How Do I Prepare for Funding?
Gathering necessary business documentation, writing narrative portions, understanding funding terms, and other challenges can make applying for grants and loans daunting for any level of farmer. The resources gathered below can simplify preparing for funding.
How do I learn more about reading or creating my business’s financial statements?
What organizations can help me prepare for funding?
How do I create a business plan?
How do I find funding sources?
What records should I keep that will help me apply for funding?
How do I learn more about reading or creating my business’s financial statements?
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Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) |
This series of five video recordings focuses on financial statements, an introduction to QuickBooks, supplemental financial statements that are often requested when applying for business loans, as well as an overview of record keeping and business taxes. canr.msu.edu/resources/accounting-for-food-businesses-webinars |
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Developing and Interpreting Your Financial Statements and Measures |
Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota |
This free online training course helps producers put together and understand the information in their financial financial statements. |
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Developing and Educating Managers and New Decision-makers (DEMaND) |
The DEMaND Series helps the next generation of farm operators develop into managers and decision-makers by providing resources on financial and business management strategies. |
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This template and accompanying how-to video show how to record farm bank statements and accounting. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XANZNFtX-DraduIV7TEz1dxy2FeVuVH60iUiA9HwscI/edit#gid=691971621 |
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This publication makes basic accounting approachable for people with little or no accounting experience and encourages new farmers to develop good recordkeeping habits at the outset. |
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This collection of videos shares farm financial management videos by Florencia Colella, Farm Business Management Educator with Michigan State University Extension. mediaspace.msu.edu/channel/Florencia%20Colella%20-%20Farm%20Economics/162906181 |
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Understanding the Farm's Financial Health: Basic Components to a Successful Business |
This bulletin walks through the basic building blocks of a farm’s financial health to meet your farm goals. |
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This video series is designed for the farmer or rancher who wants to get comfortable with the basics of QuickBooks Online to take their farm or ranch business to the next level. californiafarmlink.org/resource-library/video-series-farmers-using-quickbooks-sign-up |
What organizations can help me prepare for funding?
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Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) |
CRFS advances research, education and outreach to develop regionally integrated, sustainable food systems. |
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Crosshatch is building thriving place-based cultures and economies centered around regenerative agriculture, arts, craft, and light industry. |
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Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund is a coalition with a collective mission to rebuild inter-generational land ownership for Black Farmers in Detroit. |
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Michigan Good Food Fund provides flexible financing and tailored business assistance to support the success of food and farm entrepreneurs and to grow a more resilient, inclusive local food system. |
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MIFFS connects beginning and historically underserved farmers to resources and peer networks and provides food safety/ GroupGAP and USDA navigation materials. |
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SCORE fosters vibrant small business communities through mentoring and education. |
How do I create a business plan?
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This webinar guides farmers through the essential components of a strong, resilient organic farm business plan. |
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Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota |
This free tool for individual use was developed to help businesses develop a business plan. |
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Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farm and Rural Businesses |
U.S. Department of Agriculture Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education |
This guide brings the business planning process alive to help today's alternative and sustainable agriculture entrepreneurs transform farm-grown inspiration into profitable enterprises. |
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This program provides multi-crop vegetable farmers with a step-by-step process for determining their crop-specific costs of production and a framework for using cost of production information for business decision-making. |
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This training is designed to give food entrepreneurs the information needed to operate a successful food business. https://www.canr.msu.edu/courses/starting-a-commercial-food-business |
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Emerging Farmers Learning Series — Financial Fluency: How to Read the Numbers |
Andy Larson of Food Finance Institute led this presentation on basic business accounting and business management. canr.msu.edu/resources/emerging-farmers-learning-series-finance |
How do I find funding sources?
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Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) |
The Funding Sources for Food-Related Businesses is a directory created to support and benefit food-related businesses. |
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This guide explores how to participate in USDA programs, how to find a service center, and how to get the most from your visit. |
What records should I keep that will help me apply for funding?
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These tools assist with keeping good farm records and will help farmers develop enterprise and whole-farm budgets. |
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These videos focus on building enterprise budgets including the cost of production and profit. https://www.canr.msu.edu/videos/enterprise-budgeting-for-beginning-farm-decision-makers |
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This resource folder is an educational toolkit designed to help farmers, ranchers, and fishers prepare for tax season. |
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This video is one in a series to introduce farmers to the farm business financial management model. farms.extension.wisc.edu/articles/collecting-and-organizing-records/ |
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This fact sheet sheds light on the record keeping process, outlining how to keep records and what information ought to be kept. smallfarms.cornell.edu/guide/guide-to-farming/record-keeping/ |
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This collection of tools for record keeping assists farmers in record-keeping, an aspect of good farm management and may also be a requirement for many FSA programs. |
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How Organized Farm Records Make Life Easier And Get You Funded Faster |
Running a successful farm business today takes more than strong hands and early mornings. It takes data. It takes smart decision-making. And most of all, it takes organized farm record-keeping. farmraise.com/blog/how-organized-farm-records-make-life-easier-and-get-you-funded-faster |
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This guide shows farmers how to track inputs and labor to discover profit margin or breakeven costs by crop. extension.umn.edu/managing-farm-business/recordkeeping-specialty-crops |
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Recordkeeping Instructions and Templates for Small-Scale Fruit and Vegetable Growers |
This toolkit includes easy-to-follow instructions and templates to help small-scale fruit and vegetable growers keep accurate farm records. |
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This program provides accounting and financial analysis support to farmers across the state of Michigan. We help take your farm records to the next level. |
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