Links to 16 websites containing information relevant to managing the family farm/ranch business:

http://www.wittmanconsulting.com R.L. "Dick" Wittman is author of the book A Guidebook & Strategies for Building Effective Farm Management Systems. Dick is a consultant who practices what he preaches. He has worked for the Farm Credit System, is CEO of a 17,000 acre multiple family member farming operation, has consulted with family farm businesses for over 25 years, is a past president of The National Farm Financial Standards Council and a faculty member of The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers.

http://www.centrec.com The Centrec Consulting Group is a management consulting and training firm that works with agribusinesses and commercial farmers to develop management strategies, to address changes in the marketplace, growth challenges and specific organizational issues. Check the resources section for a number of thought provoking articles about management issues and the future of commercial agriculture.

http://www.fambiz.com/home.cfm   Fambiz.com is a non-profit organization hosted by one of the world's most respected family business educational institutions, Northeastern University's Center for Family Business .

http://www.umass.edu/fambiz/relatedlist.htm   The University of Massachusetts Family Business Center, Related Matters, "Treat Your Business Like a Business and Your Family Like a Family."

http://www.familybusinessonline.org/   The Austin Family Business Program excels as a pacesetting family business resource to help family businesses balance the well-being of the business, the family and individuals, as they address the challenges and opportunities which inevitably arise, day to day and during succession. Its objective is to foster healthy family businesses -- through innovative tools, hands-on learning opportunities and honest talk.

http://www.farmcentre.com   Contains over 4,000 pages providing fast and easy access to leading-edge information on how to successfully start, operate and grow a modern farm in today's fast-paced globally competitive environment.

http://www.efamilybusiness.com    Whether you are seeking information about succession planning, ownership transfer, sibling teams, shareholder relations and communication, governance, conflict resolution, estate planning and asset protection, business plans, executive compensation, management and leadership training or any number of family business issues, you will find it here.

http://www.ffi.org    The Family Firm Institute (FFI) is an international professional membership organization dedicated to providing interdisciplinary education and networking opportunities for family business advisers, consultants, educators, and researchers and to raising public awareness about trends and developments in the family business field.

http://www.aspenfamilybusiness.com    Insights from five of the world's leading authorities on family businesses: David Bork, Founder , Leslie Dashew, M.S.W. , Dennis T. Jaffe, Ph.D. , Sam H. Lane, Ph.D. , and Joe Paul, M.S., who work independently for clients and collaborate when it is in their client's best interest.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/bfc/homepage.html    The Beginning Farmer Center developed from a series of discussions with Legislators, Extension personnel, and others concerning what could be done to encourage new farmers. These discussions led to the conclusion that it was necessary to have a center to focus exclusively on the needs and issues facing beginning farmers. It was also determined that this Center should facilitate the matching of beginning farmers with existing farmers who wanted to transition their farm businesses to the next generation.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/topics.html?topic=4&sutopic=32    The University of Minnesota's Agriculture, Food and Environment programs address issues including business management and marketing, environmental stewardship, food systems, agriculture policy, and science and technology.

http://www.transitiondynamicsinc.com    TDI provides transition management products and services to multi-generational business families, universities, foundations, volunteer organizations and professional and trade associations.

http://tcre.org  The Texas Center for Rural Entrepreneurship is for anyone involved in starting or growing a rural business, in rural economic development, or in providing technical assistance, educational programs, or other forms of support to rural business owners in your community.

https://secure.agriculture.purdue.edu/store/catalog.asp?catid=20   Purdue University, The Education Store. List of various publications pertaining to business management in agriculture.

http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/fasttools/index.html    The goal of the Farmdoc (farm decision outreach central) Project is to improve farm decision-making under risk through education and research. To meet this goal, the farmdoc website provides Illinois farmers with comprehensive and integrated risk management information and analysis. Publications, decision tools and databases related to a variety of risk management issues are found throughout the site.

http://www.ruraleship.org    The primary goal of the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship is to be the focal point for efforts to stimulate and support private and public entrepreneurship development in communities throughout Rural America.

Copyright 2009 Extension Agricultural Economics