Not talking about 2007 yields, that is history, water under the bridge. The real question concerning what to plant next year is what the yields will be NEXT year and of course we don't know. About all a guy can do is go on long term averages for his farm. We track costs in Farm works for individual crops and farms but find the information somewhat limited if only looking at a single year. If you average 5 or more years it is more helpful but still rather limited information from a magement standpoint. I'm not too interested in managing the past. We use the numbers to get a good handle on what to use for estimates for the next year but really making good best guesses about income and costs is where good management comes in, as I'm sure you know. And that is still more of an art than a science.

We have (actually Becky) has spent untold hours inputting costs allocations every which way as I thought years ago that was the future of management - know where every dollar goes so we can tell what do do for the future. As plowboy & I discussed the other day over an email, it is still really not much better than the figures we can come up on the back of a napkin. It lets me be more sure of a few of the numbers I am using for estimates, but I can still do about as good without it.

John