Teaching Farm Management into the 21st Century: A North American Perspective

The purpose of the paper is to set the environment that managers will face as we move into the 21st century and to trace the implications for farm managers and for educators. Decision making will be more interactive with electronic delivery of management training and information. Computer models will have the capacity to easily interact and communicate between modules and to use larger data bases. The interface between the decision maker and analytical computer models will be more user friendly. Computer aids will have the flexibility to add or delete modules as needed As production becomes more integrated, management advisory services and educational programs will also be more integrated Public and private agencies will apply their comparative advantages to produce integrated and complementary programs. There will be more emphasis on the intangibles of management such as persomiel management and organizational skills. Successful managers will focus more attention on communications and monitoring performance.