The educational materials listed on this page are about Business Planning.
Farm business planning helps farmers turn their dream into a profitable reality. A farm business plan is essential for sustainable and alternative agricultural business owners to be successful. For instance, creating a poultry farming business plan aids producers in setting realistic goals and determining potential markets for consumers interested in pastured poultry. A cattle farm business plan could help a rancher research the feasibility of alternative processing methods and evaluate financing options. An apple business plan can help an orchard operator improve sustainability on their farm both economically and environmentally. A goat farming business plan or pastured pig farming business plan can help the farmer plan for boosted production and identify or develop specific markets for their products. Key practices include marketing management, market study, financial management, business planning, risk management, new enterprise development, land access, labor/employment, value added.
SARE’s book Building a Sustainable Business aids producers in building a sustainable and profitable business plan for their enterprise. Organic farmers will benefit from Organic Transition: A Business Planner for Farmers, Ranchers and Food Entrepreneurs. Those seeking funding information can find help in Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communities, which includes other sources of loans, grants and technical support to help their business thrive. SARE’s bulletin Marketing Strategies for Farmers and Ranchers is also useful for producers looking to expand or identify markets for their products.
Showing 1-20 of 20 results
Building Educator Confidence In Farm Law
Farm Commons, is working to build a solid legal backbone for farmers through empowered decision-making.
Iowa Meat Processors’ Resource Guidebook
A guide to building, upgrading or expanding a small meat processing facility in Iowa.
Growing the Pasture-Grazed Dairy Sector in Wisconsin
Growing the Pasture-Grazed Dairy Sector in Wisconsin is the summary report of a team of researchers, dairy farmers and chefs who conducted a comprehensive investigation of the chemical and physical properties of pasture-based milk when made into cheese, butter or other products. The group, led by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, also explored the production, […]
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 […]
Cottage Food: Launch a Bakery from Your Farm Kitchen
A farmer-led team in Wisconsin created resources to help farmers diversify their income by selling baked goods.
Non-Profit Brings Conservation Strategies to Women Landowners
The percentage of women who are sole landowners is rising, and the 2012 Census of Agriculture revealed that women farmers now control seven percent of U.S. farmland and account for three percent of sales. Bridget Holcomb, Executive Director of the Women, Food & Agriculture Network (WFAN) has been particularly concerned with women landowners, whose numbers […]
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 […]
Iowa Farmer Mechanizes Planting and Maintenance Tasks in Vegetables with Companion Plants
The Genuine Faux Farm, operated by Rob and Tammy Faux since 2004, is a small family operation that grows a wide variety of vegetables that are sold and distributed to about 120 community supported agriculture (CSA) customers. Produce also is sold via farmers’ markets and direct sales to a daycare, retirement center, and grocery store. […]
Michigan State Graduate Student Explores the Benefits of Adding Cover Crops to Vegetable Production
Cover crops can help slow erosion, improve soil, smother weeds, enhance nutrient and moisture availability, help control many pests, and bring a host of other benefits to farms across the country. Cereal-legume cover crop mixtures are of particular interest to growers because they can effectively suppress weeds, control erosion, and scavenge leachable nitrate while also […]
Farm in North Central Michigan is the First to Produce Canola Oil in the State
Dan and Bonnie Blackledge have started a canola oil business on their farm in Marion, Michigan. B & B Farms Canola Oil’s first pressing was only about 50 gallons, but it stands out as the first canola oil grown and pressed in Michigan. B & B Farms is located in central, northern Michigan about mid-way […]
Camelina: Seed to Oil Video
This short documentary follows a Minnesota family as they grow and locally press organic Camelina Oil.
Training Manual for Applied Agroforestry Practices
The Training Manual for Applied Agroforestry Practices helps to explain agroforestry practices and their applications. It is designed for natural resources professionals and landowners, and includes worksheets and exercises for use as an educational tool. Additionally, the manual is designed to assist in the decision process so that, when established or managed, the agroforestry practice is most effective at achieving the desired objectives.
Handbook for Agroforestry Planning and Design
The steps provided in the Handbook for Agroforestry Planning and Design will allow you to identify what agroforestry products can grow on your land, which of these products you can sell profitably, and how to develop basic business and marketing strategies.
Business Planning
Business planning can help alternative and sustainable agriculture entrepreneurs transform farm-grown inspiration into profitable enterprises. NCR-SARE funded research is helping farmers learn how to set goals, research processing alternatives, determine potential markets, and evaluate financing options. NCR-SARE has invested in more than 150 research and education business planning projects to help achieve the sustainability of operations and to optimize production, discover or develop markets, and enhance environmental benefits.
GAP for Urban Food Producers
This PowerPoint presentation, "Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Handling Practices (GHP) for Urban Food Producers" was created by SARE Ohio State Coordinator, Mike Hogan.
Poultry Your Way
Poultry Your Way is for anyone interested in commercially raising, processing, and marketing poultry. It is designed to help you consider alternatives, and to help you make decisions about which alternative(s) will be most compatible with your family and business goals.
Adapting Crop Share Agreements for Sustainable and Organic Agriculture
When the farming system deviates from a conventional corn-soybean rotation, the usual division of costs and returns in a 50-50 crop share lease may no longer fairly reflect the inputs of each party. This sheet demonstrates how crop share agreements can be adapted for sustainable and organic agriculture.
Considering Sustainable Agriculture on Your Rented Land
Using sustainable agriculture practices on your rented land can help protect soil and water quality, increase income over the long term, and satisfy personal values for the landowner and/or the tenant.