The Farmer's Office, Second Edition

The Farmer's Office, Second Edition
Author: Julia Shanks
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2024-02-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1771423811

The no-nonsense, practical guide for farm-preneurs to grow a successful farm business – completely revised and updated You launched your farm because you love working the land and producing food. Yet to succeed you also need to think like an entrepreneur. The Farmer's Office, Second Edition is your must-have toolkit for starting and growing a sustainable agricultural business. Written by a consultant and entrepreneur who has supported hundreds of farm-preneurs, this essential resource is fully revised and updated to empower readers to make sound decisions and manage their farm business for success. Topics include: How to write a business plan for a new or growing venture Detailed descriptions of accounting and business concepts Setting up and using QuickBooks for day-to-day sales and expense tracking, as well as for more complex tasks such as budgeting, cash flow analysis, cost accounting; reading financial statements Leveraging financial information to refine operations, improve profits, and develop strategies for growth Accessing financing and managing debt Adapting to external shocks and learning to pivot Planning for business growth and expansion Understanding mental blocks that can limit an entrepreneur's success. Enhanced with detailed case studies of real farm businesses, The Farmer's Office, Second Edition is your personal business coach, providing guidance for all the business skills needed to succeed as a businessperson in a competitive and rapidly changing world.

The Farmer's Office

The Farmer's Office
Author: Julia Shanks
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2016-09-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1550926101

A practical, how-to guide for farmers who want to achieve and maintain financial sustainability in their businesses When you decided to become a farmer, you also became an entrepreneur and business person. In order to be ecologically and financially sustainable, you must understand the basics of accounting and bookkeeping, and learn how to manage a growing business. Author Julia Shanks distills years of teaching and business consulting with farmers into this comprehensive, accessible guide. She covers all aspects of launching, running and growing a successful farm business through effective bookkeeping and business management, providing tools to make managerial decisions, apply for a loan or other financing, and offering general business and strategy advice for growing a business. Whether you've been farming for many years or just getting started, The Farmer's Office gives you the tools needed to think like an entrepreneur and thoughtfully manage your business for success.

Sustainable Market Farming

Sustainable Market Farming
Author: Pam Dawling
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Total Pages: 459
Release: 2013-02-01
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 1550925121

Growing for 100 - the complete year-round guide for the small-scale market grower. Across North America, an agricultural renaissance is unfolding. A growing number of market gardeners are emerging to feed our appetite for organic, regional produce. But most of the available resources on food production are aimed at the backyard or hobby gardener who wants to supplement their family's diet with a few homegrown fruits and vegetables. Targeted at serious growers in every climate zone, Sustainable Market Farming is a comprehensive manual for small-scale farmers raising organic crops sustainably on a few acres. Informed by the author's extensive experience growing a wide variety of fresh, organic vegetables and fruit to feed the approximately one hundred members of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia, this practical guide provides: Detailed profiles of a full range of crops, addressing sowing, cultivation, rotation, succession, common pests and diseases, and harvest and storage Information about new, efficient techniques, season extension, and disease resistant varieties Farm-specific business skills to help ensure a successful, profitable enterprise Whether you are a beginning market grower or an established enterprise seeking to improve your skills, Sustainable Market Farming is an invaluable resource and a timely book for the maturing local agriculture movement.

Fearless Farm Finances

Fearless Farm Finances
Author: Jody L Padgham
Publisher: Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service
Total Pages:
Release: 2017-02-01
Genre:
ISBN: 9780692801888

Fearless Farm Finances is a one-of-a-kind resource packed with instructions, tips and tools for setting up and managing a farm's financial system. The 2nd edition offers new information and templates for those setting up paper-based systems, a new chapter on farm transition, as well as a new layout and updated resources.

