ABSTRACT
The computer is a natural tool to aid the farm or ranch manager in both record keeping and decision making. And record keeping is usually one of the first uses considered for a microcomputer, because it can save a great deal of time storing, sorting, classifying, and summarizing numbers for various types of reports. Two separate but related types of records are important to agriculturalists is financial and physical. "Shoebox" record keeping no longer has a place in sophisticated agricultural industry. The most effective cash-flow statement is one that is an integral part of a total record system and provides the benefit of checking actual progress against projected plans. Good decision makers are going to be the survivors in agriculture. The computer is an excellent tool for storing and retrieving information. It has the ability to store and assimilate volumes of data into meaningful reports for farm managers and operators.
