INTRODUCTION

Farm profitability and sustainability are dependent on all the activities and decisions made by the farmer for the different crops he/she produces. Commodity prices also have a major impact on farm profitability, which are determined by agricultural trends throughout the world. New technologies and cropping practices promise to make our farmers more competitive in this global market. However, the costs of new technologies and practices are usually high. Whether to use a new technology depends on factors such as farm size and the number and types of crops the technology can be used for. Government programs also may play a role in grower adoption of new technologies and practices, especially those practices that are perceived as good for the environment. However, little is know about the economic return to the grower or society from the use of newer, more environmentally friendly production practices.

OBJECTIVE

To utilize research data sets from the Agroecology Program and throughout the Southeast to develop whole-farm financial programs that will allow Southeastern farmers to accurately evaluate the economic feasibility of adopting new technologies and cropping systems. Programs will be developed to evaluate new practices individually or as a whole system, based upon the individual farmer's situation and risk-bearing potential.

APPROACH

After several years of research, the Agroecology Program has generated several very good data sets relative to the productivity and necessary inputs associated with new and traditional cropping systems. This research information can now be applied to case farms to evaluate how the costs/savings associated with new practices would affect South Carolina farmers. Technologies and cropping practices that will be focused on initially include yield mapping, variable-rate seeding, precision P application, herbicide-tolerant varieties, conservation tillage, winter cover crops, narrow row widths, broadcast deep tillage, and varieties with value-added traits. Crops to be examined include wheat, soybeans, corn, and cotton. The case farms will be updated, as new technologies become available. Current plans are to utilize Farm Equity Manager software for the various case farms to track the economic effects of the new cropping systems and technologies. Financial information will include profitability measures that include return on investment, net farm income operating efficiency and asset efficiency. Financial feasibility will be examined for capital requirements, appropriate debt financing, sufficiency of income for family living and short and long term cash flows. The impact of these systems on per unit cost will also be a key factor. Debt management has become a serious issue on many Southeastern farms. The ability of these new practices to support debt financing will be examined by calculating asset turnover ratios, recommended working capital levels, and overall solvency. The Farm Equity Manager software will allow us to conduct sensitivity analysis (for example, what an increase in fuel costs would do to profitability) on the case farms. Future plans include to examine the economic value to South Carolina from reducing potential environmental impacts from crop production, including reduced erosion and chemical runoff and enhancing the quality of our soils. Limited or no information is available to answer these questions at the current time.