The types of farm record, importance, and meaning will be discussed in this article. Although African farmers are not used to keeping their farm records and accounts solely because they are not learned; and that is why they have poor farm management.
What is Farm Record
Farm record is the documentation or the writing down of all the activities that are taking place on the farm. It is a written document showing major activities going on in the farming business. Farm records are different from farm accounts in the sense that farm accounts deal only with the financial aspects of all farm operations
Types of Farm Records
There are different types of farm records and they are
- Farm Inventory
- Sales Record
- Farm Diary
- Production Record
- Purchase Record
- Labour Record
Farm inventory: It is a complete listing of all farm assets and materials. Farm inventory includes an estimate of the market value of all materials. This is normally recorded on the last day of the business year.
Farm diary: This is a record of the every activities carried out daily on the farm. A typical farm diary shows type of work done daily, date, numbers of workers, time spent, and other important things.
Sales record: This is the record that shows what customers purchase and how they pay their bills. In the record, the contact of customers is also documented. Your company’s sales records are quite likely to prove your most valuable marketing information source.
Production record: It is used to document everything that is produced on the farm every week. Afterwards, they are summed up at the end of the month and also at the end of the year.
Purchase record: It is used to document all goods purchased and will includes a description of the goods, the cost of the goods, and the name and address of the supplier
Labour record: This is used do document they number of workers that worked on the farm daily, and then summed up monthly and yearly. It also help to keep track of the amount of time spent per worker on given tasks. Labour record keep track of information like hourly wages, job descriptions, etc. of workers.
Read: Reasons why farmers are better than teachers
Importance of Farm Records
Below are importance of farm records to a farmer.
- Farm record helps a farmer to know whether he makes profit or not.
- It helps to keep stock and manage each aspect of the farm properly
- It helps to know the worth of the farm.
- It helps to make future planning and budgeting.
- It helps farmer to make proper farm management
- Farm records also help to compare farm yields realized from year to year.
- The farmer may use it as a collateral security to obtain i.e. it is helpful when farmer needs to access financial aids from banks or other financial institutions
Read: Simple farm tools and uses
