-UMass Cranberry Station

UMass Cranberry Station, East Wareham, in the Library.

Advance Registration RequestedPresented by SEMAP and the Massachusetts Office of Dispute Resolution Ever feel at a disadvantage when talking to potential buyers, dealing with difficult customers, or working with employees? Learn how open ended questions, identifying your BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement), and transparency can relieve the stress of these often difficult conversations. Improve your dialogue skills and practices some techniques to improve outcomes all around. This workshop will be facilitated by Cary Quigley, a professional mediator, long-time Middlefield farmer, and consultant to the Farm Viability and Enhancement Program. This workshop is supported by a USDA grant to the Massachusetts Office of Dispute Resolution. To register, call Sarah Kelley at SEMAP, 508-295-2212 x 50 or skelley@umassd.edu. Directions: http://www.umass.edu/cranberry/station/directions.shtml

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One-on-One Consultations on Farm Business Topics Tues. April 5, between 8:30 am - 3:00 pm UMass Dartmouth Continuing Education Center, FALL RIVER Advance Registration Required Presented by SEMAP and USDA Risk Management Agency

Do you have questions about your farm business that you would love to ask an agricultural advisor in a confidential setting?

Here’s a great opportunity to speak with a professional advisor in a one-on-one session in one of several topic areas.

This is an individual consultation, not a workshop or group setting The agenda for the discussion is yours There is no planned presentation The consultation is confidential
The consultation is free of charge

The topics are:

Estate planning and farm transfer issues -- FULL Tax planning Record keeping and accounting Borrowing and credit Crop insurance
Business planning and business structure

The sessions will be held between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m in three locations:

April 5, 2005 at the UMass Dartmouth Fall River Campus in partnership with SEMAP. April 6, 2005 at the Clarion Hotel in Northampton in partnership with CISA
April 7, 2005 at the Eastover Resort in Lenox in partnership with the Berkshire Conservation District

You must sign up in advance to reserve up to two one-hour slots (on different topics). Be prepared with two or three specific questions for the advisor when you reserve. For more information, contact Kathy Ruhf at 413-323-9878 or kzruhf@verizon.net. Call 413-323-4531 to reserve your session(s). Directions: http://www.umassd.edu/directions/fallriver.cfm***************************************************

The Financial Bridge: Make Your Schedule F work for you Wed-Fri, April 6-8, 6:00-9:00 pm UMass Dartmouth Continuing Education Center - NEW BEDFORD$75 (fee will cover two people from one farm)Advance Registration Required Presented by the Mass Department of Ag Resources

“The Financial Bridge” for Farmers needing more from their Schedule F You do a Schedule F for the IRS....now make it work for you!

The objective of the course, developed over the past 3 years by MDAR, is to create an easily understood and customized cash flow forecast for your farm using the IRS Schedule F that farms already complete. Using the Bridge planning tool package (consisting of a workbook, Excel spreadsheet templates and an example farm) and your Schedule F tax returns for the past three years, the course will include:

Orientation to the New Bedford DCE computer training lab

Basic training in the use of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (“Excel 101”)

The components of cash flow and why you need to track them, using the workbook

Review of a sample farm’s completed Bridge worksheets

Loading of your farm’s Schedule F information into the Bridge templates, for your own use only

Creation of a cash flow forecast and net worth statement for your farm (confidential)

The use of Excel to create instant “what if” scenarios for various decision points and/or events from the basic cashflow forecast
A better understanding of the use of simple spreadsheets in your business planning and tracking

You will take home the results of your course work and the Bridge planning tool package in both hard copy and electronic format. You can easily continue to use this package with your schedule F each year.

The pilot class is limited to 12 farm businesses (more than one person from a farm can attend). Each farm will have its own computer for the sessions. The $75 fee covers site costs, instruction, materials and take-home software disk. Instructors: Rick Connole (MDAR farm business planning consultant) and Michael Griffin (Professor of Accounting and Finance in the Charlton College of Business, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth).

To register, call Maria Lomba, UMass Dartmouth Division of Professional and Continuing Education – New Bedford, 508-990-1160 (mlomba@umassd.edu). Ask for Course Number PRD659-91.

Directions: http://www.umassd.edu/directions/newbedford.cfm