This is a miscellaneous set of programs I will be adding to from time-to-time. It is kind of a pot pourri' of programs; some you may have seen before and others, maybe not for a long time or ever. Most are Excel programs, but I have included a few for the Quattro users, since I cut my teeth with Lotus and Quattro. I know some of you are still using it.
A variety of programs exist. Optimization is one of my favorite things now, so I have included a few, beginning and advanced linear programming routines, using Solver. Cash flow budgeting is a topic, as is machine cost analysis. I wrote a program a few years ago which calculates fuel useage, undoubtedly a topic of interest when fuel costs are high.
Except when stated otherwise, all programs are written in Excel. No, I do not convert them. These routines do not have help routines, but are fairly self explanatory.
A few of my more elaborate routines have help routines with them. Except when stated, none of these do.
Download the program from this site. All are packaged in a self extracting zip file and usually contain only one file, unless a help file is attached. The program will extract to c:\program files\(name of file)unless you change the drive and path. If you wish to unpack to a floppy, change the default extract path to a:\
One of the first places we have to start in any farming operation is with cost of production. Nothing beats generating your own, but in lieu of that, for synthesized cost of production data on basic crops in California, turn to the University of California, Davis budget generator program.
Some
investment opportunites need to combine cost of production with a more
sophisticated technique. I have developed two programs,
CowInvest and
Vine, which
can provide assistance in evaluating longer term investments. They combine
cost of production with Net Present Value to allow evaluation of longer
term investments. Vine can be used to
evaluate a vineyard investment for up to a 10 year period.
CowInvest can be used to evaluate a beef cow
purchase. It also contains a cost-of-production template which may be used
as a stand alone module. Both of
these programs are in self extracting zip files. Each will be unpacked in
its specified folder in c:\Program Files\ unless you indicate other wise
when you double click the program after down loading. A documentation file
is included with Vine.
One
of the hottest topics now relates to fuel costs and how they might affect
cost of production. I have written a program, MachCost
which allows estimation of varying costs for fuel, repairs and other
items. Many tractor-implement combinations may be tested as well as self
propelled machines. A documentation file is included.
One
of the problems confronting agriculturalists is the need to "multi-task",
that is to complete more than one job during a given time period. I have
written an Excel routine, TimeLine which
illustrates basic project planning with precedent tasks and potential
bottlenecks. Documentation is not included.
Download CowInvest.xls (156 KB)
Vine Without Documentation