An evaluation of the use of a microcomputer on a livestock farm

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of a microcomputer as a tool of information handling. Specifically, this involved developing software packages for use on an Apple II Plus microcomputer. The Willow Bend Demonstrational Farm in Union, West Virginia, was chosen. A farm records and budgets model was developed. Receipts and expenses from the Electronic Farm Accounting records were used to test the model for use by the farm operators in West Virginia. Enterprise budgets were generated using spreadsheet software (VisiCalcTM) and the recorded data. Two experiments were conducted to test the viability of producing beef and no sheep, and wintering calves. During the process of conducting the experiments, the recalculation capability of the model was explored. It is concluded that the microcomputer is a powerful budgeting and forecasting tool. It is not difficult for a person with no previous computer experience to learn to use a microcomputer and to develop programs using spread sheet software. The records and budgets model developed indicate that this tool has a potential application in solving farm operators' problems of data acquisition and processing the data into information.