Four workshops this fall will help Nebraska farmers and ranchers strengthen their financial decision-making skills, hosted by Nebraska Extension and the Nebraska Rural Response Hotline.
The "Understanding Financial Documents" workshops will run from 9 a.m. to noon at four locations across the state:
- Sept. 23 in Ord at the office of Nebraska Extension in Valley County, 801 S St.
- Sept. 24 in Curtis at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture Education Center, 608 Wallace Ave.
- Dec. 2 in O'Neill (location TBD)
- Dec. 3 in Fairbury (location TBD)
The workshops were developed and will be hosted by Dave Haupt, a financial analyst with the Center for Agricultural Profitability at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Dave Goeller, a consultant with the Nebraska Rural Response Hotline. Goeller is a retired Nebraska Extension educator who spent his career working with farm families on transition planning.
The workshops will cover the fundamentals of the balance sheet, including how assets and liabilities determine a farm or ranch's net worth. Sessions will also walk through cash flow statements and income statements, showing producers how to project income and expenses while tracking them against actual results throughout the year.
Attendees will learn to calculate and interpret key financial ratios that measure an operation’s solvency, liquidity, repayment capacity and profitability. Producers will also learn how trend analysis over multiple years can show whether an operation is building equity and liquidity or headed the other direction.
The workshops will include a session on goal setting for both the business and the family, and on why clear communication matters to both. Topics include how management teams can build consensus, divide responsibilities and work through conflicts or setbacks that come with running a farm or ranch together.
Jessica Groskopf, an agricultural economist with Nebraska Extension, said that financial stress in agriculture often stems from producers not having a clear picture of where things stand.
“These workshops will give producers the tools to actually see their numbers instead of guessing at them, whether that’s understanding their debt-to-asset ratio or knowing where their cash flow is headed,” Groskopf said. “These things can seem complex but demystifying them changes the kind of decisions they can make.”
The workshops are free to attend. Register by calling the Nebraska Rural Response hotline at 800-464-02589.
Location updates for the December workshops will be posted on CAP's website, along with financial management resources already available at https://cap.unl.edu/finance.
