Image by Jeshu John

For many farmers, producing great food is less difficult than managing the business.

Farm Business Management

Success in farming requires a wide range of management skills, from developing realistic business projections and effectively implementing business decisions to managing risks and navigating the regulatory environment.

Click the links to the right to explore the range of farm business management topics.

Farm Business Management Skills for the 21st Century (Purdue University)

For many farmers, producing great food is not the hardest part of maintaining a viable farm, it’s managing the business and marketing products in order to make money.

The Agriculture Business Development program helps farms:

Plan for profit using a business and marketing plan
Navigate state and federal regulations (including processing, organic)
Apply for on-farm research and marketing grants

The Guide to Farming in NYS (at left), a resource developed by our team and housed on the Cornell Beginning Farmer Website, contains fact sheets on everything from finding land to financing an operation, regulations on marketing and processing, and tax benefits of farming.

Marketing the farm and farm products is closely linked to business success. Visit our Marketing page for more information on how we help farms market themselves and their products.