Grant Terms: Letter of Intent

After Letters of Support, the next letter many grant and loan guarantee applications will require is a Letter of Intent. This type of letter is necessary for any project where you’ll be working with another entity for things like financing, distribution, raw materials or sales. The letter of intent basically says that, pending the grant [...]

Funding Terms Defined

This article is the first in a series of funding terms defined for the real user, that is, the person who is applying for a program but is neither a federal employee or government contractor. I’ll be blogging on these topics for a time, presumably, at least until I run out of terms that merit [...]

January Farm Poem by Sarah Aubrey

January
There is a blue light at dawn that soon fades to grey
and stays there even
as the barn cat goes to hunt at dusk.
Sometimes, though, the steely sky silhouette’s
the grain-leg and the shed as if sketched by pencil lead
while a blush of pink peeks between clouds
at day’s end.
Two pairs of gloves, overalls, a hat and coat,
the gear [...]

Book Excerpt XII Reflect and Revise

The last book excerpt post today centers on my suggestions for planning and evaluating after the first year in business. Take a read, and, of course, email me or search on any major online book retailer to purchase your copy of Starting and Running Your Own Small Farm Business
“When the first year is over, a [...]

Book Excerpt XI Creating a Marketing Plan

Here are a few tips from my book about how to simply create a marketing plan for a small farm business.
“Marketing and advertising can be very expensive, and that’s often the reason I hear from my colleagues in small farm business that they don’t do much of it. Hiring a marketing company or advertising agency [...]

Book Excerpt X Selecting a Selling Venue

It’s the New Year! So many folks are apprehensive about ‘change’ suddenly, even though this country apparently voted for that over-used mantra. The early part of the new year is no time to spend fretting if you’re in small farm business. This time of year is the perfect time for evaluation, assessment and, yes, even [...]