Financial Management

Showing 1-20 of 33 results

Transitioning to Organic Production

Transitioning to Organic Production lays out many promising conversion strategies, covering typical organic farming production practices, innovative marketing ideas and federal standards for certified organic crop production.

A group of people setting nets in Micronesia

Understanding and Measuring Social Sustainability

This SARE brief defines social sustainability and illustrates how it can be addressed more clearly in SARE projects. Sample projects and quality of life indicators are provided to help grant-seekers and reviewers think broadly about understanding, measuring and describing the social impacts of research and education projects.

Plain Language Guides for New and Under-Served Producers

These plain language guides cover topics such as farm financing, accessing government programs, harvest practices and marketing. The plain language format makes this material accessible to beginning farmers, immigrants and other under-served audiences. They were produced by New Entry Sustainable Farming Project.

Cover Crop Economics

Cover crops can build soil health, control weeds, conserve moisture, provide grazing opportunities and more. But when do they start to pay for themselves? This analysis looks at the economics behind different management scenarios to determine if cover crops are likely to improve profitability in one, three or five years of use in corn and soybean rotations.

Cultivating Climate Resilience cover image

New Release: Cultivating Climate Resilience

Texas ranchers Gary and Sue Price began noticing disruptive changes in the weather about 10 years ago, with dry periods getting drier and hot periods getting hotter. So they began making management decisions that would help their ranch adapt. As a result, when the crippling drought of 2011–2012 arrived, they were able to get by. […]

Cultivating Climate Resilience on Farms and Ranches

This bulletin outlines the new challenges that changing weather patterns pose in agriculture throughout the United States, and what you can do to make your farm more resilient.

Cover of Farmers' Guild to Business Structures in blue and brown text lined with phots of farmers at the top

Farmers' Guide to Business Structures

Farmers’ Guide to Business Structures describes the fundamentals of sole proprietorships, general partnerships, limited liability companies and C, S and B corporations in straightforward language, to help you choose the best entity for your operation. Selecting the right business entity for your farm is like building the foundation of a house.

How to Conduct Research on Your Farm or Ranch

This 32-page bulletin outlines how to conduct research at the farm level, offering practical tips for both crop and livestock producers, as well as a comprehensive list of more in-depth resources.

Ensuring Sustainable Field Crop Agriculture in the Face of a Changing Climate

This curriculum on sustainable agriculture and climate change can be used with clientele, such as farmer groups. The PowerPoint presentation may be adapted to suit your needs and your region of the country. It contains a written script in the notes section. It has general information relative to all types of agriculture and a few specific resources for field crop agriculture. To help you evaluate the effectiveness of this curriculum with your clientele, the authors have included an evaluation form that you can distribute after your presentation.

Organic Transition

The profit potential of transitioning to organic production—along with other rewards—has farmers, ranchers and food business owners across the country considering the switch. But successfully managing your business through the multi-year transition process requires careful planning. Use Organic Transition: A Business Planner for Farmers, Ranchers and Food Entrepreneurs to develop an actionable business transition plan that is suitable for yourself, your management team or a lender.

Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communities

This guide lists funding opportunities offered by federal programs, and is indispensable for anyone seeking government help to foster their innovative enterprise in forestry and agriculture.

FARMDATA

FARMDATA is an online system for tracking and reporting crop production data, particularly for organic vegetable growers. The system can be used for keeping records on seeding, transplanting, harvest, cover crops, compost, fertilization, irrigation, pest scouting and spraying activities, packing, distribution and customer invoicing. FARMDATA uses smart forms that help with calculations and remember key data.