Starting & Running Your Own Small Farm Business

Locally grown produce and specialty farm products are finding eager new customers every season. Farmers' markets sprout up every spring, luring tourists and locals with pasture-raised meats, organic vegetables and fruit, artisanal cheeses, and a seemingly endless assortment of baked goods, handmade condiments, and craft items. Restaurants and grocery stores feature products from regional farms with pride. And direct-to-consumer marketing and selling is a reality for every farmer with an Internet connection.

To help farmers position themselves well for the opportunities afforded by today's market, Sarah Aubrey, a successful farm-based business owner, shares her years of research and firsthand experience in Starting & Running Your Own Small Farm Business. Here is everything readers need to know about launching a small agricultural enterprise, from initial start-up to consumer marketing. Begin by fine-tuning that bright idea into a viable business plan, and then learn how to go out and sell it. Secure financing, work out the legalities, follow the proper USDA guidelines, and a farming business is born. Aubrey explains every step of the process and even includes samples of the required forms.

Every small farmer must also become a skilled salesperson and marketing professional. Aubrey runs through all the selling options — from rural farmstands to Web sites to food service wholesalers — and explains the pros and cons of each. She also explains how to create and stick with an advertising budget, how to develop pricing strategies, and the importance of personal asset protection.

Aubrey brings her business advice to life with profiles of farmers successfully crafting and selling everything from small batches of wine to exotic animals such as elk and alpacas. Their stories are minicourses in successful farming, sure to inspire every reader.