Supporting Sustainable Agriculture Through Profitability Education

Commodities

• Animals: bovine, sheep
• Animal Products: meat

Practices

• Education and Training: decision support system, mentoring
• Farm Business Management: agricultural finance

Sustainable producers repeatedly cite finances as their biggest barrier to success and well-being. (Farm Stress & Decision Making During Stressful Times. Shutske, 2024).

Also, lenders make fewer loans for sustainable diversification or improvements when they do not fit the agricultural loan model (Multiple Forms of Uncertainty as a Barrier to the Adoption of Sustainable Farming Practices. Lawrence, 2015).

WSE will work with producer partners and agriculture financial experts to develop two sets of workshops addressing financial management needs identified by sustainable agriculture producers. The first workshop will focus on foundational financial practices, and the second will provide more in-depth training. The series will repeat in year two. An efficient financial analysis system (FAS) will be developed for sustainable producers and lenders to assess profitability accurately.

While the goal is to help producers create profitability, these resources will have substantially more impact if educators/advisers are trained to teach producers how to use them effectively.  The workshops will help educators better understand sustainable agriculture finance and how to utilize the FAS to train current and future producers. 

The target audience for workshops is Extension agents, secondary agriculture teachers, farmer/rancher mentors, agency and non-profit organization staff, and anyone else training others in sustainable agriculture. It also includes ranch interns in MSU’s Dan Scott Ranch Management Program who complete a financial analysis for their host rancher.

Participants will complete a survey after each workshop to determine if they learned the targeted skills and evaluate if the FAS resources are user-friendly and produce essential information. Resources will be revised as needed throughout the project.

Through this project, agriculture educators across Montana will be better equipped to help producers managing natural resources sustainably become equally resilient with their financial resources, and will reach future farmers and ranchers to build a financial foundation.

• Up to 60 agricultural educators will gain essential skills and knowledge to help teach producers how to improve profitability and overall financial management through two sets of two-part, two-day workshops between November 2025 and February 2027.
• By March 31, 2028, workshop participants will share profitability information and resources with at least 150 agriculture producers who will gain essential skills and knowledge to improve profitability.
• An effective and efficient Financial Analysis System and step-by-step instructions will be created, tested with workshop participants and producers outside the workshops, revised, and produced in finalized form by February 28, 2028, to be utilized by producers to improve profitability.
• The finalized Financial Analysis System will be available in electronic format by the end of the project period, March 31, 2028, for educators and producers to effectively and efficiently assess the profitability of any sustainable agriculture enterprise and their overall business operation.