What is It?
Ag Decision Maker is a decision-oriented agricultural business web site designed for farmers, lenders, farm managers, agriculture instructors, and others. Ag Decision Maker is written by economics and farm management specialists at Iowa State University and other Universities and institutions across the mid-west.
Newsletter Articles
A monthly Newsletter provides analysis and insight into many of the issues facing modern agriculture. All of the Newsletter Articles appearing in Ag Decision Maker since its inception in October of 1996 are available at this site.
Information Files (fact sheets) provide a concise written description and explanation of the subject matter. A PDF version  of the Information File is also available (preferred format when printing). Some files also include companion tools. An audio and visual presentation of the information is provided in the Voiced Media Presentation. Decision Tools are available to do economic analysis for your individual situation. And Teaching Activities are available for classroom instruction.
 Decision Tools (electronic spreadsheets) are for on-line computation (icon shown at the left). You can enter your own figures into the spreadsheet to conduct an analysis for your individual situation and then save the analysis as a file on your computer.
 Teaching Activities can be used in the classroom (icon shown at the left). Students can complete the Teaching Activities from information provided in the Information Files and save it as a word file on their computer or send it to their instructor. Many of the Teaching Activities have Answer Keys at a secure location on this web site that provide answers to the Teaching Activities for instructors and others. Contact Ag Decision Maker for the “username” and “password” to access the Answer Keys.
 Voiced Media Presentations provide an audio and visual presentation of the information contained in the corresponding Information File. It can be used in completing the corresponding Decision Tool and/or Teaching Activity. You can view the entire presentation or just a part of the presentation by clicking on the respective slide. To view these presentations, Adobe Flash Player is required.
How to Use It
There is a navigation bar to the left of your screen to allow easy access to Ag Decision Maker.
- AgDM by Author -- allows you to find current and past newsletter articles and current information files by author.
- AgDM by Subject Matter -- allows you to find current and past newsletter articles and current information files by subject matter.
The navigation structure provides a detailed listing and quick access to Information Files by Subject Matter.
Alternatively, choose " text-only ".
 To view pdf files, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Adobe offers PDF conversion tools for blind and visually impaired users at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_onlinetools.html.
 To open Adobe Voiced Media presentations, you will need to download Adobe Flash Player.
To print out files:
Netscape:
click within the frame you would like to print - go to "File" - "Print Frame"
Explorer:
Go to File - Print - options: choose from "as laid out on screen" or "only the selected frame" or "all frames individually"
Subscriptions
Hard-Copy
Ag Decision Maker subscriptions are available in printed hardcopy or on CD-ROM.
A hardcopy subscription to the Ag Decision Maker Handbook includes the following:
- Handbook -- A handbook filled with over (150 files) 430 pages of ag business information.
- Newsletter -- A one year subscription to the six-page, monthly newsletter
- Handbook Updates -- Update of out-of-date handbook files (included with monthly newsletter). Over 100 pages of material are updated throughout the year.
The initial cost of Ag Decision Maker is $150 plus $10 for shipping and handling (includes handbook and one year subscription to newsletter and handbook updates). The subscription rate for subsequent years is $100 a year (includes newsletter and handbook updates).
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM subscription to Ag Decision Maker is $80/year and includes a CD that is updated twice a year. The Ag Decision Maker CD-ROM includes all the information on the web site quicker and easier than your internet connection may allow. This includes the Teaching Activities and Decision Tools (spreadsheets) which are included only on the CD-ROM or with the internet version of Ag Decision Maker (www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm).
To subscribe to Ag Decision Maker, complete the form (pdf) and return to the address at the bottom of the page. For questions, call (515) 294-4197, or e-mail agdm@iastate.edu.
Questions about It
If you have any questions, please contact one of us below.
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Don Hofstrand
William Edwards 
Ann M. Johanns
Trece Lonneman
Liisa Järvinen