Building an Enterprise Livestock Data Base for Extension and Research Use

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONThe gathering and use of farm financial information is not usually considered a very sexy topic. It is, however, an area with several interesting problems that will provide considerable challenge and possible excitement for researchers in the next few years. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) is involved in several projects involving both collection and use of such information. I start by outlining several projects and very quickly list their application. Then I concentrate in the area of livestock, mentioning a project we are working on and its applications, known as the BEAR model. I conclude with a disucssion of some problems and areas where I feel research should be directed.The Ontario Farm Management Analysis Project (OFMAP) is a wellestablished project, collecting enterprise information from approximately 2,200 Ontario farmers. The records of about 40% of these are used to publish representative budgets, and participants receive copies of their own farm analysis. Participating farmers attempt to provide costs and revenues necessary to establish enterprise budgets from their own farm records. The farmers' records are often not designed to accurately portray the performance of individual enterprises. The purpose of the OFMAP study is to provide individual farmers with an analysis of their operation, to then assist in problem identification and farm decision making. The project is a cooperative venture between OMAF, the University of Guelph and the Farm Credit Corporation. Although averages and the results from the top third are published for several types of farms, the main usefulness of this information