Agriculture Business plan

[Zebulun]

Hello,

Being disabled, I have recently become eligible for Vocational Rehabilitation. The Voc Rehab councilor asked me what my "dream job" would be and I told her to have a self-sustained farm that will feed my family, and make us enough money to live. I explained that I don't want to be "rich" but want to be "happy" (which is of course where true wealth is!).

She told me that agriculture is something that Voc Rehab would help me with. She told me that the first thing that I need is a business plan. I have what I want written, along with statistics, but it's not in a "business plan format".

Does anyone know of a place where I can get a sample farming business plan?

I'm located in Maine if that has any bearing at all!

Thank you so much!

Crystal

[fantasymaker]

Keep us posted I wanna know how this comes out wish I could help!

[Siryet]

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/agri..._planning.html

[anniew]

Try your county's coop ext office. Some have business educators that help doing business plans. They may also have a contact with a Small Business Administration person who can help you write up a plan. SCORE (retired business people who help those getting started) people could help also. If you are going organic, MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association--not sure I got that exactly right) may be able to give you some leads.
Ann

[ShawneeVt]

You might be interested in the following book:

Building A Sustainable Business: A Guide To Developing A Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses

published by Sustainable Agricultural Network in association with the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (SARE).

Hope this helps! Very best of luck to you! ATTRA is another good resource.

peace,
shawnee at echo valley farm, Vermont, usa

[Chas in Me]

Crystal,
I don't know where in Maine you are, but it doesn't matter. First, look to your regional planning agency. They usually host a Small Business Development Center. They can help with business planning and their service is free.
Also, call Maine Department of Agriculture in Augusta, and ask to speak with anyone who works in the sustainable farming field. I don't know if they have such an office, but it may be worth asking. Also, look to your local Resource Conservation and Development office. They may have information.
All of these offices should be in your local phone book.
Good luck. I did a farm business plan for myself a couple of years ago. All it proved was that I should get a day job.
Chas

[Charleen]

You could contact your town's Chamber of Commerce. Ours had SBA reps give private instruction and guidance on starting or maintaining small businesses. The person we had was a retired business professor from the local college. This was free.

[dk_40207]

You can also look at the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) website. The have a loy of good link and there is a file "Building a Sustainable Buisness" that walks you through every aspect of it. I have found the site to be really useful. www.sare.org/publications/business.htm

Derek

[Terre d'Esprit]

Here are some links to information that I used to put together my business plan. It has been most helpful, in terms of providing a framework and goals for us to work on each year to work toward the ultimate goal of our business. It's neat, too, to see how we have completed the steps (for us, it has been ahead of schedule, so it's been very rewarding) and how far we've come.

http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/agriculture%...20BROCHURE.pdf

http://www.agmanager.info/farmmgt/pl..._Your_Farm.pdf

http://agebb.missouri.edu/mgt/farmbusplan.htm

http://www.agnr.umd.edu/MCE/Publicat...tion.cfm?ID=94

http://gnf.bigmindcatalyst.com/cgi/b...;amp;node=2275

Good luck!

T

[MaineFarmMom]

The Cooperative Extension in Maine has an ag biz plan. I just happen to have it sitting here on my desk because it's time for the once-a-year update. It's online. http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/3005.htm