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Define your land ethic
Assessment Strategies
Written Product
Criteria
Use Aldo Leopold’s vision for land ethic
Demonstrate the connection to your business plan
Develop your land ethic in connection with the principles of sustainable agriculture
Explain how you demonstrate your land ethic in your farm management
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Differentiate the farm business from other businesses.
Assessment Strategies
Written product
Criteria
Relate impact of weather to the farm business
Describe how the supply and demand process impacts a farm business
Determine correct market or markets for a farm product
Identify the value of owner time and labor in farm business
Evaluate factors impacting capital expenses (such as land, buildings)
Prioritize time around duties of a farm including financial management
Determine business responsibilities and assistance available from federal, state and local agencies (licensing, tax implications, zoning)
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Create a vision for a farm business.
Assessment Strategies
Written product- Mission statement and goals
Criteria
Explain the purpose and characteristics of an executive summary in business planning
Identify personal/individual family farm goals
Mission statement defines your business
Mission statement is short enough to be remembered
Farm goals are realized and measurable
Goals are prioritized and complimentary to the mission statement
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Analyze components of a farm business.
Assessment Strategies
Written product- Farm business description
Criteria
Identify the location of a farm business; include map
Describe the ownership and legal structure
Describe the history, highlighting important events and changes in size, sales and profitability
Describe the top challenges of a farm business in the last five years
Describe the size, type and condition of farm facilities and equipment
Identify the crops, livestock, or other products of a farm business
Identify the number of acres owned and/or rented and size of facilities
Specify the number of head of livestock, if applicable
Describe the workers: you, family members, or hired labor
You fulfill minimum requirements in AgPlan-Business Description
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Evaluate farm operations.
Assessment Strategies
Written product or graphic illustration
Criteria
Identify primary products of a farm
Identify primary services of a farm, if applicable
Specify how products of a farm business are produced and how much is produced
Identify the farm's inventory management process
Describe the farm's quality control process
Summarize the customer service chain of command
Describe how the farm complies with regulations and obtains permits
You fulfill minimum requirements of AgPlan-Operations
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Apply marketing principles to a farm business.
Assessment Strategies
Written product- Farm Business Plan
Criteria
Identify current and projected consumer demand for a farm product or service
Describe how trends in demographics, technology, labor, food consumption, and safety contribute to the growth or shrinkage of demand for a farm product
Examine global influences on the demand for farm product
Describe where farm products are sold
Identify important potential markets for a farm product
Describe how contracts with processors, other producers, value-added ventures, or retail markets affect production
Calculate gross revenue derived from contract production
Calculate amount of pre-harvest product and post-harvest store
Identify key strategic partners or alliances
You fulfill minimum requirements in AgPlan-Marketing Plan
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Conduct a farm business competition analysis.
Assessment Strategies
Written product- Farm Business Plan
Criteria
Identify business competitors
Describe how a product compares to competitor's product
Compare production costs for a product and a competitor's product
Compare level of market access for a product and a competitor's product
Identify market strengths for a farm product
You fulfill minimum requirements in AgPlan-Marketing Plan
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Build a personnel plan for a farm business.
Assessment Strategies
Written product and/or chart- Farm Business Plan and Personnel Plan
Criteria
List the members of a farm management team with their qualifications and roles
Identify major management functions needed for farm business success
Identify any management gaps
Describe how a board of directors functions and oversees the management, if applicable
Describe how an advisory board functions and oversees the management, if applicable
Chart the major tasks (operations, marketing, financial) and identify who is responsible for each task and how many employees work in each area
Identify any new positions or functions and hiring strategies to fill the positions
Describe the process used to create and manage job descriptions, compensation plans, incentive plans, employee handbooks, and training procedures
Assess the need for hired services or consultants; make recommendations
You fulfill minimum requirements in AgPlan-Marketing Plan and Organization
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Evaluate the solvency and liquidity of a farm business.
Assessment Strategies
Written product- Farm Business Plan and balance sheet
Criteria
Balance sheet documents how funds are invested in the business
Balance sheet document financing methods (liabilities and owner equality)
Balance sheet documents the net worth to debt to asset ratio
Balance sheet documents liquid assets, cash reserves and operating loans (including pay off)
Describe the change in net worth in the past 3-5 years, if applicable
You fulfill minimum requirements in AgPlan- Financial Plan
You use FINPACK agricultural financial software or a balance sheet template
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Predict the financial position of a farm business.
Assessment Strategies
Written product- Farm Business Plan
Criteria
Document key financial production measures from the past 3 to 5 years
Show trends for yields, production levels, net farm income, and other measures from the past 3 to 5 years
Summarize an income statement and net farm income
Describe the rate of return on assets
Explain reasons for financial changes over time
Predict adjustments to make in the future to prevent negative consequences
Develop a projected cash flow
Develop a projected income statement
Develop a projected balance sheet
Create monthly cash flow budget
Create enterprise budgets for each farm enterprise (crops, animals, feed, services)
Describe how capital assets are acquired and managed (purchase, lease, hire, rent)
Match machinery line to size of the farm business
Address the impact of off-farm assets, such as retirement and other investments, if applicable
Compare a farm business performance to a similar business (benchmarking)
You access agricultural benchmarking data such as the FINBIN database www.finbin.umn.edu.
You fulfill minimum requirements in AgPlan-Financial Plan
You use FINPACK agricultural financial software or a balance sheet template