Feb/March 1998
by Kris Versdahl (krisver@means.net)
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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.
Software developers are meeting the demands of today's technology-hungry farmers by introducing new programs geared specifically to the needs of agriculture. Many of these developers - in an effort to land your business - offer free demo versions of their software. This "try-before-you-buy" concept lets you put the program through its paces to see if it meets your needs before you shell out any hard-earned cash. In many cases, you can download free trial versions of software from the developers' web sites (or call them for a copy).
Two of the most popular ag-related applications are for farm accounting and crop records management. Here's an introduction to some of the programs available and where you can get more information:
Quicken - Many farmers in this region use a program called Quicken to manage their farm accounting records. Quicken is an inexpensive yet powerful program (retailing for less than $75), and is really quite easy to use. Although a trial version is not available, it can be purchased in most local computer stores, and even comes pre-installed on some new computer systems. In addition, many local colleges offer workshops on Quicken to make the transition to computerized record-keeping easier.
Website: www.intuit.com
Telephone: 1-800-224-0991
QuickBooks - This is the big sister program to Quicken. It has more features and options than Quicken, and as a result, is a little bit more challenging to use. QuickBooks was developed by the same company that makes Quicken (Intuit), and retails for approximately $100. A good comparison of the differences between Quicken and QuickBooks is available on the internet at www.agriculture.com/markets/flagship/ ckgen1.htm. A free trial version of QuickBooks is available at the company's website.
Website: www.intuit.com/quickbooks/
Telephone: 1-800-224-0991
ManagePlus - ManagePlus is a farm accounting add-on for the Quicken or QuickBooks accounting programs. It is designed to allow the recording of physical quantities in transactions, improve enterprise records handling, and farm management reports with quantities, dollars and per-unit (per-acre, per-head, etc.) information. The add-in program retails for $69 plus $5 shipping. A complete overview of the software, including a downloadable trial version, is available at the company's website.
Website: www.agriculture.com/markets/flagship/mpwhat01.htm
Telephone: 1-800-545-5380
FINPACK - FINPACK is a farm business analysis package developed and maintained by the University of Minnesota's Center for Farm Financial Management. FINPACK is not a record-keeping system. Instead, it gives you a set of tools to effectively use your records in managing your farm. With FINPACK you can develop balance sheets, long-range plans, cash-flow plans, year-end analyses, and historic financial and production reports. The software retails for $395, but you can "try before you buy" by downloading a full, working demo of the program.
Website: www.cffm.umn.edu/cffm/finpack.htm
Telephone: 1-800-234-1111
LandTrend Pro - LandTrend Pro, from Agritrend, allows you to enter your inputs and their costs - including machinery operations and land ownership costs. Then, as you plan or do each field action, the inputs are available to choose from in a drop-down list. You choose the input and enter the amount used and your costs are calculated and updated on the breakeven page. The program retails for $225, but you can "try before you buy" by downloading the demo version.
Website: www.scanetics.com/ landtrend.html
Telephone: 613-395-4244
Farm Works Software - Farm Works has a number of ag-specific programs including FarmTrac - a mapping and auto-notation program that let's you draw your fields and key in automatic notations for field history and chemical usage. FarmFund$ - a farm accounting program that allows you to maintain books on both accrual and cash basis. FarmSite - adds layers and GPS capability to FarmTrac, and is designed to work with most popular yield monitors. Free demos of these programs are available at the company's website.
Website: www.farmworks.com
Telephone: 800-225-2848
FarmDecision - FarmDecision is the developer of two farm management software programs. Bizwhiz - a windows-based accounting program designed for farmers (suggested retail price $449); and Cropwhiz - a farm planning and decision tool that manages field history information such as seeding, fertilizer, herbicides, harvest and weather, and calculates per acre yields (suggested retail $278). Demo versions of both programs are available for download.
Website: www.farmdecision.com.
Telephone: 800-263-1233
What software do other farmers use?
Interact with growers from across the nation to find out what software programs work best for them on Successful Farming's website. They host an Ag Computing discussion group at www. agriculture.com/technology.n
Free trial software: Are these companies nuts?
You may ask yourselves, why would a business sink thousands of dollars into software development and then offer the program on a free trial basis? Well, in most cases, a trial or demo version of a software application is designed to give you a "taste" of what the program can do. You don't get the full functionality of the program until you buy the commercial version. The developer will build little handicaps into the program such as not being able to save or print any of your work. Or you don't get the instruction manual until you pay for the software.
When you think about it, it's a pretty clever marketing gimmick. The developer entices you to try their software, and if you like it, you buy it! You get what you want, they get what they want - everybody wins.n