ITHACA, N.Y. — Have you been struggling to make your farm operation profitable without driving yourself into the ground? Our financial planning course will help you with the delicate balancing act that all farmers must succeed in: balancing healthy profits with healthy land and a healthy farm family and personal life. Take our Holistic Financial Planning online course and learn how to make financial decisions toward farm and family values and goals.
Register Now: Holistic Financial Planning |
Through this course you will learn how to build profit into your plans up front, rather than hoping there is something left once expenses are subtracted from income. If you have been struggling with the financial statements in your business plan, this is a great course to help you focus in on these and get clear on your numbers.
This course is intended for farmers with at least one season of management experience and some record of their farm’s income and expenses (even if this information is stored on scraps of paper in a shoebox). This course will move at an intense pace, with time to catch up at the end. If you have not yet started farming, you are welcome to take the course but you may need to do extra legwork to research realistic potential expenses and income for your planned enterprises.
Through the 6-week course, students will:
- Have a written statement of your family’s values and vision and know how to use it to guide financial and overall farm decision-making.
- Have a written Annual Financial Plan mapping out your planned profit, income streams, and expenses
- This plan doubles as a cash-flow statement in your business plan, and is one of the main documents a lender will want to see.
- Understand that all expenses are not created equally, and now how to prioritize and cut them.
- Know how to monitor your plan so that you can correct your course when you start to go off-plan.
The bulk of the course happens on your own time, with discussions, readings, and assignments in Teachable, our online course platform. To add to the experience, live webinars will be held during the live instruction period — from January 11 to February 15, 2022, on Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. ET. These webinars allow you to meet on a weekly basis to learn from presenters and ask questions in real-time. If you miss one, they are always recorded and posted for later viewing.
Meet the Instructors:
Phil Metzger is a farm & natural resources development consultant, retired from a 31-year career as a resource conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Phil instructs on various topics including: farm, personal & business financial planning, goal setting, improved decision making, business & land planning, biological monitoring, and reading the land. He is a certified educator of Holistic Management (HM) and has practiced HM, including Holistic Financial Planning, for over 15 years.
Allyson Angelini has a degree in Sustainable Agriculture from UMass Amherst and has worked on dozens of farms in New England and Italy. She owns and operates Full Heart Farm, which she purchased in 2012 at the age of 24. She serves as a mentor for Holistic Management International and is a member of the National Young Farmers Coalition. Allyson was named one of CT Magazine’s 40 Under 40 in 2015, as well as eWomen Network’s Emerging Leader of the Year for 2015. In BF 203, Allyson shares the details of how she plans and manages her farm’s finances using Holistic Financial Planning.
All Set with Your Farm Financials? Check Out Our Other Upcoming Courses
Access to Capital
Mondays: January 10 – February 14, 2022
It can be very difficult to navigate the process of getting grants or loans, especially if you did not come to farming with a background in finance. This new course will cover the various aspects of seeking funding for a farm enterprise.
Exploring Markets and Profits
Thursdays: January 13 – February 17, 2022
Have an idea for a farm enterprise but not sure if it’s feasible? This course will help you explore the potential markets and profitability of your ideas, picking up where BF 101: Starting at Square One (not a prerequisite) left off.
Getting Started with Pastured Pigs
Mondays: January 10 – February 14, 2022
Pigs can be a profitable stand-alone enterprise, or can be integrated into an existing farm structure, as they provide a variety of products and are also ideal for turning agricultural wastes into valuable products. This course will guide you through the production and marketing of pigs raised in pasture settings.
Introduction to Beekeeping
Thursdays: January 13 – March 3, 2022
Whether you are currently keeping honey bees or are considering them for your farm, a basic knowledge of bee biology, diseases, pests, and setting up your colony are essential for success. This 8-week course will give you real-world experiences paired with academic concepts.
Season Extension with High Tunnels
Tuesdays: January 11 – February 15, 2022
Adding weeks to your growing season can mean attaining a premium for having products available well before (or long after) other local growers. This course will introduce you to unheated plastic-covered “high tunnels,” covering cost, management and more.
Sheep Production
Thursdays: January 13 – February 17, 2022
Have sheep or thinking about getting a flock? Producers of all experience levels will find something for them in this lively, wide-ranging course. There is no one right way to raise sheep — this course covers many of these different options.
Social Media & Online Marketing
Thursdays: January 13 – February 17, 2022
Are you struggling with questions like what do hashtags do, how to start selling online, are webpages still useful, and more? This new, 5-week course is designed to improve your understanding of social media, online marketing ideas, and tools that may increase sales and increase awareness about your business.
Vegetable Production II
Wednesdays: January 12 – February 16, 2022
This course continues where BF 120: Vegetable Production I (not a prerequisite) ends, covering vegetable production from transplanting to harvest, including: in-season fertility, integrated pest management, weed control, harvesting, and marketing.
Woodland Mushroom Cultivation
Tuesdays: January 11 – February 15, 2022
With a bit of practice, mushrooms can be easily grown in the woods on many products. This course trains new and experienced farmers in the background, techniques, and economics of farm-scale woodland mushroom production.
Writing a Business Plan
Mondays: January 10 – February 14, 2022
Arm yourself with a business plan and you will have a guide to aid your farm decision-making and demonstrate to yourself and your family that your ideas are feasible. This course is designed to help you build your plan, including developing financial statements.
Our program offers more than two dozen online courses. These courses cover a range of topics any farmer needs to succeed, such as farm business taxes, soil health, grazing management, indoor mushroom production, and so much more. Experienced farmers and extension educators guide students through course content, including weekly live webinars, videos, and resources.
New additions to our online course suite this year include “Access to Capital” for anyone seeking funding for a farm enterprise, and “Cut Flower Production” which offers an introduction to the business of flower farming. Last year we had also added a 4-week intensive in how “Reading the Land” can help you monitor its health, a course on “Beef Cattle Management,” and a primer on “Social Media & Online Marketing” for your farm business.
The bulk of the course happens on your own time, with discussions, readings, and assignments in Teachable, our online course platform. To add to the experience, webinars will be woven into the interface of the course for a dedicated time slot each year to allow you to meet on a weekly basis to learn from presenters and ask questions in real-time. If you miss one, they are always recorded and posted for later viewing.
You can browse all of our course offerings on our website. You can learn more about our courses, including answers to common questions, on our course FAQ.
–Cornell Small Farms Program