RESEARCH &
EDUCATION
CENTERS (REC)
Table of contents
Author:
Written by Neith Little, Kim Rush Lynch, Dale Johnson, Nicole Cook, and Ginger Myers
Post date:
Sep 3, 2019
Urban Ag home | Table of contents
Table of Contents
Title page
Acknowledgements
Statement
Table of Contents
Introduction
Does any of this sound familiar
What is urban agriculture
What is the definition of “urban agriculture”?
What is the definition of “urban”?
What does urban agriculture look like?
Literature cited
What does success look like for you? Setting goals for your urban farm
Chapter 1: Urban production systems
Production systems
- Ground-based outdoor urban farming
- Hydroponic or aquaponic urban farms
- Rooftop farms
- Landscaping and nurseries
- Urban livestock
- Mushroom production (fungiculture)
Production topics to learn more about
- Urban soils and growing media
- Soil contamination assessment and risk management
- Soil maps
- Nutrient management
- Crop rotations and crop planning
- Season extension
- Pest management: weeds, diseases, insects, and more!
- Pest management strategies
- Water management
- Harvest, post-harvest storage, and food safety
Chapter 2: Economic assessment and risk management
- What is profit?
- What about not-for-profits?
- Setting profit goals
- Setting income goals
- Calculating expenses
- Variable/Operating expenses
- Fixed/Overhead expenses
- Depreciation
- Calculating the profit
- What is enterprise profit?
Using an income statement to calculate and project profit
- Historical versus projected income statements
- Example farm income statement
- Calculating profit for taxes
- How to improve farm profits?
- Cash flow periods
- Income & expenses versus inflow & outflows
- Example farm cash flow
- Usefulness cash flow
- Solving cash flow problems
- Recordkeeping
- Recording financial transactions
- Which computer accounting program should I use
- What accounting period should be used?
Summary
Additional resources and literature cited
Chapter 3: Marketing challenges and opportunities
Moving from producer to marketer—do what you enjoy
- What are you selling
- Differentiating what you sell
- Crops with the most potential
- Customers and the competition
- Direct marketing alternatives
- Non-direct marketing alternatives
- Value-added processing for urban farmers
- Which markets fit your operation?
Summary
Additional resources and literature cited
Chapter 4: Managing legal risks to grow your urban farm
Introduction
Land access, zoning, and permitting
- Land acquisition and access
- Types of property rights
- City-supported land access programs
- Land use regulations and zoning
- Building codes
- Other hyper-local building standards
- Water access and usage laws
- Those pesky nuisance claims
Production, handling, and distribution
- Food safety
- Federal food safety laws
- State food safety laws
- Food safety certifications
- Food safety laws for processed “cottage,” or value-added foods
- Resources for food safety laws
- Contracts
- Marketing laws and social media
Taxes and related legal issues
- Choice of business entity structure
- Income taxes for for-profit businesses
- Taxes for not-for-profit organizations
- Property tax incentives for urban agriculture
- How does insurance work
- Mandatory insurance
- Business liability protection
- Commercial auto insurance
- Property casualty protection
- Crop insurance
- What’s federalism got to do with it?
- Urban farming in the 2018 Farm Bill
- Tips on how to work with regulators and permitters
- What if I want to change a law?
Additional resources and literature cited
Chapter 5:The human element: rights and responsibilities, safety and stress
Physical health and safety
Mental health and stress management
Health insurance
Employees and volunteers
Customers, protecting their safety and your liability
Neighbor and community engagement
- Neighbor relations, because you can’t not
- Community engagement, if you want to do something about food deserts
Transition planning
Summary
Additional resources and literature cited
Back cover
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