Connecticut Farm Risk Management & Crop Insurance

Resource Library

Farm Business Planning

Farm business planning involves developing goals for the business, describing approaches to achieve specific goals, and evaluating how well the goals have been achieved. Information from this process is used to revise existing goals or create new ones and identify ways to implement them. Farm business planning is an ongoing process that combines a medium- to long-range perspective with implementation and evaluation activities. The sites listed below will provide excellent help to develop a business plan.

These sites provide general information on farm business planning. Each site opens the door to an array of related topics.

http://www.ces.purdue.edu/
Purdue Extension. This site provides an excellent list of publications including but not limited to such topics as making a business better or bigger , value added agriculture and business tools.
http://www.agnr.umd.edu/MCE/Publications/Publication.cfm?ID=147
Focusing Your Dreams: Creating a Mission Statement. This publication defines the steps to create a mission statement. Mission statements are effective tools to assess and define goals and objectives.
http://www.agrisk.umn.edu
Excellent site that provides many useful publications. Click on Ag Risk Library.
http://www.firstpioneer.com/notebook/L3/farmbusplan.asp
This site reviews general business planning mistakes to avoid as well as links to other sites.
http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/ID/ID-243.pdf
Key Financial Measures for Farm General Managers. Key financial measures are important to know how you stand financially.
http://trmep.tamu.edu/cg/factsheets/rm3-20.pdf
Farm and Ranch Business Management Functions. Goal setting is important for a business to run efficiently.

These sites provide more specific information on business planning. Please refer to the brief web site description for more details.

Diversification

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/altcrops.pdf
Alternative Agronomic Crops. This article provides a guide on what to consider when expanding your crop selection to reduce risk.
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/organiccrop.pdf
Organic Crop Production Overview. A how to guide for farmers looking to diversify through incorporating organic crops in the farm.
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/entertn.pdf
Entertainment Farming and Agri-Tourism. This publication discusses agri-entertainment, a new highly consumer-focused type of agriculture.
http://ag.arizona.edu/AREC/pubs/dmkt/Bed&Breakfast.pdf
Bed and Breakfast: Hosting Travelers for Extra Income. Using a bed and breakfast to supplement your farm income.

Marketing

http://www.ag-risk.org/NCISPUBS/LAIPPUB/Artic20.htm
Managing for Profit: How One Family Succeeds. Get the inside story on how one family makes economic and marketing principles work for them.
http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/farmmgt
List of very good publications on leases and marketing.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/ae-fact/pdf/0008.pdf
Direct Marketing as a Value-Added Opportunity for Agriculture.
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1853B.pdf
Local Food Connections: From Farms to Restaurants.
http://hortmgt.aem.cornell.edu/pdf/smart_marketing/Uva%203-01.pdf
Smart Pricing Strategies. This article helps to decide what is the best price for your product.
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/agec2/mf1101.pdf
Whole Farm, Profit Objective Pricing. This article helps plan how to price commodities to make a profit that covers all expenses.
http://trmep.tamu.edu/cg/factsheets/rm1-8.pdf
Adding Value to Agricultural Products.
http://www.ag.state.co.us/mkt/MarketFoodPlan.pdf
Developing a Marketing Plan for Your Food Product.
http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/altpork.pdf
This publication suggests that sustainable hog producers consider alternative marketing approaches for their pork.