Ways to improve your farm’s bottom line

Gary Sliworksky
Ag. Rep.

Are you searching for ways to improve your farm business’s bottom line? Are you wondering if “value adding” to the commodities you produce will improve your profitability? Are you thinking about bringing a family member into the business?
When you have questions like these about your farm business, what you may really want is independent advice and a fresh perspective to help assess your situation. Advice that can help you clearly identify the pros and cons of various alternatives. Unfortunately cost can get in the way of seeking this kind of independent management advice.
Both the need and the cost are being addressed through three new Farm Business Advisory Services. These services are government cost shared under the Canada-Ontario Agricultural Policy Framework.
You can access any of these services by calling Canadian Agri-Renewal Services toll free at 1-866-452-5558. Producers in Northern Ontario can call 1-800-461-6132. Eligible applicants are those farm businesses with at least $10,000 per year in gross farm sales, as well as qualifying beginning producers. In all cases – you must have an application approved before any funded business planning work can be undertaken.
The Farm Business Assessment provides up to 5 days of consultation with a qualified farm business advisor to assess your current business, helps you develop a set of financial statements and analysis for the past 2 years, and develops financial options and projections for your business. This service provides an independent assessment of the financial health of your current business – and options to improve your bottom line. Eligible producers can access this service for a nominal fee of $100.
Specialized Business Planning Services is available to producers who require a more specialized business plan for a specific business activity – such as succession planning, marketing, expansion or diversification. This program offers a 50% rebate, to a maximum of $8,000 of government assistance, to help offset the cost of hiring specialized consulting services to develop a comprehensive business plan for these types of major changes to the business. Specialized Business Planning also allows producers to come together and pool their resources in order to fund more complex joint business plans. Government assistance of up to $25,000 is available on group applications.
The third service available is Planning and Assessment for Value-Added Enterprises. This focuses specifically on assessing the feasibility and business planning needed before establishing or expanding ventures designed to add value to agricultural products. Value added enterprises can have a great potential to increase the value of farm produced products. However, these ventures can also be costly, and require careful consideration and planning before any capital investment is made. This program also provides government assistance of up to 50% of the cost of consulting services – to a maximum of up to $10,000 per producer, or up to $25,000 for group applications.
Dates to Remember
Feb. 15 – Abattoir information meeting, 7:30 pm, Chapple Rec Centre