Farm Business Planning: A Template

• business plan
• planning
• template

What goes into a farm business plan?

Most plans have the same core parts: a summary, a description of the farm and its goals, a production plan, a marketing plan, an operations and people section, financial projections, and a risk section. You can write it in a notebook or on a computer.

FSA's farm loan guidance and extension planning guides use similar building blocks, because lenders and advisors all want to answer the same questions.

Plan length is less important than clarity. For a small farm, ten pages with honest numbers is stronger than fifty pages of general statements. Print it, put it in a binder and keep a digital copy too. A plan you can find is a plan you will use.

How do you write the summary and goals?

Open with a short description of the farm: where it is, what you raise, who runs it and why. Then state two or three goals, such as reaching a certain income, paying off a loan or passing the farm on.

Goals should be specific enough to check. Instead of grow the business, write add a certain number of acres or head by a certain year if the numbers support it.

Add a sentence about why this farm matters to you. It guides decisions when numbers are close and tells readers what drives your effort. Keep goals tied to numbers elsewhere in the plan, so a reader can see how you expect to reach them.

What belongs in the production and marketing sections?

Describe the land, buildings, equipment and water you have, what you will grow or raise, expected yields and the practices you use. Be honest about limits.

For marketing, say who buys, at what price, through which channels and when. Include contracts and buyers you already have.

Include a simple map or list of fields, buildings and equipment. It gives readers a clear picture of what you work with. Describe how your practices protect soil, water and animal health where that affects costs or yields, since these details show a lender you manage for the long term.

How do you describe people and operations?

List who does the work, their experience, and what help you hire or share. Name your advisors, such as your accountant, lender, extension educator and insurance agent.

A short paragraph on daily and seasonal routines helps readers see that the plan is workable.

If family members work in the business, describe roles, pay and how decisions are made. Unclear roles cause trouble later. Note seasonal labor needs and who fills them, whether family, neighbors or hired workers, and what you pay.

What financial pieces should you include?

Include a current balance sheet, a few years of past income if you have them, a projected income statement and a monthly cash flow for the coming year. Show your assumptions for price, yield and cost, and test a poor-year case.

Add a list of debts with lender, balance, rate, payment and term, and a list of owned and rented assets.

Show the math behind each projection in plain steps, such as acres times yield times price. Readers should be able to follow the logic.

• Balance sheet
• Projected income statement
• Monthly cash flow
• Debt schedule
• Assumptions and a poor-year test

How do you cover risks?

Name the main risks and say what you will do about each. Mention insurance, marketing tools, reserves and backup plans for labor or health issues.

A plan that acknowledges risk is more believable than one that assumes everything goes right.

Add a short section on regulations, licenses and insurance that apply to your farm, so readers see you have checked. Write down the first thing you would do if each major risk happened, even if it is only a phone call to your lender or agent.

How should you use and update it?

Review the plan at least once a year and after any big change. Compare actual results with projections and ask what you learned.

Have your accountant or an extension farm business specialist read it before you share it. Plans are more useful when someone outside the farm checks the numbers.

Keep older versions so you can see how your thinking changed. That history becomes useful when you plan the next stage.

Last reviewed: November 12, 2026. Written by the Farm Money & Grants Editorial Team. Educational only, not tax, legal or financial advice. See our editorial policy.