FARM RECORDS & RECORD KEEPING:

A RECORD
Is anything which contain information for one to remember

FARM RECORDING
Is the putting information into well-organized summary of all
activities or events occurring on the farm.

FARM RECORD
Is an account of the various activities carried out on the farm on a
regular basis,.

IMPORTANCE OF RECORDS TO BE KEPT IN THE FARM

There several reasons why records are kept, these are:-

(a) Farm records provide the history of farm operations from
one period to another, thus enabling comparisons to be
made.
(b) Records reveal how much it costs to produce a particular
item on the farm.
(c) From farm records a farmer can tell where he has been
most efficient in his farm operations, hence to improve the
farm or to shift to another project.
(d) Records are essential for legal purposes. They provide the
information from which income tax is calculated
otherwise you can pay much than the required amount or
the government can get less.
(e) Good farm record help farmers to obtain loans more easily
from banks or other Money-leading instructions
(f) Records enable farmers to do better job of planning future
farm projects of expansion of existing projects.
(g) Record keeping trains the farm to become a good
observer of his agricultural enterprises.
 TYPES OF RECORD KEEPING SYSTEMS
There are different types of record keeping systems a person can
use in his/her operations. The most commonly used systems are as
follows:
1. Shoe Box Method – All Receipts, Checks, Invoices and Bank
statements are collected and stored in a Shoe box.
2. Hand – Kept Ledger – Farm records are documented by hand
into a record book.
3. Computerized System – Records are stored in a Computer to
provide assistance in preparing and analyzing farm records.

USES OF FARM RECORDS KEEPING:

1. Used as a service tool – Services provided like income
tax calculations, estate planning, business arrangement,
etc.
2. Used to provide data for financial analysis – Identifying
the strength and weaknesses of the business.
3. Used as an indicator of progress
4. Used as a good forward planning tool – Past records
can be used to modify the progress of the future projects.
5. Used to identify the profitability of each enterprise on
the farm
6. Used to identify of what crops were planted and how
much was produced.

RESULTS OF GOOD RECORD KEEPING:

1. Improves decision making skills.
2. Ability to evaluate the farm financial performance
position.
3. Ability to identify production and marketing problems.
4. Ability to decrease debt/asset ratio.
5. Improvement in farm Management practices.
IMPORTANT FARM RECORDS TO BE KEPT IN THE FARM
MAY INCLUDE:-

1. Farm diary and Labour analysis (A record of day to day

operations on the farm).
2. Cash account
3. Produce account record
4. Manure record
5. Crop yield record
6. Inventory
7. Livestock records --- breeding records, sales records
and Management records.

1. THE INVENTORY
The inventory is a form used for recording the values of
items the farmer has at hand at the beginning of a farming
programme.
 The price of each item is entered on the inventory form.
 Things to include in the inventory form are items such
as buldings, machinery, and implements.

A. BUILDINGS:
 Stores
 Huts for livestock
B. MACHINERY:
 Tractors
 Harvesters
 Mowers
C. IMPLEMENTS:-
 Hoes
 Slashers
 machetes
 Watering cans
 Knives
  Hammers
 Ploughs
 Forks
 Spades. And other assets available in the farm.

THE INVENTORY FORM.

Beginning of the project/season End of project/season

Item No. or Value per Total No or Value Total

Amoun unit value Amount per unit. value.
t
Ox- 3 80,000/ 240,000/= 3
plough =@
Hand 5 7,000/=@ 35,000/= 5
hoe
Machet 2 3,000/=@ 6,000/= 1
es
Spade 1 2,500/=@ 2,500/= 1
Fork 4 4,000/=@ 16,000/= 2
Slasher 2 2,000/=@ 1
hammer 1 2,000/=@ 1
s
Total 18 14

2. FARM DIARY & LABOUR ANALYSIS.

Essentially it is a record of the day to day operations to the
farm.
 Labor records provide management with understanding
of the type of labour employed, type of work
performed, wage paid and hours worked.
 It is also a summary of how much labour has been
expanded on each crop or item for a whole month.
 The record is always in two parts.
(a) A record of operation performed, the number of hours
spend and the number labour / workers employed
during the period.
(b) A summary of the amount of labour in the farm of
working hours expended on each crop or job. Enteries
are made immediately at the end of anyone operation.

FARM DIARY & LABOUR ANALYSIS.

