Files
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to test a new model for farm business
management, as a tool for farm management planning for extension and advisory
application, and compare it to current practices in Macedonia. The model used is the
Farm Business Plan Agriwise, developed by the Swedish Agricultural University (SLU)
and adjusted to Macedonian conditions. The plan represents a basis for appraisal of
the profitability, capital return and financing from different operating alternatives.
Besides exploiting the business plan as an internal tool for self-evaluation and
strategic planning, it also functions as a material for external presentation. The
proposed decision support system brings data from different disciplines together to
an entirety needed in farm business planning. In this context, relevant experiences
from the literature are reviewed. The research method includes cases where advisors
compare the case farm advisory situation, based on currents methods in contrast to
an application of the new Agriwise model. The advisors’ conceptions are then
summarized in terms of advantages and disadvantages rising from the use of this
model for the farm’s investment and production structure decisions. The expected
outcome is to obtain an assessment of the new model by advisors as well as a
foundation for further adaptation of the model to Macedonian conditions and use in
the advisor-farmer cooperation.