Vineyard Business Management
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General Business Management
Business Plans for Agricultural Producers 
A business plan is a road map for success. It describes a firm's organizational structure, products and services, objectives, financial and marketing plans, strengths
and weaknesses. This publication guides business owners in developing plans that can help them make decisions and sell the feasibility of their businesses to bankers
and other investors.
Building an Agribusiness or Small Business Plan
Texas Department of Agriculture
This guide has been prepared to assist agricultural and other businesses in developing a sound and useful business plan. A well thought out plan is essential to the success of any business. The plan serves as a roadmap for the enterprise, describing both where it is, and where it is going. This guide includes commentary on the most important elements of a good business plan, as well as worksheets that can be used in plan preparation.
Managing Your Farm and Ranch Operation
Management is getting things done with the finances, people, equipment and land resources available. A good manager invests time in careful planning, which
includes developing a vision and a mission statement to guide the business enterprise.
Farm and Ranch Business Management Functions
This publication discusses several management functions, including organizing, staffing and directing, and controlling. Suggested activities help managers learn how to
implement these functions in their farm and ranch businesses.
| General | Personnel | Finance | Taxation | Accounting | Risk|
Farm and Ranch Personnel Management
People are an important resource in making a farm or ranch business more competitive in today's business environment. This publication summarizes ideas about modern personnel management that illustrate ways to attain a farm's or ranch's business goals through its people.
Human Resource Management: Employee Attraction and Selection Guide
Successful managers know that recruiting and training key personnel is critical to the health of any business. This publication discusses the five steps to recruiting and
selecting the best employees.
Human Resource Management: Employee Compensation Guide
Employee compensation is important to successful employee recruitment, retention, motivation, performance, feedback and satisfaction. This publication explains the
many alternatives employers have for creating compensation packages.
Agricultural Labor Management
University of California
This website offers numerous excellent resources on farm labor to farm employers and consultants, including electronic versions of several personnel management books.
Ag Help Wanted: Guidelines for Managing Agricultural Labor
The Western Marketing and Management Extension Committee
Ag Help Wanted is an online educational guidebook designed to assist every person who currently manages or expects to manage human resources on farms, ranches, nurseries, dairies, and other agricultural operations. The book can be used as a source of ideas for improving management policies or practices, an occasional reference in coping with problems that arise, or a base for systematic study of human resource management in agriculture. It presents principles, practical examples, regulatory considerations, and leads to more references that all help equip managers to make choices that are reasonable, legal, and ultimately effective for both their businesses and the people they employ.
| General | Personnel | Finance | Taxation | Accounting | Risk|
Cost and Return Studies - Grapes
University of California Cooperative Extension
A collection of grape production cost analysis studies is available for different growing regions, production systems, and varieties in California. Links are provided below to selected studies:
Sample Costs to Establish and Produce Wine Grapes, 2005 - San Joaquin Valley
Sample Costs to Produce Organic Wine Grapes, 2005 – North Coast Region, Napa County
The Economics of Wine Production in Virginia
Virginia Tech University
Production Budgets for Arkansas Wine and Juice Grapes
University of Arkansas
Estimated Vineyard Establishment Cost per Acre
Iowa State University
Financial and Economic Terms
This publication lists and defines many of the financial and economic terms with which producers should be familiar.
Balance Sheet - A Financial Management Tool
A balance sheet is a statement of the financial condition of a business at a specific time. This publication briefly discusses the balance sheet, its uses, and how to
evaluate it.
Cash Flow Projection for Operating Loan Determination
A cash flow statement is simply a record of the dollars coming in and the dollars going out of a business. This publication briefly discusses cash flow and gives a cash
flow projection for operating loan determination.
Financial Management: The Key to Farm-Firm Business Management
Those who succeed will manage their operations as farm/ranch businesses, with more emphasis on recordkeeping, planning, profitability analysis, and
repayment-based financing, and with better production and business monitoring and controls. This publication explains ways to manage the farm/ranch business.
Income Statement - A Financial Management Tool
An income statement measures the success of a business, in terms of net income or loss, for a period of time. An income statement of a farm business includes items
in seven major categories. This publication describes each of these categories and gives a sample income statement.
Leasing vs. Buying Farm Machinery
Equipment leasing has gained favor with farmers and ranchers in recent years. This publication discusses how to determine lease cost, analyzes lease vs. purchase,
and gives an analysis illustration.
Texas Agricultural Finance Authority
Texas Department of Agriculture
The Texas Agricultural Finance Authority was created in 1987 as a Public Authority within the Texas Department of Agriculture. TAFA provides financial assistance to creditworthy individuals and businesses in partnership with banks or other agricultural lending institutions through seven programs to eligible agricultural and non-agricultural businesses.
Rural Economic Development
Texas Department of Agriculture
The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA), in cooperation with public and private partners, is dedicated to economic development by increasing rural and agribusiness development opportunities.
| General | Personnel | Finance | Taxation | Accounting | Risk|
Farm Income Taxation
Income tax planning and management involves being aware of tax alternatives and knowing how to integrate them with other management data to accomplish the
taxpayer's objectives. This publication discusses various alternatives for tax planning.
Federal Estate Taxation
The federal estate tax is an excise tax levied on the privilege of transferring property at death. This publication discusses the important issues relevant to
understanding estate taxes such as: when and how property is valued for federal estate tax purposes; and what property is included in the decedent's gross estate.
Financial Management: Cash vs. Accrual Accounting
This publication explains the differences between cash and accrual accounting, and suggests how farmers and ranchers can get the best of both accounting systems.
There are sample income statements and a table to illustrate the adjustment of cash basis records to approximate accrual basis records.
Farm and Ranch Financial Management: Cash vs. Accrual Accounting
Most agricultural producers use cash accounting, although accural accounting systems are best for measuring business performance. This 8-page publication explains
how producers can adjust cash basis income to accrual income to achieve the best of both systems. Sample balance sheets and income statements are included.
| General | Personnel | Finance | Taxation | Accounting | Risk|
Crop Insurance Terms and Definitions
This publication is a glossary of terms used by the crop insurance industry. There are definitions for terms used in crop insurance documents, and for terms pertaining to coverage levels, farming, reports, units, and parties to contracts.
Multiple Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI)
Multiple Peril Crop Insurance protects against low yields, poor quality, and other risks. All aspects of this insurance are described, including reporting requirements
for the producer.
Texas Risk Management Education Program
The Texas Risk Management Education Program, an educational and service program offered by Texas Cooperative
Extension through the Department of Agricultural Economics, is designed to provide agricultural producers and agribusinesses with sound decision-making information on alternative production, marketing and financial management strategies.
Risk Management Agency, USDA
The Risk Management Agency (RMA), a division of the United States Department of Agriculture, administers the federal crop insurance program that helps farmers survive a major crop loss. Crop insurance is widely available for major commodities such as corn, wheat, soybeans, and cotton. Coverage is also available on a growing number of fruits, nuts, and vegetable crops. RMA also provides training to farmers to help them acquire the risk management skills needed to compete and win in the global marketplace.
National Ag Risk Education Library
Center for Farm Financial Management
The National Ag Risk Education Library is a major component of USDA's Risk Management Education initiative. The Library organizes thousands of risk management materials to help producers and agricultural professionals quickly locate information, tools, and assistance on specific risk management topics.
Estimating Compensation for Loss of Vines
in the San Joaquin Valley
University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare County
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