Post on 01-Jan-2016
description
MY STEP UP EXPERIENCE
Arden Esqueda
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Duck Creek Farm•
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Duck Creek Farm
Mentors - John Wilcox and Sue Earle
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The 2012 Duck Creek Farm Team4
Duck Creek FarmGreenhouse #1 and lower plot Inside greenhouse #1
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Duck Creek FarmGreenhouse #2 Our ‘Cafeteria’
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Duck Creek Farm
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Duck Creek Farm
Objectives• Objective #1: Business Management Practices
• If business management is an important success factor for farming operations, to what extent are these business management practices being implements?
• Objective #2: Goals of the farm operation • If farmers’ decisions are not always or ever necessarily aimed at
the unique goal of profit, what other goals influence decisions making at the farm-level?
• How do we account for them when analyzing farm businesses?
• Objective #3: Role of Small Farms• Small and medium farms represent only a small percentage of
agricultural production in Canada, what is the role of small and medium farms in modern agriculture?
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Source: FMC – 2020 Planning for the Business Management Needs of Canadian Farmers
Business management is an important success factor for farming operations
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Farm Business Management
Business Assessment
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Marketing
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Succession and Business Agreements
Human Resources
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Food Safety and Biosecurity
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Environment
Key Findings• Regardless of size, all farms are faced with the same farm
management issues and challenges, however, large farms can specialize and/or call on external experts for help.
• These expertise can be cost prohibitive for small farms.• Given their limited time and resources, small and medium
farms struggle to meet/address all of the farm management issues on their farm.
• Farmers’ have a broad set of goals that motivate the business management decisions made on the farm.
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Other Lesson Learned……
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Community Involvement
Generosity
Vast Network
Food Security
Farm-level Innovation
Permaculture
Friendship
Retirement/Lifestyle Farming
Environmental Stewardship
Consumer Education
Compassion
Product InnovationOrganic Farming
Preservation of Genetic DiversityRepurposing
Minimizing Environmental Footprint
Providers of public good
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Thank You!