Educational Materials

• Affording Our Land: Financial Literacy Guidebook for Young Farmers Provided by The Greenhorns

  This is a fantastic guidebook aimed at helping beginning and/or young farmers explore their options for accessing land and credit to start farm businesses. Authors: Severine v T Fleming, Kristen Loria, Kendra Johnson and Cara Siprelle.

• Ag Lease 101

  Ag Lease 101 helps both land owners and land operators learn about alternative lease arrangements and includes sample written lease agreements for several alternatives. Ag Lease 101 was created by and is maintained by the North Central Farm Management Extension Committee.

• AGAware Balance Sheet Template

  Use this balance sheet in order to get a better understanding of your current and projected finances. All you have to do is open the spreadsheet and enter inputs specific to your farm business.

• Basic Accounting: Guidance for Beginning Farmers

  The purpose of this publication is to make basic accounting approachable for people with little or no accounting experience and encourage new farmers to develop good recordkeeping habits at the outset.

• Cooperative Farming

  This guide introduces the concept of cooperative farming and the gives examples of the ways in which farming communities have found success in cooperative farming.

• Farm Access Methods

  Much has been written about the challenges that beginning and other farmers in the US face regarding access to farms and land to farm. The purpose of this guide is to provide an organized framework of farm access methods to help farmers make informed decisions.

• Farm Answers

  Farm Answers—the Largest Source of Information for Beginning Farmers. Farm Answers is the USDA-NIFA beginning farmer and rancher (BFRDP) clearinghouse, providing resources to help you get started farming, as well as tools to help more seasoned producers succeed.

• Farm Service Agency Loans-National Young Farmers Coalition

  A guidebook to help young farmers and ranchers navigate the credit options offered by the Farm Service Agency. This is the first comprehensive plain language guide to FSA loans since before the introduction of the popular microloan in 2013.

• Farmer's Guide to CSP

  A comprehensive guide to understanding the Conservation Stewardship Program through NRCS. This guide outlines the benefits, eligibility, and enrollment process for the program.

• Farmland Protection Program

  This resources provides a better understanding of the NRCS Ag Land Easement Program and how it can contribute to local communities.

• Field Journal For Beginning Farmers

  The resources, practices and strategies outlined in this Field Journal is for anyone involved with the food system – which is anyone who eats food! It’s focus is to encourage youth of many ages to consider farming as a career, in particular youth in middle and high school.

• Finding Land to Farm

  This publication highlights some common ways to lease or own land. It outlines important considerations about each of these leasing options and paths to ownership.

• Growing Farm Profits

  This online course was developed for farmers and those who help farmers to build more sustainable farming enterprises. The content has a vegetable production slant, yet many concepts/principles will be informative to other producers.

• NYFC-Finding Farmland Calculator

  Use this calculator to build scenarios for purchasing farmland. You can compare detailed estimates of total costs, monthly payments and affordability metrics, then download the results to have on hand when meeting with a loan officer.

• USDA Urban Agriculture Toolkit

  The toolkit lays out the common operational elements that most urban farmers must consider as they start up or grow their operations. It also contains a special section on resources for developing indoor growing operations, such as aquaponic facilities.

Service Providers

• AgPlan Business Plan Development

  AgPlan is powerful website developed to help rural businesses develop a business plan. AgPlan is free of charge for anyone to use individually or in educational programs.

• Farmers.gov

  Farmers.gov provides farmers, ranchers, private foresters, and agricultural producers with online self-service applications, educational materials, engagement opportunities, and business tools to increase efficiency and productivity while preserving

• NRCS Georgia

  The Natural Resources Conservation Service has worked with Georgia landowners to protect the state's natural resources for over 80 years. We provide technical assistance on natural resources issues and assist individuals, groups, communities, and counties implement soil and water conservation practices to protect the 34 million acres of privately owned land in Georgia.