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8 CapitalPress.com November 2, 2018 Idaho potato quality looking good so far By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press Stacie Ballard, left, talks with Nicole Walker during a break in the Women in Agriculture Conference at Twin Falls, Idaho, on Oct. 27. Women’s conference focuses on farm cash flow By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Keeping accurate and time- ly financial records is a key characteristic of successful farms, and using a cash flow spreadsheet is a helpful tool in farm financial management, according to speakers at this year’s Women in Agricul- ture conference sponsored by Washington State University Extension. The conference took place Saturday in 35 locations across the Northwest and Alaska, combining simultane- ous broadcasts and onsite ses- sions to pump up the financial success of women in agricul- ture. “Farm financial manage- ment really doesn’t mean anything without keeping records,” Robin Reid, an ex- tension farm economist with Kansas State University, said. Some people just throw receipts in a shoebox to take to an accountant to file their taxes. Instead, they need to de- velop a habit of keeping up to date, she said. That means routine record keeping, reconciling records with bank statements, having appropriate accounts for the farm business and personal activities and having sufficient details to understand and ana- lyze their business. “Record keeping takes time and effort. Once a year won’t get it done effectively,” she said. While a balance sheet shows net worth and an in- come statement shows prof- itability, a cash flow spread- sheet evaluates feasibility. It’s the recording of actual dollars coming in and going out of the business, and it can be used to project inflows and outflows on a monthly basis, she said. The importance is in being prepared for what’s coming throughout the year, and the projections are valuable in managing the business, she said. “Cash flow gives you a pic- ture of your yearly budgeted expenses and income. It eval- uates feasibility and indicates if, when and how much you will need to borrow,” she said. Having cash flow projec- tions can help producers adapt as changes occur during the year. Farm managers can also use it to compare actual ex- penses and income with pro- jections and monitor discrep- ancies, she said. Good farm records are crit- ical to build cash flow projec- tions. For someone who has never done it, a good place to start is with the line items on the Internal Revenue Service’s Schedule F form. But it is im- portant to add in family living expenses, she said. A lot of times, struggling farms are just spending too much on family living expens- es, she said. LaVell Winsor, extension farm analyst at Kansas State University, agreed, saying liv- ing expenses often catch farm families off guard. “This is a place we see folks getting into trouble with cash flow,” she said. She recommends making a family budget and sticking to it. Cash flow is a working document that can be used to anticipate shortages, and fam- ily living is one place to de- crease expenses, she said. Other ways to cover a shortfall could be savings, bor- rowing from another business the farm owns, microloans through the Farm Service Agency or a bank or selling unused or underutilized assets, she said. Another method is using a credit card, although it’s not preferred and often comes with a high interest rate, she said. In addition to keeping good records, she recom- mends meeting with an accountant regularly and keeping key people such as lenders in the loop for over- all financial health. 44-1/103 Despite some wildfire smoke and rain and frost at the beginning and end of the growing season, this year’s potato crop quality is good overall, growers and pack- er-shippers say. Good midseason growing conditions, uninterrupted by rains that can slow progress, left potatoes in good shape to weather subsequent challeng- es. Smoke and frost caused some damage, depending on location and variety. “They are just starting out of storage, but so far things look pretty good,” said Kev- in Stanger, president of Wada Farms in Pingree, in south- east Idaho. Size looks good overall; some lots are bigger or smaller, “but overall it looks like a nice, broad size profile.” Handlers want to see po- tatoes with a good color, no major defects, and no signs of disease or rot. He said a “good, even-keel summer” helped potato quality. This year was an improve- ment over the rainier 2017, except for some reports of freezing to the north when potatoes were still in the ground, Stanger said. Todd Cornelison, who owns packer-shipper High Country Potato in Rexburg and is a new member of the Idaho Potato Commission, said field frost in the first half of October likely impact- ed a small portion of Rus- set Burbank potatoes still in the ground in the area at the time, probably less than 15 percent. The risk is that the frost penetrates the end of the po- tato closest to the ground’s surface, causes the interi- or to break down, and lat- er “weeps” moisture onto neighboring potatoes in stor- Brad Carlson/Capital Press Just-harvested potatoes, largely for processing, in the Doug Gross Farms shed in Wilder, Idaho, on Oct. 11. Growers say this year’s crop is of good quality. age, he said. Burbanks unaffected by frost look good, Cornelison said. High Country Potato was yet to handle any as of Oct. 29, “but everybody I’ve talked to says the quality is very good, and also that the size profile is a little small. That might be due to some of the smoke.” Burbanks, he said, “just tend to be more affected by adverse weather conditions. Burbanks are very tempera- mental.” The variety is asso- ciated with a higher percent- age of interior solids than Russet Norkotah potatoes. Norkotahs, harvested be- fore Burbanks, appear to be unaffected by summer smoke, Cornelison said. “We start out each year with Norkotah, and they have shown the highest quality we have seen in 10 years, in both size profile and quality,” he said. Yields have been in line with long-term averages. Last year, Idaho potato quality looked fairly well ear- ly on, “but harvest conditions were challenging enough that we might have beaten them up a little getting them out,” Cornelison said. “We didn’t have that this year. “Overall, I am excited to run this crop,” he said. “We’ve got a good-quality crop.” Each year brings pota- to-quality challenges in one growing area or another, said Idaho Potato Commission Chairman Randy Hardy, a grower in the Oakley area of south-central Idaho, and chairman of the Sun Valley Potato Growers fresh-pack cooperative. “Overall, we have a pretty good-quality crop,” he said. “My own went just about as well as any I’ve had.” Yields per acre in south central Idaho, Hardy’s re- gion, probably were a little better than those seen to the east and north, he said. “We did not have the weather issues in the spring that they had,” he said. “They went in easier,” he said of po- tato plantings, “and without the rain, they were able to get off to a faster start.” Hardy’s farm, and some of his neighbors’, tended to see higher yields and larger sizes in Norkotah. Smoke may have slight- ly reduced Burbank size and yield, he said. “We didn’t see them grow in August like we typically would, and like we were seeing in Norkotahs.” Idaho Farm Bureau Annual meeting set Dec. 4-6 The Idaho Farm Bureau Federation plans its 79th an- nual meeting Dec. 4-6 at the Riverside Hotel, 2900 W. Chinden Blvd., Boise. The Dec. 4 schedule, fol- lowing registration that starts at 9 a.m., includes a general session luncheon featuring President Bryan Searle and CEO-Executive Vice Presi- dent Rick Keller, and work- shops and the IFBF Leader- ship Conference starting at 1 p.m. Topics include IFBF legislative policy, seed crop technology, farm succession planning, the new Farm Bu- reau marketing partnership with J.C. Management and accessing satellite images of field analytics. Panelists will discuss transportation issues and the Young Farmers and Ranchers Awards Banquet is scheduled at 7 p.m. Dec. 5 workshop topics and events, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., include an update on crop insurance; understand- ing exports, trade and tariffs; a House of Delegates session; District Women’s Caucuses; a Women’s Committee busi- ness meeting; an awards lun- cheon including the county showcase, Women’s Awards and the Farm Safety Minute; a workshop by Saint Alphon- sus Regional Medical Center and the 7 p.m. Farm Bureau Annual Banquet featuring the President’s Cup Award. The IFBF annual meeting concludes Dec. 6 with the County Presidents Breakfast at 7 a.m., followed by director elections, a House of Delegates session, state board of direc- tors’ and spouses’ luncheons, and a state board meeting. Full registration costs $186 per person before Nov. 15 and $211 thereafter. Information: Cara Dyer, 208-239-4235 or cdyer@idahofb.org. 44-2/103
