‘Get Down to Business in Oklahoma,’ part of HMI’s Whole Farm/Ranch Business Planning Series wrapped up this past February. The three 2-day workshops took place at the John E. Kirkpatrick Horticulture Center at OSU – Oklahoma City. Designed to focus on the business side of farming and ranching, students were introduced to a variety of topics, including goal setting, decision testing, time management, leadership and communication, financial planning, marketing and business plan creation. About 80% of the class were already farming or ranching, with the majority raising cattle. Ce
rtified Educator Tracy Ltile was the lead instructor, with assistance provided by Julie Gahn. Other Certified Educators-in-Training also participated in the workshops, and included Lauri Celella, Katherine Ottmers, and CD Pounds. Each of the sessions were designed for both small and large group discussions, so participants were able to benefit from the experiences of their fellow participants. The first session provided participants with an introduction to the Holistic Management framework, as well as how to create a holistic goal. They were also introduce
d to time management tools that were designed to improve farm/ranch efficiency.
The second session focused on Holistic Financial Planning, with participants learning the importance of using gross profit analysis to evaluate each enterprise. They were shown how planning for profit will allow them to put a cap on expenses, while providing more opportunities to invest back into their farm or ranch business.
The last session focused on marketing, production, and management, with participants attending a Farmers Market in order to analyze marketing and promotion. Participants were also able to develop SMART goals regarding their business and marketing planning.
Here are some participant comments:
The most useful part of the first class was linking values to the holistic goal, and the importance of including personal and family time in time management.
I intend to move all our practices toward supporting our holistic goal.
We will incorporate more planning and forethought.
These two days were very helpful. I feel that I learned the system and I'm ready to go home, pull our information together, set up this year, and have a system that we use from here out.
I thought it was a good mix of lecture, student work & interaction, plus one-on-one with instructors as needed.
I intend to change my process to determining profit upfront and capping expenses
We are going to develop intentional practices of planning and monitoring our actions related to our business.
Here are some of the results:
A special thanks goes out to our program collaborator: Oklahoma Farmers and Ranchers Association.