0 AgStar Margin Manager
1 AgStar Margin Manager
Margin Manager
User Guide
2 AgStar Margin Manager
Contents
Margin Manager Main Worksheet ............................................................................................................... 4 Farm Name/Year/Acres ................................................................................................................................ 5 Revenue per Acre .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Comment/Definitions ............................................................................................................................... 3 Expenses ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 Land Costs / Rent / Family Draw ................................................................................................................... 6 Calculation Results ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Crop Margin Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 8 Corn Margin Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 9 Soybeans Margin Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 10 Additional Worksheet Tabs ......................................................................................................................... 11 Crop Insurance ............................................................................................................................................ 12 Fertilizer Calculator ..................................................................................................................................... 14 Equipment Calculator Tab ........................................................................................................................... 15 Facility Calculator ........................................................................................................................................ 16 Land Rent Schedule ..................................................................................................................................... 17 Projected Margin Schedule ......................................................................................................................... 18 Notes Page: ................................................................................................................................................. 19 3 AgStar Margin Manager
MarginManagerMainWorksheet
Welcome to your AgStar Margin Manager overview. AgStar has created this program to assist you with actual and projected income. This tool is just one of many tools AgStar has available to enhance your Ag business. Shown here is the Margin Manager main worksheet. In our tour of this product, we will be looking at the features and functions one section at a time. AgStar Margin Manager is an Excel based program so being comfortable with how to work with Excel is highly recommended. Let’s move to the next page and take a look at the top left part of the program. 4 AgStar Margin Manager
FarmName/Year/Acres
This area is where you would enter the name of your operation, the type of grain being raised and your actual/projected number of acres in the appropriate fields. 
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The white columns, represented here by the year 2011, should represent the last year of complete data, so you have a base of understanding of what you planted the year before. The blue columns represent the current or projected year. In this example, we show 2012 as the projected year. Enter the planted acres for 2011 in the white fields and the projected planting acres for each crop in the blue fields. 5 AgStar Margin Manager
RevenueperAcre
This next section is your actual or projected Revenue per acre, crop selling price and government payment. 
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Yield (Bushel/Acre) should be entered as accurately as possible. For the past year, enter the actual yield and for the projected year, enter the most accurate projection possible for your farmed acres. This number can be adjusted any time. If you would like to see the revenue impact of various production levels, consider using the Crop Margin Analysis worksheet. Price $/Bushel should be entered for past years actual data. Enter the current crop price per bushel for the projected year. Again, to see an analysis of price changes on your farm, consider using the Crop Margin Analysis worksheet. 1 AgStar Margin Manager
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Basis is the difference between a local cash price and the relevant futures contract price for a specific time period.. This can be entered as a positive or negative number. Use care to be sure that the correct sign is entered! Cash Price$/Bushel is the calculated value of the actual cash price offered+ the Basis. o This field is not editable. Crop Revenue/Acre is the total crop revenue per acre that multiplies the Yield Bushel/Acre times the Cash Price $/Acre Government Payment (avg. over acres) is simply a value you will need to enter for your operation. It is used to help provide you with a more accurate view of your revenue per acre and will help calculate a required price per bushel later in the spreadsheet. Total Revenue is the sum of Crop Revenue/Acre and Government Payment (avg. over acres. 2 AgStar Margin Manager
Comment/Definitions
When you see a red triangle in the corner of a cell, position your mouse pointer over it (no reason to click, just place the pointer over the desired red triangle) to display helpful definitions to assist you with what data to enter in the applicable columns. 
