Science-based Organic Farming Guide 2010: Toward Local and Secure Food Systems
From the University of Nebraska Extension and the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI), this 106-page guide provides background on the science of organic crop, soil fertility and livestock management, as well as organic gardening, local food systems and economics of organic agriculture. (PDF 786 KB)
FieldWatch
This site, which includes FieldWatch, DriftWatch, and BeeCheck, helps identify locations within the state where sensitive crops such as grapes and organics are grown. After site locations are input in the system by a producer, a pesticide applicator can locate those sites near them and take appropriate action to avoid injuring the crop with herbicide drift.
Farm Business Planning
AgBiz Logic (ABL)
AgBiz Logic (ABL) is a user-friendly suite of digital financial tools for farmers and ranchers developed by Oregon State University in partnership with regional and national climate hubs and USDA-NIFA.
The first step in the online process is to choose between importing federal tax returns, farm accounting system data, or university farm enterprise budgets (if you don’t have your own data). Use the tools to compare the profitability of various scenarios, such as changing a crop rotation or replacing labor with capital. Use the AgBizClimate module to assess the effect of high or low projections of growing degree days or number of cold snaps on crop yields (for your county anywhere in the U.S.). Resources on the website include student course materials and case studies using ABL.
Current and Projected Whole Farm Financial Spreadsheets
Download Excel® spreadsheets to compile current and five-year projected whole-farm income and cash flow, balance sheets, inventory changes, and depreciation expenses as described in Organic Transition: A Business Planner for Farmers, Ranchers and Food Entrepreneurs. Find more related resources at eOrganic Tools for Organic Transition Project.
AgPlan
A multi-year enterprise plan can be written using a business plan outline for transitioning to organic farms on the University of Minnesota AgPlan interactive website. An overview of Agplan is available at http://cffm.umn.edu/products/AgPlan.aspx.
Budgeting
FINPACK
This University of Minnesota farm financial planning software draws on records in the FINBIN database from thousands of agricultural producers using FINPACK as their farm business analysis and summary program.
USDA Market News Organic Reports
USDA Market News provides price, volume, and other related information for commodities and products that have been grown, processed and certified to USDA’s National Organic Program standards.