Farm management information systems

Abstract

The fast changing environment, including difficult market conditions and a high exposure to financial risks are major reasons for changing production policy. Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) appear to be a powerful tool to deal with the new conditions. However, farmers still rely more on their intuition than on proper management tools, when it comes to running a farm business. Many farmers do not use FMISs for various reasons, like lack of knowledge and the complexity of many available FMISs. In particular for small to medium-sized farms and for multifunctional farms appropriate FMISs hardly exist. The objective of this paper is to give a brief overview why modeling has not had its breakthrough in the farming sector so far.