Our Programs

4th Annual PFI NEXT GENERATION RETREAT

Demystify Business Planning with farmer Richard Wiswall

Richard Wiswall, Cate Farm, East Montpelier, Vermont has 35 years of farm business experience. In 2009, he wrote a book called The Organic Farmer's Business Handbook: a Complete Guide to Managing Finances, Crops, and Staff - and Making a Profit, a highly recommended resource by many beginning farmers. This workshop will help beginners to plan their business to make a profit.

Detailed workshop agenda to be released this Fall.

The workshop is FREE for members of Practical Farmers of Iowa, and $30.00 for non-members. Bring a potluck dish for Thursday night's meal. Lodging is available on site for $20.00 per person for a shared room (6 beds per cabin). A limited number of private cabins are available at a cost of $75.00. Guests must provide own linens and a pillow

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: Bring last year's breakdown of farm expenses or your checkbook register; a beginning and ending checkbook balance for the current calendar year; total sales for the year; and current loan balances so you can work with your own real data on the Friday morning sessions.

TO REGISTER: Contact Luke Gran,  luke@practicalfarmers.org, 515.232.5661 by November 15 or register online.

TIME and PLACE: The workshop will be held Noon December 8th, 2011 to Noon December 9th, 2011 at Des Moines Y CAMP near Boone, 1192 160th Drive, Boone, IA, 50036. Click here for a map to the location.

Expected Outcomes by attending this retreat:

Increase beginning farmer likelihood of success in Iowa by…

• Empowering 50 farmers to adopt business management strategies with three financial tables
• Inspiring 50 farmers to tackle office recordkeeping setup and paperwork management
• Helping 50 farmers learn how to budget for farming profit
• Demonstrating employee management alternatives
• Providing superb networking time for beginners