Dates: Thursdays, March 1, 8 & 22, 2018
Time: 6:30PM to 8:00PM (PDT)
Cost: Free
Locations: Various location in the Province
Confirmed:
Richmond – KPU Richmond Rm 1420, 8771 Lansdowne Rd.
Armstrong – Odd Fellows Hall, 3005 Wood Ave
Penticton – Cowork Penticton, 129 Nanaimo Ave W.
Tentative:
Saanich
Duncan/Nanaimo
Williams Lake
Quesnel
Kooteney
Abbotsford – Ministry of Agriculture, 1767 Angus Campbell Rd
Presenter: Chris Bodnar, Close to Home Organics
What is this Short Course?
The format of this short course is to encourage farmer-to-farmer interaction and for new and existing farmers to create a network of peers. In each session, the participants will gather together at designated locations to watch the module with a facilitator present to moderate questions for the presenter and to lead discussion with the participants. Each session is an hour long, with 30 minutes at the end for questions and answers with the presenter and the facilitator will lead discussion with the participants to review what was covered in that class and for the participants to discuss among themselves. Presentation material and additional resources will be shared with all participants.
For some locations, there will be Ministry Agrologists present as well, so that participants have the opportunity to meet them and be familiar with the agrologists in their regions. This is a great learning and netowrking opportunity for new and existing farmers as agrologists have extensive agriculture knowledge that is specific to the region.
The three sessions will cover the following topics:
Session 1: Setting Goals and Starting a Business Plan
Developing a solid farm business idea requires a clear sense of what each farmer wants to get out of their enterprise. Some people want their farm to supplement their household income, while others intend to earn their entire livelihood on the farm. As a result, the process of setting personal and business goals is crucial to establishing a strong foundation for a farm business. Webinar participants will learn how to set effective goals and to evaluate those goals using SMART goal criteria. They will also learn how goal setting fits into the planning phase of business development.
Session 2: Determining Production and Marketing Options
What you can grow and where you can sell it -- not to mention the price you can get for it -- are key aspects to consider in planning a farming enterprise. What you can grow depends on your climate, soil conditions, the start-up costs associated with certain types of production. Whether you can sell your product and the price you can get are key factors that will influence what you may grow. Webinar participants will learn the basics of Production Planning, including assessing their land capabilities, start-up costs and ongoing production costs. They will also learn the basic process of assessing their market to determine what they can sell and they price they can expect.
Session 3: Assembling and Using a Plan, Plus Accessing Resources To Help
Putting together a business plan may seem daunting, but after setting goals, assessing production capacities and market opportunities, it's just a matter of organizing this information into a more formal plan. In this webinar, participants will learn how their production and marketing plans inform the income and expense sections of their budgets. Assembling these parts will form the basic part of their business plan. In this webinar we will also review resources to assist in planning, including online business planning apps and the Ministry of Agriculture's Taking Stock workbook and Farm Business Advisory Services.
Save the dates and register now for more information!
This project is a collaboration between the Ministy of Agriculture and the Insititute for Sustainable Food Systems (ISFS) at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
This project is funded under the Growing Forward 2, a federal-territorial-provincial initiative.
