Poultry Enterprise Budget Makes Management Decisions Easier
Low commodity prices have inspired many farmers to look at alternative enterprises, like poultry production, to increase their farm income. With careful financial planning and management, poultry enterprises can make money for farmers.
The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has developed a budget to help farmers make financial and management decisions for new and existing poultry enterprises. By entering specific data from their poultry operations, farmers can use the four-page spreadsheet to create budgets or weigh the pros and cons of expanding their operations.
While the poultry enterprise budget was developed for a CIAS project focused on raising broilers on pasture, it will work for enterprises ranging from broilers and egg production to quail and turkeys, and nearly everything in between.
The poultry enterprise budget and a detailed instruction booklet are available on the CIAS web site: www.cias.wisc.edu. The budget is an Excel 2000 spreadsheet. County Extension offices may be able to help farmers download and work with the budget if they are unable to access it at home.
The budget was created by Robert Luening, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at UW-Madison and Don Schuster, CIAS project economist.
Schuster recommends reading the instructions thoroughly before using the budget spreadsheet, which was developed for farmers with some farm management experience.
CIAS is part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at UW-Madison. Since 1989, CIAS has built research programs that emphasize healthy farms and food. CIAS programs respond to farmers’ and citizens’ needs and involve them in setting research agendas.
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Writer: Brianne Boettcher