Planning Your Small Farm for Pleasure and Profit

Planning Your Small Farm for Pleasure and Profit

Summary

This project will create and distribute an easy to use and affordable computer program to help new farmers make sound, sustainable farm plans that will enhance the economic viability of small farms. The project will merge the interests of new and beginning farmers with basic agricultural information to provide a comprehensive look at their farm, along with suggestions for the highest and best sustainable use for that farm. Participants will have customized, sustainable farm plans to guide them in making sustainable choices, a workbook for record keeping and analysis, and a glossary of basic agriculture terms.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Plan, design, develop and test computer program with approximately 100 enterprise budgets. A core team of 14 producers, sustainable agriculture and small farm experts will head the teams that will develop and design the software, notebook, farm record keeping system, farm glossary and training materials. Software will produce customized labor, capital, crop and livestock enterprise budgets along with the level of management expertise required to make their enterprises successful. Train 35 Missouri Extension Educators. 50 new/beginning farmers participate in pilot program; 15 farmers develop their own sustainable farm plans independently using the computer program; 35 farmers receive training on the computer program from Missouri Extension Educators. An additional group of ten farmers will develop a farm plan without the computer program, to serve as a control group.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Nothing to report yet. See following year annual reports.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Nothing to report yet. See following year annual reports.