These definitions will help you enter the data in the correct cells for calculation. While it is not imperative these costs be separated, it is your best interest to do so in order to track costs when looking to increase your profits. 3 AgStar Margin Manager
Expenses
Next is your actual or projected expenses per acre. AgStar updates the default values for all expenses each quarter. You may download and view the new default values by visiting agstar.com/marginmanager 
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For each of the cells, you will want to enter the actual data for the last completed year and the projected data for the projected year. Other #1, Other #2 and Other #3 fields are for you to define. Enter a label in these fields and then a value for each crop and year. AgStar has provided calculators on various spreadsheet tabs to help you calculate certain key expenses. o Fertilizer Calculator o Crop Insurance Calculator (coverage ratio only) 4 AgStar Margin Manager
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For a price quote, please contact your AgStar Financial Services Officer or Risk Management Officer o Machinery Depreciation calculator o Facility Depreciation calculator Total Non‐Land Expense Per Acre is a calculated field that sums all of your expense entries. o Land expenses, including real estate term loan expenses, can be calculated using the Cash Land Calculator. o If you have included Real Estate interest in the expense section, please be sure to remove it from the Total Land Costs/Rent/Draw section below. 5 AgStar Margin Manager
LandCosts/Rent/FamilyDraw
This next area highlighted below is where you would enter your Land Costs/Rent and your actual or desired draw. 
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Land Costs/Rent is a field where you can enter your actual land costs. This should be your weighted average rent per acre plus your actual debt per acre (annualized), providing you with an accurate view of your actual land costs for the past and projected year. o Our Cash Land Calculator will help you determine this number if you do not already know it. Family Living/Operator Draw is the amount of money per acre that your family/operation needs to draw as income. How much you put in here is up to you, but whatever the number you put in, understand that this will be treated as an expense and any subsequent net income values and per bushel calculations will be based on this included value. 6 AgStar Margin Manager
CalculationResults
Cells highlighted in a green shade are where the results are calculated for you by the program. These cells automatically calculate results based on the information you have entered into the program for expenses or desired income. 
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Total Expense inc. Land and Draw is the sum of the Total Non‐Land Expense per Acre and Total Land Costs/Rent/Draw fields and represents the total amount of expenses for your operation. Net Margin per Acre is the Total Revenue minus the Total Expense inc. Land and Draw line broken down on a per acre basis. o If your revenues are greater than your expenses, this will be a positive number and if your expenses are greater than your revenues, then this will be negative. Break‐Even per Bushel is the net price you need to obtain from the entered years’ crop sales per bushel in order to break even with your entered revenue and expense structure. o This represents the target price per bushel on this crop for this year for your operation. Total Revenue represents the overall revenue for your operation (total revenue per acre x total acres) for this crop and this year. Total Expenses represents the overall expenses for your operation (total expenses per acre x total acres) for this crop and this year. Net Margin represents the overall difference between your Total Revenue and Total Expenses for this crop and year (Total Revenue – Total Expenses). 7 AgStar Margin Manager
CropMarginAnalysis
This area is for you to look at your price per bushel and bushel per acre differential. There is a section for Corn and Soybeans. 8 AgStar Margin Manager
CornMarginAnalysis
The defaults or initial settings for the analysis are $.20 for price and 5 for bushels. Notice the price column has a $.20 change in pricing and the bushels change by a count of 5. When you change the price differential and/or bushel differential, the calculations change accordingly. Note the losses shown in red with the price and bushel differentials entered below. 9 AgStar Margin Manager
SoybeansMarginAnalysis
The defaults or initial settings for the analysis are $.50 for price and 2 for bushels. Notice the price column has a $.50 change in pricing and the bushels change by a count of 2. When you change the price differential and/or bushel differential, the calculations change accordingly. Note the losses shown in red with the price and bushel differentials entered below. 10 AgStar Margin Manager
AdditionalWorksheetTabs
At the lower portion of your Margin Manager program, you will find different colored tabs. Each tab is a different worksheet that allows you to calculate various expenses and costs to fill out the main Margin Manager sheet. Note: If you already have all your calculations, you may not need to use these various worksheets. If you do not have all your calculations, these worksheets will assist you in gaining accurate data. 11 AgStar Margin Manager
CropInsurance
This area will help you with the calculation of insurance coverages. 
