Business Start-Up
Getting Started: Business Development Process, Feasibility and Business Plans, Finances, and more via Ag Decision Maker
Record keeping
WEBINAR A Simple Record Keeping System for Fruit and Vegetable Production – Practical Farmers of Iowa
Vegetable Farm Budgets and Record Keeping: Real Examples – University of Vermont Extension
Veggie Compass Veggie Compass is an ongoing project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that involves the development of whole farm profit management tools and workshops. Our tools are designed to help growers improve on-farm decision making and financial farm planning in order to maximize profitability and promote the continuation of sustainable farms. – See also: Youtube Tutorials
Record Keeping for Organic Certification – North Carolina State Extension
Goal Setting
Having your goals written is important to writing a plan for your entire farm, which will help you determine the feasibility of your ideas and keeps you focused on what you’re trying to create.
Writing SMART goals– University of California- San Diego
Setting Farm Business Goals– University of Oregon
Business Management – Penn State University Extension
Land Access
Beginning Farmer Center– Iowa State University
Sinsinawa Mound Collaborative Farm
Practical Farmers of Iowa – Find A Farmer
MOSES Land Link-Up – Farmland for Sale/Rent | Farmland Wanted
Sustainable Iowa Land Trust – SILT
Fruit & Vegetable Production
Small Farm Sustainability Center
Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers 2017
This guide is a summary of currently suggested vegetable varieties, seeding rates, fertilizer rates, weed control, insect control, and disease control measures for commercial growers. The recommendations are for growers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio.
Iowa Fruit & Vegetable Production Budgets
An enterprise budget is an estimate of the costs and returns to produce a product (enterprise). For example, an Iowa corn and soybean producer would be interested in developing both a corn and soybean enterprise budget. Vegetable growers that may have 35 – 40 different products may wish to develop budgets on their key products (those products that contribute the most to the attainment of producer goals).
Transplant Production, Seed Starting, Greenhouse
Production/ Succession Planting
Johnny’s Succession Planting Calculator – Free
Yield Expectations for Mixed Stand, Small-Scale Agriculture
Can I Grow That Here? Vegetable Seed & Transplant Schedules for Garden / Container – Montana State University Extension
Peer Networks
Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association
The Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association was established in 1984 to promote the interests of fruit and vegetable growers of the state through meetings, access to information, research, networking and mentoring opportunities.
Today, the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association continues to thrive and operates with a nine-member board. IFVGA remains an affiliate of its grandparent organization, the Iowa State Horticultural Society.
Practical Farmers of Iowa
Practical Farmers of Iowa’s mission is to strengthen farms and communities through farmer-led investigation and information sharing.
PFI is an inclusive organization representing a diversity of farmers. Farmers in our network raise corn and soybeans, hay, livestock large and small, horticultural crops from fruits and vegetables to cut flowers and herbs, and more. Our members have conventional and organic systems; employ diverse management practices; run operations of all sizes; and come from a range of backgrounds. These farmers come together, however, because they believe in nature as the model for agriculture and they are committed to moving their operations toward sustainability.
Fairshare CSA Coalition
FairShare CSA Coalition works with CSA Growers and Eaters. Our farms are dedicated to producing exceptional food to their Community Supported Agriculture members.
From farm to table and back to farm, we bridge the gap between area farmers and folks who are longing for a deeper connection to food and community.
For over 20 years, FairShare Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Coalition (formerly Madison Area CSA Coalition, MACSAC) has made CSA more accessible by linking people who care about the food they eat to local farmers who grow top-quality food for their local communities. Through education, outreach, community building and resource sharing, FairShare is committed to raising the bar on the quality and accessibility of CSA shares in Southern Wisconsin.
MOSES – Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Service
The Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) is a nonprofit organization based in Spring Valley, Wis. We promote organic and sustainable agriculture by providing the education, resources and expertise farmers need to succeed.
Educating farmers about organic and sustainable production is the foundation of our work. The cornerstone of this foundation is the annual MOSES Organic Farming Conference, the country’s largest conference on organic and sustainable farming. The MOSES Conference draws 3,000+ people each February to La Crosse, Wis. for more than 60 workshops, inspiring speakers, a two-floor Exhibit Hall, and organically grown food.
Iowa Nut Growers Association
INGA is an Iowa non-profit corporation founded in 1942 and incorporated in 1968 to promote:
- An interest in nut-bearing plants
- Scientific research in breeding and culture
- Standardization of varietal names
- Encouraging greater use of nut trees in Iowa Agriculture and home landscape plantings
- Dissemination of information on all of the topics above
Wisconsin Fresh Market Vegetable Growers Association
Dubuque Eats Well 