KeyPoints

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Key Points to Consider for Various Alternative Enterprises
Robert C. Hochmuth, Larry Halsey, George Hochmuth, Chad Hutchinson, and Linda Landrum¹

Introduction | Key Points to Consider |Considerations | Take Stock before You Get Started| Inventory of Farm Resources

Introduction

It is important to spend time identifying the goals of the family and farmer when considering an alternative enterprise. Increasing profitability is a common goal but many other factors often play a role in this process on small farms. Other goals may include decreasing financial risk, reducing investment, bringing in another family member or partner, providing opportunities to keep labor busy year round, utilizing other natural resources on the farm, and increasing involvement of the community in the farm. This document has been developed to help farmers begin the decision-making process of evaluating alternative enterprises.

Key Points to Consider

The “considerations” chart (Table 1) is intended to be used to determine the relative comparison between enterprises for a wide range of considerations. The information should help farmers identify the key points to consider when making the initial evaluations of an alternative enterprise.

Listed on the top of the table are several popular enterprises a farmer may consider as an alternative. Each enterprise is tied to the Florida Small Farms website (http://smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu) where additional information about that specific enterprise can be easily found. Listed on the left of the table are the key points to consider when choosing an alternative enterprise. Each key point topic is addressed in this document Each key point topic is also linked to further discussion on that topic.

Table 1. Considerations Chart.

= low, = medium, = high, = very high