Agriculture accounting software can help you manage your projects from your own desktop without the need for long meetings with staff and project managers. Maximize your resources with an agricultural software program that has become easier to use and less expensive to run. You should take advantage of the expertise developed by suppliers of farming software to help you manage and run every aspect of your operations.

Software for agriculture can operate online so that you keep on top of your company activities while you’re away. Ranch management software can provide information in a concise and relevant form so that you can make quick decisions when necessary and managers can stay on top of project development. Find a number of ways to best utilize agriculture business software.

1. Use agriculture software to manage vendors

2. Use agriculture business software to track sales

3. Use farm management software to manage inventory

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Integrate software for agriculture into your systems

The user-friendly options available in agricultural accounting software make using agriculture accounting software easy and accessible for any business now. Small, medium and large companies can eliminate the paperwork and human factor errors in favor of desktop software that can operate your entire workflow processes.

I recommend: Use Farm Biz Agricultural to get an easy-to-use, easy-to-install program to manage all of your accounting and vendor books. Use the free online demo to see if this program might work for your business. Use the Internet to get involved with ag management software from SST. Their FarmRite software systems can be accessed online and used from any Internet connection.

Try out farm management software that helps run your operations

You can look at online programs or downloaded software that can track everything from animal management to payroll and expense accounts. Many software companies allow you a trial period, which you should take advantage of as well. Some online providers will host your site so little is required of your IT team to implement the system.

I recommend: Use Produce Pak to maintain a tighter control over your inventory, sales and movement of products and the time spent by your team. Use the hand-help screen to take the software with you as you move about your farm operations. Try using the 30-day free trial offered by Farm Keeper to try out their farming software that you can use for mapping, planning and record keeping.

Find agriculture management software

Once you've opened up the possibilities of running your business with the assistance of ag software, you need to get your team on-board with the programs. Instead of calling on consultants to handle projects, your managers should be able to use their own desktops to display reports and manage research projects.

I recommend: Valley Ag software puts out an inventory tracking system that works very well with livestock and can help you eliminate human error as you use the software to manage your animals. Use Cengea to create custom software programs that will provide all the infrastructure you need to give you the best IT solutions for your business.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Before choosing agricultural accounting software, let your key employees try the free demos to see if they agree on the choice of programs. It will be easier to get buy-in from your staff if everyone participates in the final decision.

The agriculture industry is evolving, and so are its tools--like agriculture management software. Software for agriculture can automate and streamline day-to-day tasks like tracking feed usage, evaluating production, and monitoring costs.

Agriculture software takes tasks common to any business, like accounting, resource management, and inventory, and tailors them to the specific needs of farmers and ranchers. Just like management software for any other business, the goal of farm management software and ranch management software is helping your business stay competitive in a demanding market. Using agricultural software can help you:

1. Increase productivity and profits.

2. Save time on your agriculture program.

3. Make more informed business decisions.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Try out the agricultural software before you buy

Even within the agriculture industry, individual farms, ranches and dairies differ widely in their needs, resources and goals. And with so many kinds of farming software on the market, it may be difficult to match those needs with software products. That's where demos come in -- many manufacturers of software for agriculture offer free demos of their programs, using information from a sample farm or dairy, to allow potential customers to evaluate the program before they buy. Try to limit your choices to two or three, though, because evaluating trial versions can be time-consuming.

I recommend: Farm Trends is farm history software that tracks crops, employees and equipment, and the company offers a trial version for download.

Streamline your financial processes with agriculture accounting software

Maybe you already use ag management software to help you track production and resources, so why not take it a step further and incorporate agriculture accounting software? With this software, you can help automate payroll and invoicing, for example.

I recommend: Farm Biz is one of the less expensive programs, and is designed for people with no accounting background.

Make sure your agriculture software is flexible

Farm, dairy and ranch management is complex, and your needs may change from week to week, month to month or year to year. Find software that you can adapt to your changing requirements, making it a good long-term investment and preventing the need to purchase new software in just a few years.

I recommend: DairyCOMP 305 by Valley Agricultural Software features fully customizable reports that are relevant to a wide range of dairy management styles.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Before you purchase any ag manager software, make sure it's compatible with your computer system. Most software is designed for newer operating systems, and if your system is a decade old or more, you may need to invest in upgrading your hardware before you can implement any kind of new software for agriculture.
• •  When choosing agriculture business software, find out what kind of support the manufacturer offers. Implementing a new farming software system can be tricky, so many manufacturers make it easier for customers by providing phone or email support, and print and online manuals.

