Large-scale solar energy projects compete for land with agriculture, potentially leading to undesired farmland loss and appreciation. The study authors looked at more than 12,000 parcel-level farmland transactions between (2007-2021) before and after 2015 when policies like the Shared Renewables Program (SRP) boosted the demand for land for large scale solar projects.
Category: Management
General Business Management Posts.
Recommended Resource: Using Farm Assets for Retirement
Using Farm Assets for Retirement This immensely helpful and well-written guidebook by Steve Richards, published by NY FarmNet, lays out concrete strategies for planning for retirement.
To Net or Not to Net? Managing Spotted Wing Drosophila in Organic Blueberries
Heather and I have been out visiting berry farms for the past two weeks and we are right in the middle of blueberry and spotted wing drosophlia (SWD) season so this month’s Smart Marketing article from the Dyson School looking at the economics of exclusion netting in organic blueberry production was very timely.
Applying principles of Lean Management to improve your bottom line.
Lean Management is a business concept intended to improve processes and increase productivity. It can be defined as “the dynamic process of continuous improvement by empowered employees, in a culture of mutual trust and respect, focused on eliminating waste and maximizing value for our customers”
Procurement Technical Assistance Center – Help with Government Contracting
Increasingly governments and public institutions are being promoted as customers for NY-grown foods. However, most of these organizations rely on contract procurement to source goods and services. They often use bids and may have specific requirements for bidders. How do you break into this market?
Farm Financial Scorecard (Center for Farm Financial Management, University of Minnesota)
The Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota has developed a Farm Financial Scorecard that you can complete annually to help you see trends in your farm business. The scorecard uses a set of financial ratios that help you translate your information into a value that you can use to assess your farm’s performance. Ratios also have the advantage of allowing you to benchmark your performance against other farms.
Too much of a good thing? Simplifying your tasting room information could increase sales.
A 2012 study by the Dyson School looked at how descriptions on tasting sheets influenced wine sales in tasting rooms.
USDA Announces Farms Selected for Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program
On June 14, USDA announced the names of the 141 applications that received funding from the Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program (FLSP). Three farms in New York received funding under this program to support housing improvement and expansion, worker training and improved worker pay and benefits.
Guide to Starting a Business in NYS: NY Business Express
One question that I get frequently is “what do I need to do to legally start my farm as a business?” While this can be a complex question, there is a pretty good resource at the state level to help guide you through a lot of the forms, licenses, and permits you need to operate a business of any type in New York. It is called NY Business Express.
Assessing the costs and returns of on-farm food safety improvements: A survey of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) training participants.
The cost of implementation is often cited as a primary barrier to implementing food safety practices in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) on the farm. Costs include infrastructure and equipment upgrades and time and labor to implement new practices and maintain recordkeeping systems. The benefits of compliance with FSMA include maintaining and expanding existing market channel sales, accessing new markets and buyers, and strengthening of their farm brand to prospective buyers due to their food safety improvements. The researchers found the food safety benefit cost ratio for all farm size categories was above 1, indicating that, on average, the benefits of food safety improvements exceeded the costs, regardless of farm size. The average across all farms was 4.61 implying that the benefits received were 4.61 times that of their annual cost. There was a big difference between the benefit cost ratio for farms with a third-party audit (13.33) and without a third-party audit (1.57).
Crop Insurance Cost Estimator
USDA RMA has a tool to help you estimate what federal (RMA) crop insurance will cost. Here is the link to the estimator. It is not easy to find on their website and a little clunky to use, but you can compare different products head-to-head.
Using Point of Sale Data from Markets to Improve Returns
Are you using point of sale (POS) technology, like Square, in your market? With some forethought you can set up your system to not only take credit card sales and track your revenues, but also to collect data that you can use to improve your returns. Grocery stores, with the adoption of barcode scanners, use Read More…