Beginning Producers Ag CEO’s scheduled in Aberdeen – Feb. 13

Brookings – SDSU Extension’s Growing Ag CEO’s program begins Feb. 13 at the SDSU Extension Regional Center in Aberdeen.

Ag CEO’s focuses on teaching beginning farmers to use a systems approach to farm business planning. The program will be held on four consecutive Wednesday’s, ending March 6. They run from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. allowing those with an additional job to participate during the evening.

As changes to production systems continue to move forward across the state, nation and world the farm business needs to change as well. Breakeven numbers, developing budgets and creating benchmarks to compare the yearly production and financial performance so changes and improvements to the operation can be implemented are the main focuses of Ag CEO’s.

“Ag CEO’s is a program geared toward beginning farmers,” says Heather Gessner, SDSU Extension Livestock Business Management Field Specialist. “This group of producers is being charged with feeding 9 billion people by the year 2050. With the changes to agriculture during the past 20-40 years, their skill set needs to change in order to accomplish that goal and remain a viable and sustainable operation.”

To address these changes the general topics for the sessions include: farm vision, resource inventory and management (family, land, crops and livestock), and financial record creation, budget development and analysis and production topics that are personalized to the producers in attendance.

Registration for the meeting can be made at http://www.igrow.org. Registration fee will be $250 for all four sessions, for the first two from the operation. Questions regarding the program can be sent to Heather Gessner at the Sioux Falls Regional Extension Center, heather.gessner@sdstate.edu, 605-782-3290.