The Organic Farmer's Business Handbook

Contrary to pop­u­lar belief, a good liv­ing can be made on an organ­ic farm. What’s required is farm­ing smarter, not harder.

In The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, Richard Wiswall shares advice on how to make your veg­etable pro­duc­tion more effi­cient, bet­ter man­age your employ­ees and finances, and turn a prof­it. From his twen­ty-sev­en years of expe­ri­ence at Cate Farm in Vermont, Wiswall knows first­hand the joys of start­ing and oper­at­ing an organ­ic farm — as well as the chal­lenges of mak­ing a liv­ing from one. Farming offers fun­da­men­tal sat­is­fac­tion from pro­duc­ing food, work­ing out­doors, being one’s own boss, and work­ing inti­mate­ly with nature. But, unfor­tu­nate­ly, many farm­ers avoid learn­ing about the busi­ness end of farm­ing; because of this, they often work hard­er than they need to or quit farm­ing alto­geth­er because of frus­trat­ing — and often avoid­able — losses.

In this com­pre­hen­sive busi­ness kit, Wiswall covers:

• Step-by-step pro­ce­dures to make your crop pro­duc­tion more efficient
• Advice on man­ag­ing employ­ees, farm oper­a­tions, and office systems
• Novel mar­ket­ing strategies
• What to do with your prof­its: busi­ness spend­ing, invest­ing, and plan­ning for retirement

A com­pan­ion CD offers valu­able busi­ness tools, includ­ing easy-to-use spread­sheets for pro­ject­ing cash flow, a pay­roll cal­cu­la­tor, com­pre­hen­sive crop bud­gets for forty dif­fer­ent crops, and tax planners.