Resources You Need to Consider Before Looking at Farms for Sale
Canada is one of the world’s leaders in agricultural production, so it makes sense that it would be a great place to start a farming business. Whether you want to grow grain, raise livestock, or anything else, there are lots of opportunities here. Unfortunately, it is not quite as easy as just buying farmland. Although there are great sites, such as www.agbuysell.com, listing farms for sale, finding your farm is just one part of the picture.
Know What You Want
A farm is a kind of business, so you must understand your industry and make a plan for your business before anything else. This is where you need to decide what kind of farm you want: do you want to grow food crops? Do you want livestock? What kind? Determining what kind of farm you want will help you decide on the size and attributes of the land. A dairy farm, for instance, has different requirements than a cattle ranch or soybean growing operation. You might also decide on a combination of crops and livestock. In any case, you will need to be specific about the kind of farm you want so that you can develop your business plan. When developing your plan, consider where you will get the resources and how you will bring in revenue. Do you plan to raise beef cattle, for instance? If so, you will need to determine how to get calves, breed stock, feed, and much more. You will also need to find buyers for your cattle. When you get to the point where you are ready to buy what you need (and later, to sell what you’ve raised), one great resource is AG Buy Sell, as they are a great place to find cattle, genetics, and feed from producers all across Canada.
Know Your Business
Before finishing your business plan, it is important to take stock of your skills and knowledge. Before you start looking at any farms for sale, make sure you have a good idea of what you want to spend as far as the total budget, as farms in different parts of Canada can greatly vary in price. If you do not have a background in the particular kind of farming you want to do, you will want to update your education. There are many great resources available for finding information on institutions that offer agriculture learning programs, webinars, workshops, and expositions.
Get Funding
When setting up a farm business, one of the questions you will need to answer concerns where you will get the cash to buy what you need. Unfortunately, funding is a bit of a Catch-22: if you already had something to sell you would have money to buy what you need, but you need money to buy what’s needed to eventually have something to sell. A great solution to this dilemma is The Advance Payments Program which offers advance cash payments on the value of your goods. This helps improve cash flow, puts you in a more advantageous spot in the market, and generally keeps you afloat until the goods from your farm are ready for sale. AgriInvest is a self-managed savings account with matching federal, provincial, and territorial government contributions. This allows you to set money aside for risk management. The Canada Agricultural Loans Act Program offers federally-guaranteed loans to farmers of up to $500,000 to buy land, repair structures, or to refinance or consolidate.
Get Support
There is a wealth of additional resources out there for anyone getting started with farming. Farm Management Canada provides all sorts of resources for sharpening your management skills. Farm Management Canada offers assistance with business and financial planning, business structures and agreements, human resources, health and safety, and marketing and succession planning. Similarly, the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council provides research and develops solutions for employment and skills development challenges in Canadian farming. For safety concerns, contact the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, a volunteer organization trying to improve health and safety for farmers, their families, and their workers.
As a prospective farmer, you must have all the support you need in these early stages of building your farm. Once you are ready to start setting up your farm, be sure to check out AG Buy Sell to find farms for sale, acreages and pastureland, purebred and commercial cattle, feed crops, and other resources from producers all across Canada.
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