New Illinois Farmers

Thanks for generous support from Farm Credit.

Business Planning topics

Farmers, aspiring farmers, and educators may use any or all of the training materials developed for this project by following the links below. If you use any of this information in any format please include the following acknowledgment "From information developed by the University of Illinois Extension funded by NIFA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Project Grant # 2012-49400-19565."

Click on the X in the table below to link to recorded presentations with audio, Power Point files (in pdf format), and lists of resources.

	Recorded presentations with audio	Power Point files (in pdf format)
Developing a Strategy for Starting a Small Farm Enterprise	X	X
Choosing Your Small Farm Business Structure	X	X
Taxation for Small Farms	X	X
Labor	X	X
Insurance	X	X
Summary of Business Structures, Insurance, Labor, and Taxation for Small Farms	X	X
Keeping Good Farm Records for Better Farm Decisions	X	X
Multi-Year Planning	X	X
Farm and Business Management and Marketing Analysis	X	X
Contracts	X	X
Sell What You Grow	X	X
CSAs	X	X
Cottage Food Regulations	X	X
Learning to Connect with Commercial Markets	X	X
Aggregation and Food Hubs	X	X
Wholesale Marketing / Market Ready	X	X

For Labor and Insurance the best information available is from Farm Commons

Labor:

https://farmcommons.org/resources/tax-and-paperwork-checklist-hiring-ag-employee

https://farmcommons.org/tutorial/illinois%3A-make-employment-law-work-for-your-farm

Insurance:

https://farmcommons.org/tutorial/insurance-for-the-farm%3A-policies-and-principles-to-efficiently-manage-risk

https://farmcommons.org/resources/managing-sustainable-farm%E2%80%99s-risks-insurance-navigating-common-options

Use these links for additional topics ...

Fruit and Vegetable Production, including general production overviews, pruning and training, tools and equipment, farm safety, irrigation, transplant production, variety selection, succession planting, soils and fertilizers, composting, cover crops, organic production and certification, high-tunnel, greenhouse, and hydroponic production systems, pollination, and beekeeping

Integrated Pest Management, including general background, conventional pesticides, pesticides for organic production, and management of insects, plant diseases, weeds, and wildlife pests

Postharvest Handling and Food Safety, including storage facilities and conditions, sanitation, GAPs (Good Agricultural Practices for food safety), and cottage food regulations