Record keeping key to success in farming

WINDHOEK – Appropriate record keeping is a critical success factor in modern farming. As the world degenerates more and more into a global environment and the farmer thus is increasingly exposed to international competition and resulting volatility in prices, the importance of record keeping has to be emphasized.

Appropriate record keeping enables the farmer to function more effectively in this dynamic environment. Record keeping not only involves record keeping and monitoring of physical data such as inter alia cattle numbers, calf- and weaner percentage, cattle loads and production per hectare, but also the sustainable record keeping and monitoring of financial figures. The financial record keeping is of critical importance as it enables the farmer to monitor the profitability of the farming and more important, what the effect of the price cost pliers is on the profitability of the farming.

 

Besides the profitability, there are various other advantages attached to appropriate record keeping:

·         Comparison of performance with the previous years

·         Effective pre-planning and budget

·         Early identification of possible risks and the management thereof

·         Early identification of possible opportunities and making use thereof

·         Effective comparison between different commodity-models (ox production / weaner production) on the farm and the drafting of reachable actions plans to handle the correct and most profitable balance

·         Access to credit

 

The NAU is busy to review the AgriStat in order to develop a simpler and user friendly record keeping system. The aim thereof is not only to provide the NAU with micro data, but more importantly to ease the effective management of the farmer.