Business Management
Agronomic crops management is an essential part of agronomic crops production. Find information on farm management and budgeting for agronomic crops, including community-supported agriculture, crop insurance, marketing, and diversification.
Farm Management for Agronomic Crop Producers
Running an agribusiness operation is always going to be challenging. If your focus is agronomic crop production there’s crop planning and land management, diversification, marketing, and farm transition, to name just a few.
On this page, Penn State Extension experts have compiled numerous business management resources for agronomic crop producers. The Farming for Success workshops, for example, provide an opportunity to see research plots in the field, learn from Penn State and Ag industry professionals, and visit with industry sponsors.
For commercial farmers looking to spread the risk, diversification is important – crop rotation will replenish soil nutrients, and planting small grains before row crops may enable you to produce two crops on the same land within a 12-month period.
Crop planning plays a vital role in farm management for agronomic crop producers, because if you can get things organized during the winter, planting crops during the season is much smoother. But what crops should you be growing? Which are the most profitable? Are there crops better suited for your location?
Hemp production, for example, may fit your business model, but it poses certain challenges regarding accessing markets, developing budgets, and uncertain prices. If you’re considering growing hops commercially you need to find buyers for your produce. Working capital, land, storage, equipment, and labor also need sourcing.
Corn and corn silage are both crops that producers can grow on a budget. Using an Enterprise Budget for corn can help determine costs, and there are several enterprise budgets available on the web for other agronomic crops such as an Organic Grain Crop Enterprise Budget.
Some other considerations agronomic crop producers need to be aware of include marketing their crops. If you do it right, there might be no need to seek outside funding, such as the Pennsylvania Small Business Advantage Grant for BMPs. Understanding how buyers use grain discount schedules and value your crops, means you’ll be able to position yourself more favorably in the marketplace.
Agronomic Crop Insurance and Crop Yield
There are steps a producer can take to maximize agronomic crop yields, but agronomic crop insurance is crucial for preserving production capacity. Crop insurance policies are renewable annually, requiring you to provide documentation of yields after a harvest season ends.
Crop insurance is a tool that producers use to financially recover from natural disasters and volatile market fluctuations. Widespread heavy rain, for example, can delay corn and soybean planting. A prevented planting claim could be made to help cover the losses.
Producers of industrial hemp can also protect against the risk of producing a crop for which there are no pesticides labeled for use in industrial hemp for weeds, insects, and diseases. Federally subsidized crop insurance is sold by private insurance companies. Private insurance companies also offer a number of different policies for industrial hemp producers, covering the same perils as crop insurance and THC levels that test above allowable limits for industrial hemp.
- Articles
Managing Crops Damaged by Mid-to-late Season Flooding
What to expect and what to do after flooding. - Articles
USDA-NASS Cash Rents Survey
The USDA-NASS Cash Rents Survey provides county-level estimates of land rental rates for cropland and pastures. - Articles
Managing Crops During a Severe Drought: Q and A
Drought and high temperatures during the summer months can affect many commodities grown by Pennsylvania field croppers. This article contains a list of questions and information for growers to utilize when experiencing such conditions. - News
Pagos de asistencia para trabajadores agrícolas
Date Posted 5/22/2024Los empleados agrícolas que trabajaron en una granja durante la pandemia pueden ser elegibles para una compensación adicional. - News
Farm Workers Relief Payment
Date Posted 5/21/2024Farm employees that worked on a farm during the pandemic may be eligible for additional compensation. - Articles
Mitigating Production Risks in Hemp for Fiber, Grain, and Essential Oils
Choosing to grow an emerging crop can be full of production, storage, sale, and financial risk. One of the best ways to reduce risk is to arm yourself with knowledge to make informed choices for your operation. - News
Crop Insurance and PLC/ARC Deadlines are March 15
Date Posted 3/5/2024Lower grain prices have farmers evaluating their production budgets. Crop insurance and USDA Farm Programs such as PLC/ARC are risk management tools farmers should review before the March 15th deadline. - News
2022 Census of Agriculture Data Now Available
Date Posted 2/15/2024Farms down 8 percent in Pennsylvania. Nationally the number of large farms increased in 2022, while the number of mid-size and small farms declined. Value of production and income were up, while number of farms declined. - Articles
Questions About Your Pesticide Points?
Is your pesticide license due to expire on March 31? Not sure how many points you need? Do you need to find upcoming meetings? Here's a simple way to check! - Articles
Preparing and Storing Farm Equipment for Winter
Winter in Pennsylvania is notorious for extreme temperature changes and varying moisture levels. This article summarizes best practices from equipment manufacturers to keep your investments protected from harsh winter conditions. - News
Opportunities for Farmers to Receive Free Legal Services
Date Posted 10/3/2023This article details a great resource for growers to utilize for guidance on agritourism. - Articles
What's Your Grain Marketing Plan?
No one can predict the future so don't beat yourself up over what you did or didn't do. Rather, look ahead and plan, write it down, and here is the kicker: refer back to the plan and follow it. - Articles
¿Sabías que Penn State Extension está a tu servicio?
¿Qué es el Penn State Extension? ¿Qué hacemos? ¿Dónde estamos? Y lo más importante ¿cómo podemos servirle a usted o a su comunidad? - Articles
Did You Know That Penn State Extension is at Your Service?
What is Penn State Extension? What do we do? Where are we? And more importantly, how can we serve you or your community? - Workshops
Equipment Demo
Length 7 hoursLearn about best farming practices, the importance of the right farming equipment, and calibration. - Articles
Crop Insurance for Pennsylvania Field Crops
Multi-peril crop insurance allows you to insure against losses on your farm due to adverse weather conditions, price fluctuations, and unavoidable pests and diseases. - Articles
Crop Insurance for Pennsylvania Vegetable Crops
Crop insurance is available nationwide and gives you the freedom to choose the level of coverage you need based on your own risk experiences and preferences. - Tools and Apps
Organic Grain Crop Enterprise Budgets
Customizable spreadsheets will assist organic grain farmers to estimate profitability and document management of a 3-year crop rotation. - Tools and Apps
Crop Cents Mobile App
CropCents is a mobile app that calculates actual costs to produce home raised feeds for crop, dairy, and beef producers. - Articles
Understanding Grain Discount Schedules
Discount schedules vary from mill to mill and can be hard to understand; this article will give you confidence in interpreting this year's weigh tickets and marketing next year's grain. - Articles
Growing Corn and Corn Silage on a Budget
Whether you grow corn for grain or silage, learn about some management factors you can control. - Articles
Finding and Keeping your CSA Members
Think about who your ideal Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) member is. Find them and keep them. - Articles
Wheat Stand Assessment
Scouting tips for wheat given late planting and some poor stands being reported. - Articles
Adding Value to Your Custom Business
This article will discuss several options for adding value to your custom business's services. - Articles
Are You Pricing Your Custom Services Correctly?
The prices you set for your services should move you toward achieving your long-term business goals. At the same time, consider how you are looking to position yourself in the business landscape.