Internet Resource
for North Carolina Farmers
Organic Farm Business Planning
A successful business always includes a good business plan. A new agricultural enterprise needs to produce profits to be worthwhile for the farmer. In order to assess if a new crop or product, like organics, will work for your business you'll need to "run your numbers" and flush out the details by preparing a sound plan. The process of developing a business plan allows entrepreneurs to spot risks and pitfalls in a new idea and determine the profitability of that idea. In addition, lenders and funders may require a business plan prior to financing your operation.
Agricultural enterprise budgets act as a financial decision-making matrix wherein the farmer inputs all costs and returns to determine the profitability of a crop or livestock enterprise. Although enterprise budgets are only estimates, they provide an idea of what a farmer can expect to make when producing and selling a new crop.
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publications.
Business Planning Resources
Building a Business
Plan for your Farm: Important First Steps –
agmanager.info
http://www.agmanager.info/farmmgt/planning/Building_a_Plan_for_Your_Farm.pdf
Asheville SCORE: free professional counseling
for small businesses and enterprises
http://ashevillescore.org/
Risk Management Agency, Insurance Coverage
for Organic Crops
http://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/growingsmallfarms/04Organicinsurance.pdf
Evaluating a Rural
Enterprise, ATTRA
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/evalrural.html
Budgets, Pricing & Profitability
NCSU Agricultural & Resource Economics,
Vegetable Crop Budgets
http://www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/AgBudgets/vegetable.htm
NCSU Agricultural & Resource Economics,
Fruit Budgets
http://www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/faculty/safley/fruitbudget.html
Management Tools
for Increasing Profitability,
NCSU
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/resources/economics/ag418/
The New Farm OPX, Organic Price Index
http://www.newfarm.org/opx/
Economics of Transition
from Conventional to Organic Agriculture, NCSU
http://www.organicaginfo.org/upload/Economicpresentation.pdf
Grants
Grants Available through Organic Farming Research
Foundation
http://ofrf.org/index.html
Grants Available through Southern SARE
http://www.southernsare.uga.edu/grants.htm
Grants and Loans through NC Department of
Environment and Natural Resources
http://www.envhelp.org/html/grants_and_loans.html
NC Division of Soil and Water Conservation:
Agriculture Cost Share Program
http://www.enr.state.nc.us/DSWC/pages/agcostshareprogram.html
Loans
Self-Help Credit
Union: creating ownership
and economic opportunity to those who are
underserved by conventional lenders
http://www.self-help.org/
Mountain Microenterprise
Fund: offering small
business loans and counseling
http://www.mtnmicro.org/
Carolina Farm Credit
http://www.carolinafarmcredit.com/