Quantitative techniques in farm management and planning: The use of simulation for farm management and planning

Abstract

A primary role of farm management is to provide the procedures whereby production processes, operations in an uncertain environment, are organised and controlled in such a way as to meet objectives and goals. Management in this role is concerned with continuously making decisions about appropriate production processes and the levels of inputs and outputs required to sustain them. These decisions are assisted in an objective sense by information available about the past performance of the farm and by using this information to project into the future the likely outcome of alternative policies. Using this approach, management should be seen as a continuous process of steering the farm towards goals which may .or may not be clearly defined. (Eisgruber (1973), Dent (1974)) Three aspects of this procedure should be noted: