You will be able to fine-tune your corn and soybean production by attending our winter agronomy seminar scheduled for February 3 in the Extension Conference Center. It will focus on how cultural practices impact crop production efficiency. It is designed for operators, landowners, crop consultants and anyone associated with corn and soybean production in Macon County.

Corn production issues will center on: whether high populations work in problem years, why there are such wide opinions on narrow row planting, tips on hybrid selection, and the importance for seedlings to get a uniform start.

Soybean topics that will be visited include: how early should soybeans be planted, whether seed treatments make a difference, seeding rates and row spacings, what is new in soybean varieties, commodity versus specialty soybeans, and why soybeans just didn't do better than they have been.

You will also hear about corn and soybean rotation questions, including benefits, options and challenges. Other parts of the program will include a refresher on diagnosing crop problems and a look at the reality of ultra-high yields.

The seminar will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m. and presentations from Dr. Emerson Nafziger and Dennis Bowman beginning at 9:00 a.m. The workshop will conclude at 3:00 p.m. There is a $25 registration fee, which includes lunch and a copy of the 2003-2004 Illinois Agronomy Handbook. Space is limited, so register as soon as possible to reserve your seat.

Financial analysis is more than just trying to determine if you have money left at the end of the year. If you do not have a good method of analyzing your operation, you may not have to worry about it after several years. There are many financial analysis tools available, and all you have to do is put your numbers into the equations, and find out if you are making or losing money, and how fast the trend is building.

These tools are ones that are used by farm lenders throughout the nation to decide whether to make farm loans, based on the financial future of the operation. It matters not whether you are raising pineapples in Hawaii, peanuts in Georgia, or corn and soybeans in Illinois, the same financial principles will apply to you and your neighbors. And you need to find out where you are financially.

The "Farmdoc" at the University of Illinois, College of ACES, is designed to help farmers and landowners. It contains a series of financial evaluation equations and spreadsheets, which help you determine your financial position. The tools are named "FAST tools" for Financial Analysis Solutions Tools. In the January edition of Resource Review, financial analysis tools were examined and in this issue Investment Analysis Tools will be explored. On the Internet, they are located at: http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/fasttools/index.html. The investment analysis tools include worksheets on:

Capital Budgeting Worksheet to compute net present value, compare price and terms, evaluate IRR and MIRR for basic capital budgeting/investment analysis programs.

Grain Bin Analysis The Grain Bin Analysis program aids in making decisions about the addition of on-farm storage for corn and soybeans. It considers the need for and expenses of on-farm storage, as well as the costs for hauling grain to the local elevator. The program requires owner information, grain bin capacities, and drying/storage assumptions for both the elevator and on-farm storage in order to generate the analysis reports. The program generates three reports: (1) cash flow projection and return on investment, (2) operating inflows and outflows, and (3) internal rate of return.

Land Purchase Analysis Calculates maximum bid prices for farmland and sensitivity to terms.

Lease vs. Purchase Compare lease vs. purchase alternatives and calculate the terms to make the options equivalent in Net Present Value.

Machinery Financing The program is used to evaluate the financial implications of four types of financing alternatives; purchase, rollover purchase, lease, and rent. For each alternative, a net present value and cash flows schedule are generated.

MACRS Calculator This program calculates depreciation schedules using Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) schedules. A user can enter one or more depreciable Items. The program calculates total yearly depreciation for all depreciable assets.

Time Value Tool program is used to solve three types of Time Value of Money problems: Single Payment, Series of Payments, and Loan Payments. Each problem may be solved for one of the following: present value, future value, payment (annuity), interest rate, time horizon, initial balance, payment level, and time to maturity.

All of the tools require Microsoft Excel 97 or Microsoft Office 97 or newer to run the macros in the program. Also, information is available on the website to get a FAST Tools subscription and receive an update of all the tools quarterly on a CD-Rom.

How does your operation compare to other similar operations? Don't just compare your crops to your neighbor's crops, but compare your farm business to other similar farms throughout the state. You can do that with a new tool on the "Farmdoc" website at: http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/finance/benchmarks.asp

Benchmarks are valuable tools to determine whether you are under or over the curve when it comes to similar operations. Lenders will look at averages, and if your operation compares favorably, then you will benefit. If an operation is performing less than the average, then a good manager will determine what the troubles may be and correct them. It is no different than tuning a tractor engine.

The benchmarks that have been made available to date include: farm type (grain, swine, beef, dairy), debt to asset level, tillable acres, total assets, net worth, value of farm production, tenure level, farmer age, level of return on farm assets, net farm income, and for hog farms, the value of the farm. These comparison classifications are available for the past ten years. As you compare your farm's performance over the past decade, these statistics can be used to determine whether you were above or below the curve set by similar farms around Illinois.

The 2002 Farm Bill places more personal responsibility on the shoulders of producers and landowners, according to The Leasing Forum. This University of Illinois Extension publication urges individuals to keep accurate production records. Simply relying on the Farm Service Agency to provide loan deficiency payment (LDP) records will, in many cases, not provide complete information. In some circumstances LDP's have been lumped together and may not reflect the true production on an individual farm. Farmers feeding grain to livestock should have grain bins measured. Although it is not possible to predict changes in the next farm bill due in 2007, one can assume that even further responsibility for verifying claims will be placed on producers and landowners. In short, keep your receipts and records in a secure place. If you are cash renting, make sure the tenant provides you with accurate and verifiable records.

If you haven't made your New Year's Resolutions, here are some suggestions. Since you cannot possibly do all of these at once, work on them throughout the entire year. Post these on the refrigerator or shop door before your spouse does:

Resolve to practice the utmost safety on your farm. Farmers lose their lives because of accidents, and you don't want your family to unexpectedly plan your funeral this year. Maintain all safety shields and guards on equipment. Turn equipment off before working on it. Brace and lock hydraulic lifts before crawling underneath to look for problems.

Resolve to continue your safety campaign with the use of reflectors, reflective tape, and slow moving vehicle signs on all equipment that will be on roadways. Many farmers have been hurt in such accidents and may have been able to prevent those with newer gear that might awaken other members of the motoring public to such hazards.

Resolve to become a better marketer, by developing a written marketing plan, and discard the emotion that has driven much your marketing decisions in the past. If you are unsure of what goes into a marketing plan, attend meetings of a local marketing club, where you can discuss logical marketing decisions with other farmers like yourself.

Resolve to create and implement a risk management plan for your farm, which sheds production, marketing, financial, legal, and human resource risks onto others. Convene a group of advisors who can help with risk management decisions and communicate with each other to develop an integrated risk management plan for my farm. You assume too many risks in the past and need to protect your family and yourself in the coming year.

Resolve to get a computer (if you already don't have one) and use it to manage your financial affairs. Begin with a simple spreadsheet program to determine cost of production, and indicate if you are making or losing money when you sell crops. If you cannot understand what the computer program tells you, consult a lender, professional farm manager, or Extension Educator for personalized help with financial analysis.

Resolve to take better care of yourself, which includes healthier food, proper exercise, and relaxing more with loved ones to build better family relations. If you are healthier physically, you will likely be healthier emotionally, and have a better attitude. There are many farming stresses that you sometimes have to avoid. Don't farm 365 days a year.

Oh, yes; and one final thing. Sign your name at the bottom of this list. You will never realize how such a simple thing will ensure that you accomplish these. Your signature essentially makes these resolutions a contract with yourself.