Types of Farm Business Records

Farm business records keeping refer to documentation of events, business or news that occurs on the farm, and it is a crucial step in the success of every farming business. Farm records keeping provides the farmer with a tool to help in farm planning, farm management decision making, and projection of future profitability of the enterprise, with an aim of maximizing farm profit. Therefore three main reasons for keeping good records are:
1) Income tax reporting
2) Obtaining credit
3) Management tool
There are various types of farm records which include:-

1)      Daily farm records: These are records of important events and activities that take place on the farm every day. These records serve for future planning of the farm activities. Example of  a daily farm record is shown below:-

                             

Date	Activity
1st October 2011	200 broilers were sold
25th October 2011	Carrots plot was weeded
17th November 2011	Fish pond was stocked

2)      Records of farm implements and equipments: as in the example shown below

Date of purchase	Type of Equipment	Quantity	Description/ remarks
3rd October 2011	Knapsack sprayer	1	Economy brand

3)      Record of agricultural inputs: These shows type and amounts of farm inputs such as seeds, fertilizers etc .The farmer records amount purchased, amount used and amount left for each month.

4)      Records of livestock and livestock products: Each type of livestock needs different records. Milk records and eggs records are good examples of livestock products records.

5)      Records of animal feeds: These records show the types and quantity of feeds used and the amount of feed remaining in the store. an example of animal feed record is shown below:-

Date	Type of feed	Quantity In store	Quantity Bought	Unit Price	Total Cost	Quantity Used	Balance In store

6)      Production records: These records document everything that is produced on the farm. They are mostly prepared on weekly basis which add up to monthly and annual records. These records monitor the value of the farm produce and measure progress in production and enable individual farmers to access farm credits. An example of production record is shown below.

Date	Type of Produce	Quantity	Value ( Ksh)
5th September 2011	Chicken broilers	50 kg	12,500
3rd November 2011	Green peas	20 kg	1,000
10th December	Watermelon	100 kg	2,000

7)    Records for farm use: These records show the dates for land preparation, planting of different plots, sale or utilization of produce and rotation programs. They also include difficulties encountered on the farm such as disease and pest outbreaks.

8)  Others:-  
Farm expenditure records: Farm inputs used  
Workers records:Salaries and other payments 
Vehicle records: petrol, oil used and any repairs