Writing a Farm Business Plan Web Course

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Taylor in Beginning Farmers, Business, Education, Management // 0 Comments

Writing a Farm Business Plan Web Course Begins in 1 Week

Whether you intend to borrow money or not, heading into a farm venture without a business plan is like setting out on a long-distance journey without a map. Arm yourself with a business plan and you will have a guide to aid your farm decision-making and demonstrate to yourself and your family that your ideas are feasible.

Take our online course, Writing a Farm Business Plan: Planning for Long-term Success, and build your business plan, including developing financial statements..

Writing a Business Plan Web Course

February 24 – March 30, 2020

Webinars on Monday Evenings

6 p.m. – 8 p.m. EST

This course is geared for new farmers as well as those expanding or transitioning from one farm enterprise to another. Before enrolling in this course you should already know the type of farm you want, some short-term and longer-term farm business goals, and the geographic area or state where you intend to farm. You should have at least some first-hand experience with farming, including personal research into the type of farm you will operate.

NOTE: If you are new to farming or are still exploring ideas, it may be helpful to take our course Starting at Square One, which focuses on farm start-up considerations for new and aspiring farmers, before enrolling in this course.

Upon completing this course, you will have a full business plan in a format ready to be implemented on the farm. The business plan may be used to guide you in decision-making in the course of running the farm business. Additionally, the business plan will be in a form ready to submit to a banker, private investor or grantor, in the event you are seeking outside funding.

Graduates of our Writing a Business Plan course have obtained equipment and operating loans, and mortgages, for start-up and expanding farms.

The bulk of the course happens on your own time, with discussions, readings, and assignments in Teachable, our online course platform. To add to the experience, webinars will be woven into the interface of the course for 6 weeks each year to allow you to meet on a weekly basis to learn from presenters and ask questions in real time. If you miss one, they are always recorded and posted for later viewing.

Meet the Instructor:

Rebecca Schuelke Staehr operates Cayuga Pumpkin Barn, a seasonal vegetable farm in Springport, Cayuga County, NY. She has worked for Cornell Cooperative Extension and the NY Farm Viability Institute. She is a past chair of CADE, the Center for Agricultural Development & Entrepreneurship. Rebecca serves on the board of the Cayuga County Farm Bureau. She has taught classes in time management for beginning farmers, starting a farmstead cheese operation, and more.