Julia Shanks - The Farmers Office: Tools, Tips and Templates to Successfully Manage a Growing Farm Business

Praise for The Farmers Office

I keep telling people, starting your own small farm is not easy; to make it work, you needperhaps more than anything elseto learn strong business skills. This is the key element that The Farmers Office brings to the table; in it Julia Shanks shares solid advice about how to make your farm work financially. A definite must-read for any serious small-scale grower.

Jean-Martin Fortier, author, The Market Gardener

Julia Shanks has distilled essential lessons that go beyond business planning to the financial know-how of operating a profitable farm. I will recommend her book to our clients.

Dorothy Suput, Executive Director, The Carrot Project

Managing books and accounts is one of the weakest links I see with farmers today, and The Farmers Office comes at a perfect time to help. Theres so much talk about production and even marketing, but not enough on how to stay organized and manage the books. The Farmers Office will be a great asset to farmers of all shapes and sizes.

Curtis Stone, author, The Urban Farmer

Julia Shanks takes all the key topics to cover and lays them out in a logical order. She then uses stories and examples to bring home why it is so important. This book will become the go-to business guide for many, many, many farmers!

Jonathan W. Jaffe, VP/Farm Business Consultant, Farm Credit East

The Farmers Office hits the mark in addressing the business needs of farmers everywhere. Julia Shanks shares her business experience and real world financial training in a meaningful and farmer friendly format. While a farmers footprints may be the best manure, The Farmers Office is a key asset to the farms bottom line.

Richard Wiswall, farmer and author, The Organic Farmers Business Handbook

This is the real story of starting and managing a farm, albeit the unsexy one that can lead to long term thrive-ability. Julia Shanks demystifies managing the business of farming one chapter at a time. This book is just what so many of todays new farmers need to face the challenges of agriculture and thrive!

Sara Dent, cofounder & coordinator, Young Agrarians

I dont know anyone who got into farming because they liked business; but anyone who wants to keep farming needs basic business skills, including record keeping. [This book] will help everyone from beginners to experienced growers who need to understand the business of farming. A must-have for anyone running, or thinking of running a farm business.

Andrew Mefferd, Editor, Growing for Market magazine

Julia Shanks has helped our farm immeasurably. We are better at growing diverse foods than at figuring out if specific crops make us money, break even, or lose money. Indeed, I am sometimes even afraid of figuring out detailed profit realities all by myself. Julias economic analyses and insights into how farms work have been really empowering, and The Farmers Office is simple, easily digested, and brings to life even the sometimes scary subject of how to run a successful farm business. This book is a must-have for all new farmers, and even we grizzled experienced growers will gain hugely from a cover-to-cover read!

Brett Grohsgal, Even Star Organic Farm

Julia has a uniquely comprehensive skill set that is especially beneficial to the Farmer Entrepreneur. Her deep understanding of farmers, business, and the business of farming make The Farmers Office both highly functional and extremely informative.

Susan Parke-Sutherland, Wingate Farm

Copyright 2016 by Julia Shanks.

All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.

All cover images iStock. Chapter image Raven/Adobe Stock.

Printed in Canada. First printing September 2016.

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of The Farmers Office should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.

To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers

P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada

(250) 247-9737

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Shanks, Julia, author

The farmers office : tools, tips and templates to successfully manage a growing farm business / Julia Shanks.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-0-86571-816-6 (paperback)ISBN 978-1-55092-610-1 (ebook)

1. Farm management. 2. Farms, SmallManagement. I. Title.

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact upon the environment, in a manner that models that vision.

To all the farmers

who have demonstrated that its possible

to be both financially and ecologically sustainable.

You give us faith that we can build a more

sustainable and just food system.

This section of a book is typically titled Acknowledgements. But that word does not do justice to my appreciation to all the friends, colleagues and mentors who have inspired and taught me over the years and enabled me to write this book.

Like most farmers, Brett Grohsgal constantly movesfeeding chickens, weeding, planting and harvesting. When I visit him, our time to connect and talk is in the fields; I work alongside him, and we talk about his business goals and struggles. If my clients struggle, he shares his insights. Through years of conversations and friendship, I gained firsthand insight into the joys and challenges of farming. I began to see the value in managing by the numbers. Who knew that a friendship with a farmer could be so educational? And for the friendship and education, I am most grateful.

I first started creating Excel templates for farmers while consulting with The Carrot Project. Their forward thinking regarding the needs of young farmers started my process in developing more tools. Im grateful to Dorothy Suput, the Executive Director, for the initial guidance (and continued friendship). As I expanded the resources, Genevieve Goldleaf and Noelle Fogg provided invaluable assistance that enhanced and supported my work.

My understanding of accounting and business management came through a multitude of connections and experiences. Ginny Soybel taught me accounting at Babson College and mentored me throughout my time there both as a student and eventual instructor of accounting. Roman Weil and Fred Nanni also coached and mentored me.

Managerial accounting is best learned through real-world experiences, and Im grateful to have worked with Denise Chew, Michael Staub, Craig Richov and Melissa Adams.