FARM FUNDING
Drive
You and your management team need to work hard, smart and have a strong work ethic. Starting a new business means risk, sacrifice and learning new skills in the first few years.
FarmStart Seed Capital
Anything worth growing needs encouragement, including the next generation in agriculture.
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Investing in the future of agriculture
FarmStart is a Farm Funders program that makes working capital investments of up to $75,000 to Northeast agricultural ventures showing promise of success with limited financial resources.
How to Get Started
FarmStart offers a source of credit for startups who are not generally eligible for conventional lending programs. Click here to view the FarmStart report, which highlights 10 FarmStart participants and the approaches many participants are using to garner success in the competitive agriculture industry.
Farmers, forestry producers, fishermen, farm-related service businesses and cooperatives, generally in their first three years of business. Candidates are expected to be rural entrepreneurs or cooperatives with very little accumulated net worth and few financial resources. The applicant also must be an independent enterprise and cannot be affiliated with an established operation.
Profile of Successful FarmStart Participants
Recordkeeping
Good management skills are as important as being a good producer. You either need to love paperwork as much as you love machinery, plants or cattle, or you need to be able to outsource your record-keeping.
Business plan
Develop a written business plan with a first-year monthly cash flow spreadsheet. Know when and where the money comes from to get you started.
Support network
Starting a business means cultivating information and building a support network of friends and neighbors who can help and provide resources. Along with Farm Credit’s mentor/advisor relationship, this can be a lasting benefit of your business.
Available off-farm income
During the first year, the average new FarmStart business made $19,000 in farm profit before owner’s income. Having off-farm income can provide a financial buffer and mitigate risk to your business.
Marketing and sales skills
Understanding your market and setting realistic sales goals can help keep your business on track.
Colleen Francke, Summit Point Seafood Founder, Casco Bay, Maine
“It is rewarding to be able to work with beginning entrepreneurs through the early stages of their business and see how their hard work pays off over the next few years.”
— Kathryn Bisson, FarmStart Advisor
Views From the Field
The Mission: Secure credit for startup entrepreneurs
Colleen Francke, Summit Point Seafood Founder, always knew she wanted to be on the water, but after nearly a decade offshore lobstering, she set her sights on something new — kelp production.
Today, Colleen harvests macroalgae, the large brown kelp, on 18 acres in Casco Bay, Maine. Production starts indoors in the fall and in November is transplanted to horizontal lines that run about seven feet below the water's surface. The kelp grows over the course of the winter and is harvested in the spring.
How we helped
The FarmStart program invests working capital of up to $75,000 in Northeast agriculture, fishing and forest products ventures showing promise of success. Early in her business, Colleen was introduced to FarmStart and teamed up with a business advisor through FarmStart's collaboration with SCORE.
“SCORE was the most valuable component of the FarmStart program for me. My advisor helped me think through every aspect of the business, helped to identify gaps, and prepare for potential market fluctuations. This helpful learning tool turned my project into something I could actually make a living at.”
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