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Note that the input area is on the right hand side. Policy Type will default to REVENUE. There is no entry necessary here. Coverage Level is the percent of coverage you are electing to insure for your crop and year. Coverage Price is the price established for crop insurance in February. If you are able to change to a harvest price option in the fall, this number can be changed at that time. Historic APH is the Actual Production History value that is assigned to your units based off your ten year history. o If you are analyzing separate units, you may need to do your own weighted average calculations to determine your overall cost per acre, but this calculator will help determine the cost per acre on each individual unit. All of the expenses from the Margin Manager page are pre‐populated here. The Guaranteed Bushels per Acre, Guaranteed Revenue per Acre, Total Guaranteed Bushels, Guaranteed Revenue and Total Expenses are all calculated here based on your inputs on the right hand side and Margin Manager page inputs. To determine the proper insurance coverage, look at the Expense Coverage Ratio at the bottom. 12 AgStar Margin Manager
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If you have significant changes to your Crop Insurance expense based on this calculation, you may need to adjust your coverage ratio once that expense is entered. You will want to cover 100% of your expenses, so getting this number as close to 100% as possible will maximize necessary coverage and limit your overall insurance expense. 13 AgStar Margin Manager
FertilizerCalculator
This tab will help you with the calculation of fertilizer costs for corn, soybeans or other crops. To find the soybean spreadsheet, simply scroll down on the Fertilizer page.
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The Fertilizer Calculator uses the actual fertilizer application data and price per ton information to help determine a cost per acre. If you already know a cost per acre, this calculator is not necessary. Need to convert gallons applied into Lbs Applied? See the conversion chart on the right hand side for various nutrient analysis conversions. There is a check box on the top right corner for 32% or 28% UAN. Select the option for your operation to be sure the calculations apply appropriately. Note that the data entry for Price Per Ton (represented by the label Price/Unit) is on the left hand side and the application data input area is on the right hand side. If you are not sure of what your cost per acre is, enter the price per ton of the fertilizer applied and then enter either the Lbs Product Applied or the Lbs of Nutrients Applied (the calculator will generate the other number based whichever one you enter). Simply enter the price and application data for the fertilizer you applied. If you applied another fertilizer that has no analyzed nutrient value, but you want to add the cost in the spreadsheet, simply enter the total value of the additional fertilizer in the Other $/Acre field. 14 AgStar Margin Manager
EquipmentCalculatorTab
This next area highlighted below is where you can calculate your Equipment depreciation expenses. 
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Total Equipment Value – enter in the total value of equipment to be depreciated. You may need to do this for each piece to gain an accurate measurement for all of your operation. Salvage Rate – The estimated percent of the original value that an asset will realize upon its sale at the end of its useful life. Years of Depreciation – Enter the number of years to depreciate over. Crop Acres – If you have additional acres you are farming for a 3rd crop, you can enter those total acres in this field. It will reduce the depreciation allocation by crop. Equipment Allocation – Allocate a percentage of equipment usage by crop type. If you use more equipment more often for corn, simply input a percent value in this field to allocate that. o The spreadsheet calculates a weighted average cost for you as you change these allocation figures. Custom Acres & Additional Acres Added is a section that can be used to help allocate depreciation across a broader land base than what you are analyzing in the spreadsheet. For instance, enter additional acres for any custom field work you do for other farms. 15 AgStar Margin Manager
FacilityCalculator
This worksheet allows you to calculate Facility costs and allocations. 
Similar to the Equipment Calculator worksheet, this is a depreciation calculator for Facilities. 16 AgStar Margin Manager
LandRentSchedule
This next worksheet is a way to calculate your rental acres vs. owned acres. 
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Land Rent Schedule – on the right hand side, enter the Name of the land unit, enter the acres of that unit, then enter either a Rent/Acre value or a Total Rent value. Real Estate Loans – In this section, enter any loan Balance for land or property, the Rate of the interest on the loan, and the Annual Payments. Real Estate Costs – Enter the Real Estate Tax Expense (Annual) and the Misc Real Estate Expense (Annual) to provide an accurate financial picture for all real estate costs. The actual land costs per acre will be calculated on the left hand side and will be broken down by actual land Rent/Lease Expense and Cash Land Costs. The two numbers are then added together to obtain the Total $/Acre which can be used on the Margin Manager main page in the Plus Land Costs/Rent field. 17 AgStar Margin Manager
ProjectedMarginSchedule
This next area highlighted below is where the results are presented for you in an Income Statement format. 
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Enter any Other crop acres and production information in the bottom Production Data section. The notes section will appear on the printout, enabling you to highlight note areas for yourself or others. 18 AgStar Margin Manager
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