This book provides forms for many of the categories of expenses, receipts, labor, and financial summaries needed by most agricultural related businesses using cash accounting methods. Column headings are included for major items with some columns remaining blank for your own headings.

This fall USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) released cash rental rates for irrigated and non-irrigated cropland and pastureland for Virginia counties and cities.

Grain and soybean production is a critical component of Virginia agriculture — the state’s No. 1 industry (VDACS 2013). Virginia’s farmers produced more than half a billion bushels of grain and soybeans over the span of 2006 to 2012 (USDA-NASS 2013b)1. The objectives of this publication are to characterize the market for grain production and storage in Virginia.

This winter USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) released cash rental rates for irrigated and non-irrigated cropland and pastureland for Virginia counties and cities.

Did you know that farmers who sell unprocessed foods to retail outlets typically receive just 11.6 cents of each dollar the consumer spends on food? The remaining amount is allocated to industry groups such as food processors, packaging and transportation, retail trade, food services, energy, finance and insurance, and legal services

There are many factors to consider before you start a new farm enterprise. Labor issues are often underemphasized in the decision-making processes of beginning farmers. It is important to consider who you will hire, where you will find help, how you will manage your employees, and what legal matters are relevant to your farm.

Kim Niewolny, Associate Professor; Dept. of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education, Virginia Tech; Theresa Nartea, Assistant Professor, Virginia State University; Cathryn Kloetzli, Extension Agent, Albemarle County; Allyssa Mark, Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Program Associate, Dept. of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education, Virginia Tech

Starting a farm is an exciting yet challenging opportunity. As with any new undertaking, there is a lot to think about before beginning a farm venture. Gaining access to farmland, viable markets, capital and credit, as well as hands-on training and resources are some of the most important startup issues to consider as part of the planning process. You are likely asking yourself, “Where do I begin?” The purpose of this resource is to help newcomers make informed decisions at the start of the planning process. This “quick guide” is primarily designed for beginning farmers and ranchers, but service providers will also find this resource useful for answering questions about the farm startup process. This foundational work offers a valuable starting point on which to create a successful whole farm plan for a new agricultural venture.

With funding from the USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program in fall 2010, the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Program aims to meet the expressed needs of Virginia’s beginning farmers and support the development of social networks through which they can gain vital skills, information, technical assistance, and business capacity for long-term agricultural viability (see www.vabeginningfarmer.org).

There appears to be a lack of published research study data on consumer motivations for purchasing local produce in Virginia. Additionally, the level of consumer awareness of labels such as “local,” “pesticide-free,” “certified organic,” “grown in Virginia,” or “superfood,” and the influence such labels have on purchasing decisions in Virginia has not been previously researched.

Tom Stanley, Extension Agent, Farm Business Management Eric Eberly, Extension Agent, Farm Business Management (Retired)

You are likely asking yourself, “Where do I begin?” The purpose of this tool is to help you gather a solid basis of information as you consider your “start-up” situation. Once you have completed as much as you can of this worksheet (or if you have any questions along the way), please bring it to your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office to get guidance on where to go next: http://www.ext.vt.edu/offices/index.html. Good Luck! We look forward to helping you bring your farm vision to life!

The Vineyard Financial Calculator is an educational tool that is useful for comparing the financial performance of different vineyard operational scenarios. This tool's intended user is an individual or organization exploring the financial requirements of vineyard establishment and operation in Virginia. The tool was designed to forecast the approximate pretax annual cash inflows and outflows of a vineyard − information required to build a business prospectus. Users can modify certain input variables, such as vineyard size and labor costs, as well as outputs, such as crop level, to tailor the projections to personal expectations. The VFC is only a predictive tool; actual results could vary from those predicted due to site conditions, variances in costs, or unanticipated gains or losses.

Variable-rate applications (VRA) of nitrogen (N) fertilizers are a new option to assist producers with real-time fertilizer rate decisions. Two commercially available systems that allow variable-rate nitrogen applications are GreenSeeker (Trimble Navigation Limited; www. ntechindustries.com/greenseeker-home.html) and the OptRx Crop Sensor (Ag Leader Technology; www. agleader.com/products/directcommand/optrx/). A discussion of the science behind these systems, potential economic benefits, and other methodologies to make VRA is discussed in Virginia Cooperative Extension publication 442-505, “Precision Farming Tools: Variable- Rate Application” (Grisso et al. 2011).

Virginia farmers sell their produce through many venues including on-farm sales, farm stands, and farmers’ markets. Wherever the produce is sold, it must be sold by weight, count, head/bunch, or dry measure. If the produce is sold by weight, the produce will be weighed on scales that have been certified by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Office of Weights and Measures.

Dairy farmers are usually subject to net income fluctuations due to volatility in both milk and feed prices. Risk management tools, such as hedging milk prices in the futures market, may be used to protect dairy farmers against milk price volatility. Alternatively, dairy farmers selling milk in Virginia can buy Virginia milk commission base (MCB) to obtain higher milk prices and, therefore, sustain or increase net cash flows.