UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Hispanic Farmers And Agricultural Producers In The United States, Latin America And The Caribbean Have A New Tool For Developing Strong, Viable Agricultural Operations, As A Result Of A Joint Effort Among Penn State's College Of Agricultural Sciences, The University Of Minnesota And The University Of Costa Rica.

FINPACK, a nonprofit farm management software package, helps farmers to easily generate balance sheets, cash-flow needs, long-range projections and other financial reports, creating an in-depth look at a farm's financial strengths and weaknesses. Developed by the University of Minnesota, this tool now is available to Hispanic farmers, thanks to the efforts of Gregory Hanson, Penn State professor of agricultural economics.

After developing a Spanish-language version of the software, Hanson joined forces with others in the College of Agricultural Sciences to launch the software through a partnership with the University of Costa Rica.

"Many English-speaking farmers in this country have been using the software since the '70s," Hanson says. "It helps them make better financial decisions. With FINPACK, they prepare a plan for the year. Banks can plug that plan right into their own FINPACK program and can modify, approve or reject it. I've found that when farmers create a software-based financial plan, they typically can save up to $400 per month and realize $3,000 to $4,000 more profit per year.

"We had the vision of taking this powerful farm-management tool into the Spanish-speaking market in the United States and Latin America. We did the translation and are taking the lead on marketing it."

Hanson says this innovation can indirectly help Pennsylvania agriculture, as trade with Central America and the Caribbean Basin increases.

"More than 200 million people in that region like our dairy, corn, wheat, poultry and other products," says Hanson. "Of course, American consumers enjoy coffee, bananas, pineapples and other products from the region and will benefit when farmers there become more efficient business managers. So this project is a win-win situation for Pennsylvania farmers and consumers as well as those in Costa Rica. It can make our existing trading relationships stronger and better."

Hanson's past experiences with Costa Rica, as well as Costa Rican graduate students at Penn State, opened the way for Penn State to team with the University of Costa Rica and Costa Rica's Ministry of Agriculture. He says Costa Rica has the strongest land-grant educational tradition -- and some of the best trained and educated people -- in the Caribbean Basin.

"After World War II, Costa Rica gave up its standing army and invested in education, so it has a literacy rate higher than many of the countries in the region," he says. "It's also a small country, so it's relatively easy to partner with the various government and university institutions there. Success in Costa Rica provides a launching pad for the rest of the Caribbean Basin."

Penn State expedited introduction of the software in Costa Rica by establishing a computer laboratory at the University of Costa Rica in San Jose, with eight laptop computers outfitted with Spanish FINPACK on loan from Penn State. The college's Office of International Programs, Penn State Cooperative Extension and the college's department of agricultural economics and rural sociology jointly financed the effort.

"Greg Hanson had the vision for this project, articulated it clearly and forcefully, and provided leadership to make it a reality," says Theodore Alter, director of Penn State Cooperative Extension and associate dean of the college. "The University of Costa Rica is excited about being the launch pad for Spanish FINPACK. Penn State Cooperative Extension and the College of Agricultural Sciences are providing the infrastructure needed to carry out the training and technical support that goes with using this type of software package, as well as support to help strengthen the University of Costa Rica. As part of our commitment to Spanish FINPACK, the college stepped in to help establish the training and technical support center."

Hanson explains that Costa Rican officials appreciate the importance of the software, and have responded with high-level governmental involvement.

"We met with their vice-minister of agriculture," he says. "The ministry was supportive and willing to invest resources for the success of the project. The Universidad de Costa Rica was celebrating its 75th anniversary, so they made our visit a universitywide event with national press and government officials in attendance."

The deputy administrator of USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service accompanied the Penn State delegation to assist in the rollout there, and the USDA's Hispanic Advisory Council will assist with the rollout plan for Pennsylvania and the United States. Deanna Behring, director of international programs for the college, explains that the Spanish translation of FINPACK fits with USDA and Penn State interest in serving a changing state and national population.

"Pennsylvania's Hispanic population grew by 70 percent in the last 10 years, and Hispanics are the fastest-growing group of farmers in the country," she says. "So, while we're reaching out to Costa Rica, we're also making an effort to serve the growing clientele in our own backyard. They need a product that they can understand -- that's in their language -- to manage their farms.

"We anticipate that this will help develop better markets for Pennsylvania farm products in the Caribbean Basin. And it will help put Hispanic producers in Pennsylvania on the same playing field as the English-speaking farmers in terms of working with good software and managing their farms better."

For more information on Spanish FINPACK or the Penn State initiative, contact Gregory Hanson by phone at 814-865-6362 or by e-mail at gdh3@psu.edu.

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EDITORS: Contact Gregory Hanson at 814-865-6362 or Deanna Behring at 814-863-0249.

Contact: Gary Abdullah gxa2@psu.edu 814-863-2708 814-863-9877 fax #121