NES3001 : Farm Business Consultancy
- Offered for Year: 2023/24
- Module Leader(s): Dr Jeremy Robert Franks
- Owning School: Natural and Environmental Sciences
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 10 |
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 10 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
To provide knowledge and understanding of the management control systems used in crop and livestock enterprises and at the whole farm level.
The module deals with strategic planning of the business, the compilation of feasibility studies and development of business plans. The module covers the principles and practice of farm enterprise management through recording, monitoring and controlling crop and livestock enterprises, with the principal aim of identifying and implementing improvements in performance.
Outline Of Syllabus
Arable and livestock management on NUFarms.
This involves planning rotations, assessing crop and livestock enterprise profitability, staff planning and machinery inventories, depreciation and replacement schedules.
Whole-farm planning includes use of SWOT analysis to inform strategic planning decisions, and cost-benefit analysis (partial-budgets) to inform feasibility studies. The module will also cover benchmarking performance and construction of cash flow and profit and loss budgets.
Additional subjects covered include - personnel management and land and farming agreements.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 20 | 2:00 | 40:00 | PiP lectures |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 50:00 | 50:00 | A compulsory assessment based on developing a farm business. (S2) |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 40:00 | 40:00 | Assessment based on NUFarms (S1) |
| Guided Independent Study | Skills practice | 20 | 2:30 | 50:00 | Each student will be asked to make a formative presentation based on material that will comprise some elements of the semester 1 summative assessment |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Fieldwork | 2 | 4:00 | 8:00 | Farm visits - one in each semester |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Fieldwork | 1 | 12:00 | 12:00 | This includes preparation for the farm visit and travel to the farm. |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
In class lectures are used to introduce concepts of business planning at both enterprise and whole-business levels. Student led workshops within these classes allow students to practise presenting the application of the concepts. These workshops will assist students in completing the module assessments.
Field work (farm) visits will assist students to integrate the theoretical principals taught in the classroom with practical considerations faced by farm managers and be used to under-pin the module assessments.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | 1 | M | 25 | A report and presentation of either an arable or livestock enterprise. Individual or team work - Max 1,250 words. |
| Report | 2 | M | 75 | Whole farm business assessment involving major changes and developments to a farm business. Team work, max 1,750 words. |
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prof skill assessmnt | 1 | M | The formative presentation will help students develop their teamwork, and their presentation skills. The feedback received will help them improve their Semester 1 summative assessment |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The lecture material and weekly (non-assessed) exercises help to reinforce students' knowledge and to help them to integrate farm enterprise knowledge with analytical and business planning techniques to produce a range of management reports covering both individual farm enterprises and whole-farm developments.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- NES3001's Timetable