Time is growing short to enroll in Kansas State University´s Management, Analysis and Strategic Thinking (MAST) Program, a four-month online program designed to help farmers and ranchers sharpen their business skills.

The deadline to enroll in the program is Oct. 31, said Alicia Goheen, MAST coordinator.

The program starts Nov. 11-12 with an orientation in Manhattan to introduce class members to each other and the instructors, as well as familiarize them with the online technology that will be used for the class.

After the orientation, the participants have about four months to work through modules online from their homes. Those modules will cover topics including Land Ownership and Leasing; Financial Analysis; Human Resources; Tax Management and Policy; Risk Management; and Marketing.

During the four months that class members are working on the modules at home, there are opportunities for them to interact via the Web with the instructors, who are all K-State Department of Agricultural Economics faculty members, Goheen said.

The modules will be completed by Feb. 9-10, when participants gather once again in Manhattan for a wrap-up session and graduation.

More details about the MAST program are available online at http://www.agmanager.info/MAST or by contacting Goheen at 785-532-4434 or agoheen@agecon.ksu.edu.