Farm Financial Management Resources

Successfully accessing appropriate capital to grow or sustain your farm business takes focus and dedication. Below, you will find resources on farm financing solutions that will help you develop the skills and understand the steps needed to analyze, assess, prepare for, and manage farm financial risk. Resource topics on this page include:

Learning From Others   Financial Terminology

 Becoming “Finance Ready”

 Determining Appropriate Financing for Your Business  

 Financing Sources for Farms    

Learning From Others [who successfully used capital to advance their farm businesses]

   

   

These videos introduce several local farm financiers - check out additional financing resources in the Financing Sources for Farms section below.

More Resources to Learn From Others:

High Mowing Organics Seeds Case Study on convertible debt

Bread and Butter Farm Case Study on a complex land purchase

Liz Lovely Case Study on royalty financing

The Carrot Project’s Making It Happen: Profitability and Success case studies

CISA’s Farm Business Decision Making – Lessons from Farm Owners

UVM Extension’s Guide to Financing the Community Supported Farm

Coastal Enterprises Inc.: Success Stories

Financial Terminology

CISA’s Financial Management 101: Financial Statements

Penn State Extension’s Financial and Economic Terms

Penn State Extension’s Calculating the “Sweet 16” Farm Financial Measures

Julia Shanks Food Consulting Glossary of Business Terms

Becoming “Finance-Ready”: record keeping, communicating with lenders, credit scores

Webinar on Capturing and Organizing Farm Data with Chris Blanchard

Creating a Cabbige Account with Jessica Angell

Workshop on “Farming Smarter” with Richard Wiswall

Workshop on “Quickbooks for Farmers” with Julia Shanks

Webinar on Record Keeping for Organic Certification 

The Carrot Project's Farm Financial Calendar Tool

Webinar on how to use The Carrot Project's Farm Financial Calendar Tool

New Entry’s Guide to Applying for an FSA Loan

Julia Shanks Food Consulting Video Tutorials & Webinars

The Carrot Project's Farmer Resources

CISA’s Financial Management 101: Tips on Receiving a Loan

Northeast Beginning Farmers Project: Plan Your Farm

UC Davis Small Farm Program: How to Finance a Small Farm

NH Ag Financiers working group’s Become a Prepared Borrower

Farm Credit East: Programs and Services

Richard Wiswall’s The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook: A Complete Guide to Managing Finances, Crops, and Staff – and Making a Profit

MOSESFearless Farm Finances

Whole-Farm Profit Management: Veggie Compass

Determining Appropriate Financing for Your Business

Farm Commons: Financing a Farmland Purchase

Julia Shanks Food Consulting Debt Service Calculator

Penn State Extension’s Ag Cost of Capital Calculator

CISA’s Financial Management 101: Raising Capital

UVM Extension’s Guide to Financing the Community Supported Farm

Elizabeth Ü’s Raising Dough: the Complete Guide to Financing a Socially Responsible Food Business

Financing Sources for Farms

Grants

Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources grant programs

New Hamphsire Department of Agricultural Resources grant programs

Natural Resources Conservation Services MA Financial Assistance Programs

USDA Rural Development Programs and Services for Businesses

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Organic Certification Cost Share Program

Northeast SARE Farmer Grants

Loans

USDA Farm Service Agency Farm Loan Programs

The Carrot Project

Farm Credit East

Merrimack Small Business Center

PVGrows Investment Fund

Common Capital

NH Community Loan Fund’s Farm Food Initiative

Coastal Enterprises Inc Business Loan Financing

Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation’s list of Micro Lenders in MA by Region