Resources

Veggie Compass Training Resources

• Complete Veggie Compass Tutorial Video Series! This is a step-by-step demonstration of how “Veggie Compass” can be used to give farmers a much fuller and illuminating picture of their farm finances than regular record keeping systems provide. These videos were produced by our partner, the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group. Ellen Polishuk, of Potomac Vegetable Farms in Virginia, hosts this series and helps farmers understand some of the hidden factors influencing their profitability.The series is designed to be viewed chronologically. However, it is not necessary to watch all videos in one sitting.

Veggie Compass Tutorial Video Series

• To view an hour-long eOrganic webinar about Veggie Compass, click on the link below.

eOrganic Veggie Compass webinar

• The Veggie Compass team welcomes invitations to conduct (fee for service) trainings. If you would like to host a Veggie Compass training in your area, contact John Hendrickson to discuss costs and scheduling.
• The Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) has been very successful in conducting grant-funded “Growing Farm Profits” trainings in the southeastern region of the United States. Participants have found the trainings extremely practical and motivational. We welcome partnerships of this type!

Record Keeping Resources

• Google Doc Forms is an excellent option to easily input and organize data. For a tutorial on using Google Doc Forms, watch an instructional video created by Veggie Compass team member, John Hendrickson.

Using Google Doc Forms for Veggie Compass Record Keeping

Labor Hour Estimating Workbook

• This Excel workbook has been created to help growers estimate labor hours by crop/product. Real data is preferable but this sheet can be used by growers who have no actual data to get started using Veggie Compass.

Farm Accounting and Management Resources

• The Ag Decision Maker is a series of worksheets developed by Craig Chase at Iowa State University to determine the cost of production in an enterprise budget format. Chase’s forms are free to download from his website.
• Richard Wiswall has an excellent farm business management book geared towards organic vegetable growers called The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook. It is available for purchase on his website and at other book stores.
• Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) has published a book on farm finances called Fearless Farm Finances. This book is available through the online MOSES store.
• John Hendrickson, CIAS Outreach Specialist, published a report in 2005 called Grower to Grower: Creating a livelihood on a fresh market vegetable farm. It is available at the CIAS website for free, and includes helpful tables for developing farm budgets and realistic expectations while making your farm plan. It includes benchmark data on gross income per acre and labor hours per acre for diversified, organic vegetable farm.
• Sustainable Vegetable Production From Start-Up to Market by Vernon Grubinger published in 1999 is another excellent resource. The book covers topics from marketing to production practices and includes helpful farm budget sidebars. It is available for purchase at the Growing For Market webpage.