,

spraying, cultivating and harvesting procedures of crops. On a livestock farm, he or

she will supervise the general care of the animals and be diligent in the control of

illnesses.

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CHAPTER TWO

FUNCTIONS OF A GOOD MANAGER

Managers just don't go out and haphazardly perform their responsibilities. Good

managers discover how to master five basic functions: planning, organizing,

staffing leading, and controlling.

 Planning: This step involves mapping out exactly how to achieve a

particular goal. Say, for example, that the organization's goal is to improve

company sales. The manager first needs to decide which steps are necessary

to accomplish that goal. These steps may include increasing advertising,

inventory, and sales staff. These necessary steps are developed into a plan.

When the plan is in place, the manager can follow it to accomplish the goal

of improving company sales.

 Organizing: After a plan is in place, a manager needs to organize her team

and materials according to her plan. Assigning work and granting authority

are two important elements of organizing.

 Staffing: After a manager discerns his area's needs, he may decide to beef

up his staffing by recruiting, selecting, training, and developing employees.

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A manager in a large organization often works with the company's human

resources department to accomplish this goal.

 Leading: A manager needs to do more than just plan, organize, and staff her

team to achieve a goal. She must also lead. Leading involves motivating,

communicating, guiding, and encouraging. It requires the manager to coach,

assist, and problem solve with employees.

 Controlling: After the other elements are in place, a manager's job is not

finished. He needs to continuously check results against goals and take any

corrective actions necessary to make sure that his area's plans remain on

track.

All managers at all levels of every organization perform these functions, but the

amount of time a manager spends on each one depends on both the level of

management and the specific organization.

Farm managers make many managerial decisions and are constantly taking

production and income into account when making these decisions. They have to

determine the best time to plant crops, taking into account the time of year,

climate, and weather. They have to be prepared for crops that may fail by planning

ahead of time so that another crop can make up for any loss of income. 

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As farms and the methods employed on each become more complex, many farm

managers use computers to keep track of the financial and inventory records. They

use computer databases to manage breeding or production within the farm.

Roles and responsibilities of a farm manager

The roles and responsibilities of the farm manager are diverse few of which are

mentioned below:

 Deciding on the type, quality and quantity of the crops to be planted

 Preparing plans for the mode of harvest, harvesting schedules and

collaborates with the farm operators for carrying out these activities

 Budgeting the farm management and accomplishing the farm activities

within the planned budget

 Hiring employees for minor duties such as managing work schedule, daily

wages, feeding livestock and managing the harvest

 Arranging for regular maintenance of field equipment, machinery and farm

buildings

 Purchasing farm supplies like agrochemicals and seeds, feed for livestock

 Management of sales and marketing of farm products like crop harvest,

dairy production, and livestock

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 Meeting the deadlines for producing yield and sending the yield to market

for auctions

 Monitoring the quality and quantity of crops and maintaining animal health

 Updating knowledge on plant and animals diseases and taking necessary

measures for treating the same

 Preserving environmental biodiversity and undertaking protection activities

if need be

 Keeping a track of health and safety of farmworkers and other staff

In addition to the ones mentioned above the farm managers also supervise various

activities for generating extra income such as wind power generation, processing

and selling farm products, breeding special herds, field sports, fishing and worm

farming. They also make necessary arrangements for holiday stays on the farm.

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CHAPTER THREE

APPLICATION OF A MANAGER FUNCTION IN CROP PRODUCTION

Farm managers are employed to manage and carry out duties associated with the

day-to-day and long-term management of large commercial farms. It is their

responsibility to ensure that the farm runs efficiently and profitably. Their day-to-

day activities will depend on the type of farm being managed:

 Livestock (animals)

 Mixed (animals and crops).

Work activities

Planning the running of the farm

Setting budgets and production targets

Buying and selling of produce

Keeping records of crops and financial records

Recruiting, training and supervising staff

On smaller farms, doing practical work such as looking after livestock, driving

tractors and other machinery, spreading fertiliser and harvesting crops.

1. Planning

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Breeding: Future of enterprise totally depends on the breeding planning of animals

which includes :- Both female & male selected for breeding should be superior in

characters such as high milk production, fat %, disease resistance, and resistance to

adverse climatic condition, etc. Which should be heritable to their offspring which

is a member of next generation in the farm herd.

Management & Disease Control

 For control of diseases following planning is necessary :-

 Good housing with enough ventilation & sunlight.

 Disinfection of houses is done regularly by using 1 to 2% phenol solution.

 Provision of easy digestible & nutritious food, clean water.

 Separate attendant, housing, feeding, watering etc. should be provided for

diseased & healthy animals.

 Personal vaccination against common infectious diseases.

 After death of diseased animals burry it deep with lime.

Organizing

It is the managers concern to know the norms & quantum of unit of work that a

laborer is expected to finished in certain unit of time, on this basis work has to be

assigned, a practical man know this more precisely . The manager should probe,

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the psyche of his subordinates deeply to find out their temperature & aptitudes so

that he can allot to each person the type of work he likes .

Direction

Direction of manager to his labours should be specific & simple . A good manager

does not do much of bossing, he delegate some of his power to his coordinates .

Manager should supervises & inspires his coordinates. It some one has done a

good job . It someone has failed before firing him the manager should find out how

he has failed.

Coordination & Control

 Many problems can be solved easily if manager keeps good communication

between him & staff co working with him.

 Any bad worker or non cooperative link can put entire operation out of gear .

 Coordination should be achieved among all the workers of the enterprise

working in different section like feeding feed supply, milk & milk handling ,

breeding

 operation, calf care, disease control etc. by the manager .

KEEPING RECORDS

Like a road map, a good record tells you where you are going in your business.

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Only with accurate records can the animal or manger judge his production, keep an

account of the amount feed consumed for production & determine whether his

production is profitable or not .

It also provide adequate information for breeding & genetic improvement of stock .

Kinds of records kept :-

1. Farm diary

2. Breeding records

3. Production records

4. Feeding records

5. Labour records

6. Health records

7. Pedigree & herd records

8. Complete enterprise record

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