Resources for Farmers
Business Tools
Tools to Grow Your Business
To run a successful farm business, you have to wear many hats. Beyond running the farm, one also has to think about sales, business planning, accounting and much more!
Here is a list of a few great sites that offer a wide range of business tools and resources specific to the needs of the farming community. The resources range from webinars and online courses to self-evaluation tools that you can implement to help you ‘tune up’ your business practices.
Don’t forget to leave us your comments and suggestions at the bottom of this page.
AgScape’s Business of Food Platform
AgScape is an Ontario-based agri-food education network, that works to increase the positive social, economic, and environmental impact of the region’s agri-food system.
Their agricultural education platform, Business of Food, is designed to help educators and farmers enhance their agri-business knowledge, while live-tracking their progress for themselves and other members of their organization.
Click the resource button to learn more.
Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario’s Farming Business Webinars
Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) is a member-driven organization that supports farmers in building resilient ecological farms and growing strong knowledge-sharing networks.
EFAO hosts weekly webinars addressing topics related to farming businesses and COVID-19. These webinars provide a great networking opportunity and a practical learning experience on important topics for farming businesses.
Click the Access Resources button to learn more.
Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s Growing Your Farm Profits Platform
The Canadian Agricultural Partnership is a five-year (2018-2023), $3 billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen the agriculture and agri-food sector.
Their Growing Your Farm Profits (GYFP) platform provides a suite of digital self-assessment tools designed to help farmers plan for business success online, offering producers across Ontario and Canada in-depth guidance on the business planning process.
Producers come away with a comprehensive assessment of their farm business practices, priorities, and key goals. Participants can even use the platform to draft out an Action Plan that can be used as the basis for a farm business plan.
Innovation Guelph’s Agri-Innovation Accelerator
Innovation Guelph is a nonprofit that provides mentorship and business support services for innovative small business and startups.
Their Agri-Innovation Accelerator offers over $5,000 in support for business scale-up services for local food enterprises. Agri-Innovation Accelerator mentors have substantial experience working with a diverse range of ag businesses.
Visit their site to access webinars, funding opportunities, and general resources for small businesses and start ups.
Young Agrarians (YA) Online Resources
The Young Agrarians (YA) is a farmer-to-farmer educational resource network, providing new ecological, organic and regenerative farmers in Canada with guidance on best practices.
The Young Agrarians’ website curates a comprehensive selection of farm business tools, including a resource library, a management planning book, and a series of compelling case studies.
Their interactive map helps farmers identify local resource and service providers, including land matching services, farming and marketing consultants, job boards, and education tools.
Though focused on Western Canada, the map identifies resources and services that are available to Ontario farmers as well. You may also find it helpful to access the online tools and resources that are provided to farmers in other provinces.
Community Alliance with Family Farmers’ Online CSA Resources
The Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) is a grassroots organization supporting family farms throughout California. Built “by the community, for the community,” CAFF is a member-driven organization, drawing its membership from every branch of the food system.
Though CAFF’s networks are rooted in California, their site hosts a great set of CSA resources that are applicable in any context. Follow the link for pointers on choosing the right CSA model, setting up your CSA store online, and adopting the right pricing structure for your farm. You can even join a discussion group on Facebook, or a CSA Solutions Hub, to access peer-to-peer support channels, and field your questions with experienced farmers.
QuickBooks Accounting Software
QuickBooks is a small business accounting software platform, that helps users organize their financials, and save time via automation and integrations with other business management tools.
New users can experiment with the platform, and evaluate its usefulness, by taking advantage of QuickBook’s free trial demo period.
Xero Accounting Software
Xero is an online accounting software specifically made to support small businesses, including small scale farms.
Like QuickBooks, Xero has the ability to integrate with other business management software. Both companies provide extensive learning and training materials for their users.
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