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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.