The Resilient Farm and Homestead

The Resilient Farm and Homestead
Author: Ben Falk
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2013
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 1603584447

The Resilient Farm and Homestead is a manual for developing durable, beautiful, and highly functional human habitat systems fit to handle an age of rapid transition. Ben Falk is a land designer and site developer whose permaculture-research farm has drawn national attention. The site is a terraced paradise on a hillside in Vermont that would otherwise be overlooked by conventional farmers as unworthy farmland. Falk's wide array of fruit trees, rice paddies (relatively unheard of in the Northeast), ducks, nuts, and earth-inspired buildings is a hopeful image for the future of regenerative agriculture and modern homesteading. The book covers nearly every strategy Falk and his team have been testing at the Whole Systems Research Farm over the past decade, as well as experiments from other sites Falk has designed through his off-farm consulting business. The book includes detailed information on earthworks; gravity-fed water systems; species composition; the site-design process; site management; fuelwood hedge production and processing; human health and nutrient-dense production strategies; rapid topsoil formation and remineralization; agroforestry/silvopasture/grazing; ecosystem services, especially regarding flood mitigation; fertility management; human labor and social-systems aspects; tools/equipment/appropriate technology; and much more, complete with gorgeous photography and detailed design drawings. The Resilient Farm and Homestead is more than just a book of tricks and techniques for regenerative site development, but offers actual working results in living within complex farm-ecosystems based on research from the "great thinkers" in permaculture, and presents a viable home-scale model for an intentional food-producing ecosystem in cold climates, and beyond. Inspiring to would-be homesteaders everywhere, but especially for those who find themselves with "unlikely" farming land, Falk is an inspiration in what can be done by imitating natural systems, and making the most of what we have by re-imagining what's possible. A gorgeous case study for the homestead of the future.

Business Advice for Organic Farmers Bundle

Business Advice for Organic Farmers Bundle
Author: Richard Wiswall
Publisher:
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2012-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781603584630

Provides step-by-step instructions on how to make crop production more efficient and offers advice on farm operations, managing employees, and office procedures, along with a DVD featuring a workshop and an interview with the author.

Farming for Us All

Farming for Us All
Author: Michael Mayerfeld Bell
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2010-11-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9780271046327

Farming for Us All gives us the opportunity to explore the possibilities for social, environmental, and economic change that practical, dialogic agriculture presents.

Farms with a Future

Farms with a Future
Author: Rebecca Thistlethwaite
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2012
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1603584382

Do you want to make your farm more dynamic, profitable, and-- above all-- sustainable? Thistlethwaite introduces readers to some of the country's most innovative farmers, in order to help you build a triple-bottom-line farming business focused on economic viability, social justice, and ecological soundness.

Making Your Small Farm Profitable

Making Your Small Farm Profitable
Author: Ron Macher
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2010-11-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1603425357

Turn your farm into a cash cow! Ron Macher offers a host of simple strategies for increasing your farm earnings, from purchasing durable equipment to growing economically viable crops. A seasoned expert in farm efficiency, Macher shows you how to locate a lucrative niche market for your products, optimize sales, and minimize costs. Whether you’re buying a new farm or jump-starting an old one, Macher’s savvy tips will help you turn your enterprise into a profitable business.

The Farm Office Handbook

The Farm Office Handbook
Author: IAgSA
Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2019-11-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1912158078

This revised and modernised Farm Office Handbook is designed to be the idea reference guide for most administrative tasks on the modern day farm. While the examples tend to refer to tasks which would be commonplace in a farm office, much of the content would also be of use to anyone working in a small business. The guide has been developed by several members of the Institute of Agricultural Secretaries whose personal experiences contribute to the straight-forward, clear approach. The handbook deals with one issue at a time, beginning simply for anyone new to the job then dealing with more complex issues as your farm office gets established. 'Top Tips' are provided at the end of each chapter to help the reader fine-tune their approach. The subjects covered are: 1 The Farm Office 2 Money and Banking 3 Purchases and Sales 4 Single-entry Cash Analysis 5 From Manual to Computerised Accounts 6 Double-entry Computerised Accounts 7 VAT 8 Year End Procedures 9 Profit & Loss Account 10 Balance Sheet 11 Management Reporting & Budgeting 12 Statutory and Assurance Records 13 Employing Staff & Payroll 14 Property & Diversification 15 The Professional Farm Administrator An extensive list of useful websites is included for anyone wishing to undertake further research. Performance indicator tables and conversion information are also included as appendices.