Webinar Schedule and Participants' Guide

Webinar Dates

Mon Feb 20, 2023, 6-8pm Eastern and each Mon after that until the final webinar on Mon Mar 27, 2023. Please mark these dates and times in your calendar! If you miss the live webinars, the recordings will be posted in the course afterward.

For the first webinar, it is recommended that you join the Zoom meeting 15 to 20 minutes early, just to make sure you can successfully connect to it and to allow troubleshooting time in case you experience difficulties.

Weekly Topics

Week 1: Getting Started on a Farm Business Plan

In week one, we'll start with introductions and an overview of the course. We will review the business plan template, and students will start working on their individual plan.

Week 2: Mission Statements & Goal Setting

In week two, we'll move into the business plan's Mission Statement, Goal Statements, and Vision Statements. We will also discuss cash flow planning for farm business.

Week 3: Business Organization & Tactical Planning

This week we'll cover business organization and common farm business structures. We'll also discuss farm start-up and management.

Week 4: Farm Startup & Enterprise Budgets

This week we'll further discuss budgets, as well as marketing planning and how to find markets.

Week 5: Projecting Income & Expenses

This week we'll be creating balance sheets for business plans, and will discuss business development planning.

Week 6: Working with Lenders

This week we'll answer the question: what are lenders looking for? We'll discuss income statements and other financial measures.

Week 7: Grants, Loans and Other Sources of Financing

This week we'll wrap-up the course with a discussion of "I Wrote a Business Plan. Now What?"

Webinar Participants' Guide

Review the document below for more detailed instructions on how to use the webinar technology.