DATE Practical No. of Time Worker Yam Cassava
work workers in hours
done hours
4/4/2010 Carrying 14 1 14 14 -
composite
And
spreading
it in the
yam plot
6/4/2010 Ridging 20 1 20 - 20
the
cassava
plot
10/4/2010 Tilling 30 1 30 30 -
furrow of
yam plot
12/4/2010 Planting 10 1 10 - 10
cassava
TOTAL 44 30
TIME
 3. CASH ACCOUNT:-
This is a record of the expenditure and the revenue of the farm and
the amount of cash to be saved.
When any money is realized from the sale of produce or a loan is
obtained, the farm account is credited and when any money is
spent on materials for the farm, the farm account is debited.

4. CROP YIELD RECORD.

This record gives information about the planting distance of crop,
the variety, dates of planting and the yield per hectare.

 When crops are harvested, they are weighed on the spot.

 To weigh the crops, a container whose weight is already
known is known as tare weight.
 The weight of the crops and the container is known as the
gross weight
 Tare weight is subtracted from the gross weight to give the
net weight.

CROP YIELD RECORD FORM

Date of Crop Variety Area Spacing Date of Quantity
planting planted harvest

25/12/2009 Maize Katumani 1ha 70cmx25 7/04/2009 500kg

5. PRODUCE ACCOUNT RECORD.

The produce account record tells farm managers about the cash
value of the crops, no matter how it is put into use.
 The cash value of the produce is always based on the current
market price of similar produce at the time of harvesting.
  At the end of farming seasons, the total cash value of the
food items produced will show the amount that would have
been realized assuming that all the crops produced had been
sold.

FORM FOR PRODUCE ACCOUNT RECORD.

DATE CROP AREA YIELD QUAN DISPOS QUA CASH
HARVESTED /HA TITY AL NTIT RECEIVED
Y
2/2/2012 MAIZE ANIMA
L FEED
SORGHUM SOLD
BEANS SOLD
CASSAVA SOLD
COWPEAS SOLD
WHEAT SOLD

6 .MANURE/FERTILIZER RECORD.
This provides information about the type of manure/fertilizer
applied the rate at which it was applied per hectare of land,
and finally the method of its application.

A FORM FOR MANURE RECORD.

TYPE OF RATEOF METHOD OF
MANURE/FERTILIZER APPLICATION APPLICATION
 FARM INPUTS USED IN CROP PRODUCTION.
Farm inputs are resources used in the farm in order to produce
crops/outs. These includes;-

1. Equipment’s e.g. Ploughs, Rigders, Slashers,machetes etc.

2. Seeds
3. Chemicals eg.
(a) Fertilizers
(b) Pesticides like – Insecticide, herbicides, fungicides,
bactericide etc.
4. Land
5. Fuels.
S/N CROP TYPE OF RATE OF USES MODE OF
PLANTED INPUT APLICATION APPLICATION

CRITERIA FOR RECORD KEEPING

The farm record keeping should satisfy the following criteria:
1. They must be useful
The data should be used (turned into information) in
making management decisions.
2. Records must be kept in a form that they can be
easily converted into information

3. Record keeping systems must be simple

(Simplicity)
The record keeping systems should not be complex/
difficult but should be simple to understand.
4. Duplication must be avoided as much as possible
(Accuracy)
Some data may have to be recorded more than once in
different forms, but this must be reduced to a minimum.
5. Records must lead to actions being taken
Records should be in specifically intended to be used for
some future action or in management planning.
6. Timeliness – Records must indicate a specific
time taken.
7. Reliability and Completeness – Records must be
reliable and complete.
8. Understandability – Records must be well
understood to farmers and to everyone
GROUP 1
Collect, display and present various farm inputs used in crop
production, their uses and mode of application
Format:
Type of input Uses Mode of
application
1.
2.
3.

GROUP 2
Prepare and present crop yield Records of Maize, Beans, Onion
and Tomatoes at MATI Uyole

Format:
Type of Variety Date of Spacing Date of
crop grown planting used harvest
1.
2.
3.
4.

GROUP 3
Prepare and present Produce account records of Beans, Maize and
Sunflower from year 2013 to 2014 at MATI Uyole.
Format:
Type Year of Area Quantity produced Number of bags/ 100Kg
of Production Kg/Ha.
crop
Actual Recommended Actual Recommended
yield yield yield

1.

2.

3.

GROUP 4
Prepare and present fertilizer records used at MATI Uyole
(Organic/inorganic)
Format:
Type of fertilizer Rate of application Method of application
Organic
1.
2.
3.
Inorganic
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

GROUP 5
Prepare and present an inventory record of Oxinization Unit at
MATI Uyole. Indicate the value of each implement, total value and
the Grand total of the inventory.
Format:
Item( imple Number of Value per Total Value
ment) items Unit

Grand total