Evaluation of farm client participation in Michigan State University telfarm program

dc.contributor.authorLaPorte, Jonathan P.
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-05T20:33:44Z
dc.date.available2022-04-05T20:33:44Z
dc.date.graduationmonthMay
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractThe TelFarm program is a Farm Management Information System (FMIS) operated by Michigan State University since 1963. It provides farm financial analysis, check-in and income tax estimation, depreciation scheduling, and routine recordkeeping support services to farm producers. Farm financial analysis is a primary service and provides publicly accessible industry comparison data for producer benchmarking. Enrollment in TelFarm has continued to decline since the 1980’s. Farm members that do participate in services rarely utilize the entirety of their subscriptions. The goal of this research project is to better understand clientele participation, service needs and expectations, and determine if any areas of improvement to TelFarm can be identified. The research method used was a survey conducted online and via phone interviews with active and non-active members of the TelFarm program. Results indicate that beginning farmers are less likely to enroll in TelFarm compared to established farmers. Fruit farms also indicated a strong aversion to membership compared to all other farm types. Recordkeeping services aimed at ensuring accuracy and creation of records for taxes is the primary expectation of members. Tax estimation and check-in meetings were ranked lowest of all services and viewed as a duplication of recordkeeping services. Beef, dairy, and field crop farms are more likely to participate in a farm financial analysis, but importance of industry comparisons for benchmarking was not a high expectation of any farm type. Member preference was to focus on profitability and obtaining an updated balance sheet.
dc.description.advisorElizabeth Yeager
dc.description.degreeMaster of Agribusiness
dc.description.departmentDepartment of Agricultural Economics
dc.description.levelMasters
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2097/42065
dc.publisherKansas State University
dc.rights© the author. This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
dc.subjectAgribusiness
dc.subjectFarm management information system
dc.subjectFarm finance
dc.subjectFinancial analysis
dc.subjectParticipation
dc.titleEvaluation of farm client participation in Michigan State University telfarm program
dc.typeThesis

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