Agricultural software is becoming more sophisticated all the time. As new research into crops and farm management continues to be explored, software for agriculture is being developed to streamline the processes. Farming software can easily be integrated into your current operations with the right kind of systems. You’ll find many of the agricultural programs to be user-friendly and a welcome addition to your operations.

With the expansion of global markets in the ag industries with which you do business, you’ll need to stay on top of all the innovation and emerging agriculture software products for farming. To remain competitive you’ll have to find ways to include agriculture management software in your operations. As ag manager software continues to improve, there are a number of ways you can keep up with agriculture software news and trends.

1. Log on to ag software blogs and websites.

2. Subscribe to farming software publications.

3. Sign on for email alerts from providers of ag manager software.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Share information with other farm management software users

Blogs are increasingly becoming the media of choice for many small business owners looking for quick and efficient means to communicate with other like-minded professionals. Find an Internet blog or website that provides trust-worthy information on ranch management software and attracts reliable posting participants.

I recommend: Farm Industry News provides information on software and other computer-based advancements in a timely manner. Get information from others about ag software products by starting your own blog or joining in another already in progress at Small Farm Central. This company also can help you design your own website and information portals.

Read up on changes in agricultural programs

Agriculture software news and trends continue to dominate many of the farming publications available online and in hard copy print versions. While you may get email alerts from your agriculture business software provider, it's a good idea to stay on top of the industry as whole so that you can know about changes that may be ahead of your current provider's abilities.

I recommend: Martens Farms keep their customers updated with all the latest ag software news and trends through its newsletter called 123Farmworks. Delta Farm Press covers a wide variety of agriculture news, including software information.

Receive agricultural programs software alerts

While most business owners are trying to clear out their in-boxes to save time, you should allow at least one information provider to get into your email with alerts about changes and upgrades that others in the industry are employing. You shouldn't miss out on vital ag software systems alerts just because you want to avoid spam.

I recommend: Mac users can stay on top of the agriculture software news and trends through the news portal Macsimum News. Check out the technology page at Farms.com for ag software updates.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Develop a culture of sharing information at your business. Ask each of your employees to regularly read at least one agriculture accounting software newsletter or magazine and share the news and trends they've uncovered at staff meetings.

Farm-business planning can be made simple using agriculture software programs that consolidate many of the short-term and long-term planning tasks required in farming and ranching. While many agriculture software programs are designed to be user friendly and easily learned on any computer, farm-business planning software also contains a number of functions that deal with highly specialized business concepts. Knowing some key terms for agriculture software functions will help your farming business get the best use of these programs.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Agriculture accounting software

Agriculture accounting software is designed to perform a range of basic accounting functions for farming and ranching enterprises. Agriculture accounting software helps farmers track livestock, feed and seed costs, crop insurance and risk management, billing, payments and other financial functions.

I recommend: Farm Books Accounting Software gives a short explanation of each of the features common to agriculture accounting software programs.

Production efficiency

Production efficiency is a feature of agriculture software programs that keeps records of the inputs and outputs of a farm or ranch to analyze and manage the efficiency of the farming process. Production efficiency produces reports to help farmers make decisions about profitable produce and effective practices.

I recommend: Poultry Hub provides a definition of production efficiency within a poultry farming context.

Traceability

Traceability is the ability to keep track of food products through every step of the farming and manufacture of food items. Most agriculture software programs include a traceability function that helps farmers keep records of the source of their livestock and seed so that they can report to regulatory bodies concerned about bioterrorism and public health.

I recommend: For more information, visit the Produce Marketing Association.

Mobile mapping

Mobile mapping is a feature used by many agriculture software programs to assist farmers in mapping their fields or crop parcels and managing a given land area. Most mobile mapping services in agriculture software use GPS technology and require the use of a portable computer, phone or other device with an Internet or satellite-positioning connection.

I recommend: Trimble provides an overview of what mobile mapping entails in agriculture software.

Feed tracking

Feed tracking is a feature offered by agriculture software that allows farmers to track the amount of feed purchased and used while managing feed use based on type of feed, type of livestock, location, source and cost.

I recommend: Blue Claw Database Design offers more information on how feed tracking works in agriculture software.

Farm-business planning

Farm-business planning, one of the key uses for agriculture software, uses a number of factors to help farmers create short-term and long-term management strategies for their farming enterprise and set business goals.

I recommend: Read more about farm-business planning software, coursework and other tools from the New England Small Farm Institute.