Set Your Own Goals
- Set long-term goals: Think about quality of life and what land/production will help you achieve it. Consider:
- annual income
- enterprises
- methods of production
- quantity and quality of production
- Set short term objectives that will move your toward your long-term goals
Run the Cash Flow
- Consider: How will one enterprise support or feed off another? What happens if something goes wrong in one or more enterprises?
- Test some scenarios to adjust for a potential 10 percent sale price decline or 10 percent loss of production
Consider Your Plan
- Farming Experience: Where, what type, to what extent do you have experience/knowledge that you can follow through with getting the job done as proposed?
- Rental Arrangements: Will there be rental arrangements used? How will they support your goals?
- Downpayment: Do you have savings or other resources to commit or place at risk to achieve your goals?
- Previous Ownership/Management: Have you previously owned or managed significant property that demonstrates your ability to undertake the proposed responsibility of assets to be owned and managed by you?
- Improved vs. Unimproved Real Estate: Is it cost effective? Do you have the skills, financing or time to build facilities?
- Collateral Thinking: What do you have to pledge as security or trade should something go desperately wrong?
Other Resources:
Find out more about sources of funding for beginning farmers and ranchers.
Contact Wyatt Fraas, wyattf@cfra.org or 402.254.6893 for more information on Center for Rural Affairs' beginning farmer programs.
