For a
number of years I have been involved with helping farmers grasp how
useful
Excel
spreadsheets
can be
in their businesses.
During this time, I have prepared handouts for use either during
classes, or to back up classes. I have received kind encouragement to
get these notes published together in one place, and offer this
website
in the hope that it can be of value to anyone who is in farming and
wants to get the most from their computer.
I am
convinced that spreadsheets can be as useful as tractors on the modern
farm. The time and money they can save can be shown to be well worth the
investment of time required to master the skills involved. If you are
new to spreadsheets, I can assure you now that there are just 6 simple
basic things to learn about spreadsheets; you can be applying these
simple tools within minutes, to do all sorts of calculations and
recording on the farm.
All
of
the
spreadsheets explained in this
website
use Microsoft Excel, which is the most versatile and useful program on
your computer.
If you are new to Excel,
click here for free tutorials on the Internet.
If you have another spreadsheet program, however, most of the exercises
will still be possible.
You
are welcome to e-mail me for assistance with any of these spreadsheets,
jclohesy@brooksbymelton.ac.uk
or phone me,
01664
855439
I
hope this
website
will be of use to farmers, farm secretaries, students and lecturers. Any
of the exercises may be photocopied for use in teaching, and you are
welcome to adapt them to your own use. I would simply ask that if you
identify any errors, that you let me know by dropping me an
e-mail with suggested corrections.
I
also invite you to send me any agricultural spreadsheet training notes
of your own for consideration for inclusion in any future publication of
this kind.
Your
contribution will be acknowledged, but you would not receive any
payment; this publication is being heavily subsidised by our sponsors as
a pump priming exercise, and there is no expectation of any profits from
the publication.
Also, we
will retain editorial control over the content, but there are no doubt
many farming spreadsheets out there which could be given a wider airing.
One of the good features of farming has always been the preparedness of
farmers to share good ideas with one another, in the knowledge that we
are “in this together”.
