Home » Farm Business Management

Farm Business Management

The educational materials listed on this page are about Farm Business Management.

Growing and selling products profitably is critical to an agriculture business, but there are other aspects that are essential to farm business management. While it is difficult to find grants to start a farm, operating or starting a farm require a basic understanding of ag credit, including FSA loans (and other farm loans), and how to obtain farm credit for an agriculture loan. Savvy producers understand agricultural finance and agricultural accounting, and keep a close eye on farm finances. Farmers need to understand agricultural marketing and may need to know demand for a specific crop, such as with apple marketing. Starting a small farm may include finding land through FarmLink. While some new farmers may get started with a farm internship, others may useless formal farming training or more formal agriculture education. Ultimately, farmers also need to learn about farm labor, farm labor laws or farm succession planning at some point in their career. Key practices include marketing management, financial management, community-supported agriculture, risk management, agricultural finance, whole farm planning, farm succession, land access, labor/employment.

SARE’s bulletin Scaling Up Your Vegetable Farm for Wholesale Markets offers alternatives for producers to market their products through unconventional channels. Building a Sustainable Business aids producers in developing a sustainable and profitable business plan for their enterprise. Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communities gives producers options for agricultural loans, grants and technical expertise. Farmers looking to transition to organic will find Organic Transition: A Business Planner for Farmers, Ranchers and Food Entrepreneurs useful for business planning.

Showing 1-20 of 42 results

Groundwork: A Missouri Farm Family’s Transition to Regenerative Practices

Nieder Farms in Krakow, Missouri, has been operated by the Nieder family since it was founded in the 1870s, raising livestock and poultry throughout its 140-year history. When fifth-generation owners Trisha Nieder and Daniel Gonzalez returned to the family farm with their two sons, the whole family realized they needed innovative ideas to tackle the […]

Student Cooperative Start-Up Toolkit

This practical, digital toolkit was created by Ohio State University for educators and community members who are interested in building a student-led cooperative approach to an agricultural enterprise. The toolkit includes learning activities about agricultural cooperatives, sustainable agriculture, and agricultural marketing, as well as strategies and tools for developing a student-led cooperative model, an agribusiness […]

Getting Started in Agritourism Checklist

This checklist guides agritourism business owners through best management practices when hosting on-farm visitors. It was developed by Iowa State University. It includes sections on legal considerations, food regulations, visitor accommodations, farm emergency preparedness, biosecurity, pesticide safety, public play area safety, employee management and marketing practices.

Agricultural Justice Project Toolkit

The Agricultural Justice Project (AJP) Toolkit provides comprehensive guidance and resources for building fair and accountable businesses and workplaces that support workers, small-scale farmers, and communities.

Internship Curriculum for Food Farmers in the North Central Region

With support from an NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher Grant, Betrand Farm developed 24 educational PowerPoint modules that can serve as an educational curriculum for farmers in the North Central Region to use to train interns in sustainable and profitable food-growing practices.  The modules have been combined and uploaded here as a single PDF. The individual curriculum modules […]

Creating Change in the Food System: The Role of Regional Food Networks in Iowa

In Creating Change in the Food System, the authors present a case study of an integrated effort to build long-term local and regional food commerce in Iowa using a community of practice approach. This report, authored by Rich Pirog of Michigan State University's Center for Regional Food Systems and Corry Bregendahl of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture […]

Urban Farm Evaluates Value-Added Production

On a three-acre urban farm in northeast Grand Rapids, Michigan, Lance Kraai is growing produce and jobs. In 2012, Kraai helped start New City Neighbors urban farm to expand the non-profit’s already successful youth employment work. Beyond growing and selling produce to their 200 member CSA, Kraai has explored profitable value-added opportunities available for the […]

Feasibility, Planning, and Purchase of Mobile Processing Unit (MPU)

Pasture poultry, with its quick turn-around and minimal equipment needs can be attractive to small farmers looking to diversify their farming operations. Chris Sramek is a pasture poultry producer and a member of the High Plains Food Co-op (HPFC); in 2013, customer interest in their poultry was so high that the producer members were unable […]

Adjusting your Farm Plan to Avoid the Bumps in the Road

The Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota (SFA) supports the development and enhancement of sustainable farming systems through farmer-to-farmer networking, innovation, demonstration, and education. In 2012, SFA received a $165,294 NCR-SARE Research and Education grant to work on two programs, Adjust 2015 and the New Farm Reality Check™. Through paid surveys and interviews with beginning farmers, […]

Mobile Farmers Market

Dream of Wild Health — a program of Peta Wakan Tipi — was established in 1998 as a way to “promote health in the Native community by expanding knowledge of and access to healthy indigenous foods and medicines.” At the Dream of Wild Health Farm they grow rare, indigenous seeds that have been gifted to […]

Managing Drought Risk On the Ranch

Producers throughout the nation continue to grow increasingly concerned about water scarcity. Farmers, ranchers, and agricultural educators are exploring new approaches to the challenges associated with water shortage and drought. The National Drought Mitigation Center, (NDMC) based in Lincoln, NE, has a mission of “helping people and institutions develop and implement measures to reduce societal […]

Multi-Farm Cooperative Model

In 2013, Monica Bongue received an NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher grant to develop a small farm cooperative food distribution model in Wooster, Ohio. By 2014, Bongue and a group of farmers formed a not-for-profit cooperative registered in the state of Ohio as Farm Roots Connection Cooperative. The multi-farm Farm Roots Connection Cooperative CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) […]

Profitable Rabbit Production

Rabbit meat is high in protein and low in fat, cholesterol, and sodium when compared to most of the meats eaten in the U.S. Rabbit meat has great potential to feed people in developing countries and could be promoted in the U.S. as a healthful, natural meat and a small farm asset (Fanatico, Anne. “Rabbit […]