Ag Business Etc.:Dr. James Cothern

jamesco@csufresno.edu

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Ag Business Software and Publications

This site is a repository for some of my Excel programs and templates; some of my tips, tricks and ways to avoid traps when using Quickbooks; for the publishing of agricultural outlook materials which I write in Pagemaker and subsequently publish as PDF files and educational materials made available for those who are interested in the agricultural commodities markets. I periodically update some of the programs, add new ones and purge old, or out of date materials. I have been writing ag programs for the microcomputer since 1982, so I have a lot of experience. I recommend particular sites throughout which I have found to be particularly useful in my work.

QuickBooks Tutorials and Files

Quickbooks is a best selling double entry accounting system. This set of tutorials and data files is designed to help the beginner get up and running more efficiently with Quickbooks. It includes four data sets and four accompanying sets of Power Point slides.

Outlook, Charts and Data

Forages, feed grains and livestock are important contributors to the California agricultural economy. Occasional papers outlining the supply and demand situation for these sectors is included. Also included in the papers are a variety of charts illustrating California and the Western states' outlook for these important sectors.

Futures Trading

California producers need to develop an understanding of how the futures market works. This web page contains a set of Power Point slides sketching the use of futures for hedging purposes. A computer program Trader is also available.Trader is useful for a variety of purposes. It can be used in workshops for intense mock trading sessions, or class room instruction as well as for tracking trades.An extensive help file assists in understanding its use and applications. Several data sets are available for mock trading sessions.

Ag Business Advisor

The Advisor is a program useful for students considering entering CSU-Fresno as Ag Business majors, or for those already in attendance who want to monitor progress in their degree program. Advisor is complete with help files and a catalog description of courses required for graduation in Ag Business from CSU-Fresno.

Miscellaneous Applications

Need to understand how to set up Solver in Excel to optimize various complex farm organizational problems? Several files are included illustrating various uses of linear programs in basic agricultural applications, including ration formulation, basic farm organization and location analysis.

Want to do some project planning? An example of how to use Excel to plan a project from beginning to end is included. It allows you to evaluate date constraints and how they affect ending times for your task.

What about monitoring fuel costs and estimating fuel use for future operations? A template is provided which allows you to rough out fuel use by particular machines or machine combinations.

QuickBooks Programs and Files