Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notice to readers
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Selected metric conversion factors
- Part I The organisation of resources
- Part II The organisation of enterprises
- Part III The combination of enterprises
- Part IV The control of resources and enterprises
- Selected further reading
- Index
Preface to the first edition
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notice to readers
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Selected metric conversion factors
- Part I The organisation of resources
- Part II The organisation of enterprises
- Part III The combination of enterprises
- Part IV The control of resources and enterprises
- Selected further reading
- Index
Summary
It is a common aphorism today that farming is no longer simply a way of life but is just as much a business requiring careful planning, organisation and control. This is supported by the rapid strides that have been made recently in the theory and practice of the business organisation of farms.
The growing importance of the subject is demonstrated in many ways. Farm planning and management now receive far more rigorous treatment in university curricula than was formerly the case, including the setting up of specialist postgraduate degrees and diplomas in farm management. In recent years also, an increasing number of farm management courses have been mounted in agricultural colleges and farm institutes. At the same time, a new category of farm adviser has come into being – the farm management specialist working in such bodies as the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service and the Milk Marketing Board, and in private commercial firms. In addition, accountants and land agents have spread their activities into the farm management field and many bank managers take an active interest in the subject. Last, but not least, there is a growing awareness amongst farmers of the need for business methods in farming. More and more of them accept that the profitability of their farming is as much dependent on the hours they spend in their farm offices as in their fields and barns–as is endorsed by the rapid growth of the Farm Management Association over the past five years.
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- Farm Planning and Control , pp. vii - viiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1980