Fruit Farm financial summary tool to prep for disaster loans
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EmailFarm financial business summary and analysis forms are now available for farms to download.
The impacts of the 2012 Fruit Freeze and the Summer Drought have had an impact on nearly every farm in the state of Michigan on the crop production side and nearly every aspect of the farm business. In an effort to help farms compile their farms financial and basic production information a special downloadable form is now available from Michigan State University Extension.
This publication is designed to walk a farm producer through the steps to compile a balance sheet - net worth statement, income statement and gather some vital production about the farm as a whole. By putting this information together in one location, the farmer can establish how the farm did financially and do some basic benchmarking of the farms performance. Taking the time to compile your farm’s 2011 data can be one for the first steps in building a financial package that will be required for a farm to apply for either the UDSA Farm Service Agency – Disaster Loan or when available, the Michigan 1 percent Disaster Loan.
Many farms will be seeking one or both of these loans as a means to help them cover the income shortfall created by reduced crop yields as a result of the 2012 disasters. Farms are now challenged with the task of creating their own budgets and planning how they will finance their farm and family financial needs through 2012 and until the 2013 crops can be harvested and marketed.
Michigan State University Extension has several extension educators that are skilled in working with farm financial forms and helping make multi-year cash flow projections. Farms and families have a resource that they may want to utilize early in the process of building their farm financial plan and putting together the financial packages to utilize the disaster loan programs as a management tool.
Some of those resources can be found at MSU Extension News. Other resources can be found on Dennis Stein’s website, which contains a variety of farm management, fruit freeze and drought resources and links. If you have difficulty locating these resources, contact me, Dennis Stein, directly by email at: steind@anr.msu.edu to direct you to the information or resources that you are looking for.
Additional Information
- MSU Extension’s Drought Resources
- MSU Extension’s 2012 Fruit Freeze Resources
