Mary SobbaAgriculture Business Specialist

Using Spreadsheets in Agriculture

What is a spreadsheet

A program that uses a computer to perform numeric calculations rapidly and accurately. It has a worksheet area divided into rows and columns. The intersection where they meet is called a cell. A cell can contain numbers, text or a forumula.

Types

• Quattro Pro by Corel

• Excel by Microsoft

• Works by Microsoft

• Lotus by Lotus

Why Excel?

• Universal

• Popular

• Can open many types of files

Potential Uses

• Equipment Inventory

• Balance Sheet

• Amortization

• Field Records

• Ratio Calculations

• Grain Inventory

• Breakeven Analysis

• Lease vs. Purchase

• Budgeting

• Machinery Economics

• and more

Spreadsheets Can…

• Solve math equations• Sort numeric or alphabetic• Chart data

Where to find spreadsheets

• FAST tools• MU AgEBB http://agebb.missouri.edu/

– (then click on File Sharing)

• Other Universities• Build your own

Becareful where you download! You want a reputable source.

Questions?

Mary Sobba(573) 581-3231sobbam@missouri.edu