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Farm Management Essay

Paper Type: Free Essay Subject: Management
Wordcount: 5059 words Published: 1st Jun 2020

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Farm Management

Assess the current capacity of ‘Holly Farm’ and critically evaluate the optional ways of achieving the intended growth in the number of visitors, bearing in mind that capital investment is not available, although self-financing revenue earning ventures can be considered.

1. Introduction

This piece examines the case of Holly Farm, and the plan proposed by Gillian Giles to attempt to boost the number of visitors attending the farm. Holly Farm is currently quite a successful example of a farm that has diversified into visitor activities to boost its overall revenue levels. However, the farm has now reached a point at which visitor levels are relatively steady, and hence the farm is failing to grow its revenue significantly. This piece will thus investigate the current situation at the farm, including the current visitor numbers and the projected capacity for the farm. This data will then be used to determine the extent to which the farm can try to attract more visitors and the strategies that could be used to achieve this. This analysis will take place assuming that the farm is unable to raise further capital investment, other than through additional services that will also generate revenue.

2. Analysis and current situation

Car park capacity

 

Coach spaces

6

Car spaces

40

Average visitors per coach

35

Average visitors per car

3

Daily coach visitor capacity

210

Daily car visitor capacity

120

Total daily capacity

330

 

Current visitor numbers

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

Total

Visitors

1,200

1800

2800

3200

3400

1800

600

14,800

Days open

16

16

16

16

16

16

16

112

Weekend days open

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

56

Week days open

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

56

Average weekend day visitors

100

150

233

267

283

150

50

176

Average weekday day visitors

50

75

117

133

142

75

25

88

                 

Daily car park capacity

330

330

330

330

330

330

330

330

Weekend utilisation

30.3%

45.5%

70.7%

80.8%

85.9%

45.5%

15.2%

53.4%

Weekday utilisation

15.2%

22.7%

35.4%

40.4%

42.9%

22.7%

7.6%

26.7%

                 

Daily milking parlour capacity

200

200

200

200

200

200

200

200

Weekend milking parlour visitors

80

120

187

213

227

120

40

141

Weekday milking parlour visitors

40

60

93

107

113

60

20

70

Weekend utilisation

40.0%

60.0%

93.3%

106.7%

113.3%

60.0%

20.0%

70.5%

Weekday utilisation

20.0%

30.0%

46.7%

53.3%

56.7%

30.0%

10.0%

35.2%

The analysis of the current situation is based on the following assumptions:

  • On average, each coach visiting the farm will contain 35 visitors, and each car will contain 3 visitors. This is to account for the number of single parent families and families with only one child that may visit the farm.
  • The proportion of visitors by coach and by car are roughly proportional to the respective visitor capacity for coach and car visitors
  • The car and coach spaces cannot be used flexibly, i.e. coaches cannot park in the car spaces and vice versa
  • The milking sheds can support 80 people per hour for a period of two and a half hours, thus they have a daily capacity of 200
  • The visitors are spread roughly evenly throughout each month
  • 90% of visitors arrive after 12:30pm, and the visitors that arrived before 12:30pm at still there at this time. As such, around 1pm all visitors to the farm are at the farm and hence all need a car park space

The analysis indicates that the farm is currently very close to its maximum visitor capacity in July and August, with 80.8% and 85.9% capacity utilisation in the car park on these days. With 80% of visitors going to the milking parlour, the parlour itself is already over capacity on these days, with capacity utilisation levels of 106.7% and 113.3% respectively. It must be assumed therefore that some visitors that would have liked to have visited the milking sheds were unable to do so due to the capacity constraints.

3. Different scenarios

Two primary scenarios have been considered. The first is where the farm engages in widespread promotional activity designed to boost overall levels of attendance by 50%. The second is where the farm engages in targeted promotional activity designed to encourage school visits during the week, thus boosting weekday attendance levels by 50%. The analysis for these two scenarios is shown below:

3.1 Boost visitor demand by 50% on all days

Projected visitor numbers

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

Total

Visitors

1,800

2,700

4,200

4,800

5,100

2,700

900

22,200

Days open

16

16

16

16

16

16

16

112

Weekend days open

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

56

Week days open

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

56

Average weekend day visitors

150

225

350

400

425

225

75

264

Average weekday day visitors

75

113

175

200

213

113

38

132

                 

Daily car park capacity

330

330

330

330

330

330

330

330

Weekend utilisation

45.5%

68.2%

106.1%

121.2%

128.8%

68.2%

22.7%

80.1%

Weekday utilisation

22.7%

34.1%

53.0%

60.6%

64.4%

34.1%

11.4%

40.0%

Actual average weekend day visitors

150

225

330

330

330

225

75

238

Actual average weekday day visitors

75

113

175

200

213

113

38

132

Total weekend day visitors

1200

1800

2640

2640

2640

1800

600

13320

Total weekday day visitors

600

900

1400

1600

1700

900

300

7400

Total visitors

1800

2700

4040

4240

4340

2700

900

20720

                 

Daily milking parlour capacity

200

200

200

200

200

200

200

200

Weekend milking parlour visitors

120

180

264

264

264

180

60

190

Weekday milking parlour visitors

60

90

140

160

170

90

30

106

Weekend utilisation

60.0%

90.0%

132.0%

132.0%

132.0%

90.0%

30.0%

95.1%

Weekday utilisation

30.0%

45.0%

70.0%

80.0%

85.0%

45.0%

15.0%

52.9%

It should be noted that, for this scenario, as the capacity of the car park is limited to around 330 people per day, some visitors who wish to visit the farm on weekends in July and August will be unable to do so. The farm will thus have maximum average daily weekend visitor numbers during these months of 330. A plan should thus be put in place to manage capacity on these days, and ensure that visitors do not travel a long way only to find there is no space in the car park. 

3.2 Boost visitor demand by 50% for weekdays only

 

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Projected visitor numbers