Putting ItAll Together

Where do I go from here? The next steps in evaluating an alternative agricultural enterprise

Sustainable Small Farming and Ranching

Financial considerations

Dig deeper

Develop a farm business plan

Developing a business plan

Nx Level’s Ag Entrepreneurship “Tilling the Soil of Opportunity”

BC Ministry of Agriculture – “Planning for Profit” enterprise series

“Planning your Business” – UI Agriculture Alternative Series (CIS 978)

Starting your farm business

Start small – try new things a little at a time.

Figure out your production and marketing on a small volume – then think about expanding.

Keep good records

You can only assess and improve how well your crops, animals and finances are doing if you know how they have been doing over time.

Read “Developing and Improving your Farm Records” U of Maryland, 1991

Production Records

Expenses for inputs, building repairs, etc.

Timing of planting, fertilizing, harvesting

Hours of labor involved in production

Volume or amounts of seed, fertilizer, etc.

Also record and assess the hidden costs or savings of doing one practice instead of another.

Marketing Records

Record costs and receipts allocated to each of your different marketing strategies.

Allocate your time and labor according to different marketing venues

Only way to evaluate effectiveness of your marketing strategy.

Research

Always attempt to answer your questions by field trials or marketing tests. Try your tests on a small scale.

UI publication “ Conduct Your Own Garden Research”

SARE brochure “How to Conduct Research on your Farm or Ranch”

Monitor your progress

Financial records will help you assess how you are doing

Monitor your progress

Assessing environmental aspects of your resources is based on soil tests and observations, presence of erosion, compaction, water quality, crop quality, animal health and more

Monitor your progress

Holistic Management is an approach to ranching and farming that has a built in monitoring approach.

Read more about Holistic Management athttp://www.holisticmanagement.org/

Continue to LEARN

Go to conferences

Join a farmer association or network

Visit other farms

MS clipart photo

Credits

Presentation developed by Cultivating Success

TM: Sustainable Small Farms Education.