Getting Started in Farming and Ranching: Printable Checklist

Use this checklist alongside the ten-step guide. Check off each item as you finish it, jot notes in the margins, and bring it to meetings with Extension, your USDA Service Center and other advisors. Nothing here guarantees a loan, grant, profit or successful season.

farmsandranchesforsales.com/getting-started/checklist/

Read the full guide

1. Define your goal

  • Write one page describing what you want: full-time business, part-time enterprise, lifestyle farm or ranch
  • List the products or animals you are drawn to and why
  • Estimate the hours per week you can give in each season
  • List the skills you already have and the skills you need to learn or hire
  • Decide how much time and money you are willing to commit before you reassess
  • Name who else is involved (family, partners, employees) and what each person will do

2. Learn locally

  • Find your county or regional Extension office and introduce yourself
  • Look up your state's Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coordinator and send a short note with your county, plans and land status
  • Visit your local USDA Service Center (FSA and NRCS) and ask what to bring
  • Visit at least three working farms or ranches like the one you imagine
  • Sign up for one local field day, workshop or course
  • Ask an experienced producer or SCORE mentor if you can check in regularly

3. Test the market

  • List the buyers and channels you could sell to (direct, wholesale, auction, co-op, processor)
  • Talk to at least five real buyers about what they would purchase and what they require
  • Find out where processing, packing, storage or slaughter happens and how far ahead to book
  • Work out how product would travel to the buyer and what that requires
  • Run a small trial sale before buying specialized equipment
  • Write down what buyers told you, in their words

4. Evaluate land

  • Confirm legal access to every part of the property and ask for recorded easements
  • Measure usable acres by walking the land, not just reading the listing
  • Look up mapped soils, then plan a current lab test for the fields you would use
  • Confirm the source, legal status and quality of water (house, livestock, irrigation)
  • Note low spots, flooding history, drainage and slope, and inspect fences, buildings, utilities and roads with a qualified person
  • Ask the county about zoning and ask an attorney about easements, covenants and deed restrictions
  • Ask whether any leases, tenancies or other agreements affect the land
  • Estimate yearly taxes, insurance, utilities and upkeep

5. Choose an initial enterprise

  • Ask Extension what is grown or raised successfully near you and what the local limits are
  • Compare each option for labor, capital, infrastructure and market
  • Separate what is historically produced nearby from what suits your particular field
  • Pick one or two enterprises, not many
  • Define a small trial that you can afford to get wrong
  • Write down what you will measure during the trial

6. Build a simple business and seasonal cash-flow plan

  • List every cost: land, inputs, labor, equipment, buildings, packaging and delivery
  • Map when money goes out and comes in, month by month or season by season
  • Add operating capital to cover costs until the first sale
  • Add a contingency for problems and delays
  • Open separate bank accounts and records for the business and the household
  • Talk to an accountant about business structure and tax setup
  • Read the farmers.gov funding page before talking to any lender

7. Plan equipment and buildings

  • List each task, its timing window and the acres or animals involved
  • Compare buying, renting, sharing and custom hire for each task
  • Ask local custom operators what they offer and how far ahead to book
  • Check compatibility questions: PTO horsepower, hitch category, hydraulics, lift capacity, working width
  • Have a qualified person inspect any used machine and any building you plan to rely on
  • Put shared-equipment arrangements in writing

8. Verify local requirements

  • Ask the county or town about zoning, land use and building permits
  • Ask your state water agency and local health department about water use, wells and septic
  • Ask your state department of agriculture about selling, processing and labeling
  • Ask about livestock and animal health requirements for your species
  • Talk to a licensed insurance agent about liability, property and any crop or livestock coverage
  • Keep a log of who you contacted, when, and what they said

9. Prepare for the first season

  • Work backward from your first planned sale and set dates for each task
  • Book seed, plants, animals, labor, processors and market space
  • Confirm soil test results are back before you make planting or amendment decisions
  • Repair or replace fences, water lines and equipment before they are needed
  • Have a backup plan for water, power, a key machine and a key person
  • Review farm safety basics and post emergency contacts
  • Get leases and shared-use agreements signed and in writing

10. Record results and improve

  • Record costs, sales, hours worked and what you planted or grazed, and when
  • Note weather, problems and what you did about them
  • Keep receipts and records organized for your tax professional
  • Compare actual results to your plan at the end of each season
  • Decide what to continue, change or drop
  • Update your goals and plan for the next season

If you plan to ranch

  • Ask NRCS or Extension how a grazing plan is built in your area
  • Identify the water source for every grazing unit and confirm it will last through dry and cold periods
  • Walk every fence line and note repairs and boundaries
  • Check for safe, working handling facilities suited to your kind of livestock
  • Plan hay and stored feed, and where you would find more in a short year
  • Choose a local veterinarian who sees your kind of animal before you buy any
  • Have a stocking plan reviewed by a qualified local advisor, with a way to reduce numbers when forage is short

If you are not ready to buy land

  • Learn how farm leases work and have an attorney review any lease
  • Ask Extension and your state coordinator about incubator farms and land access programs
  • Look for seasonal work or an internship on an established farm or ranch
  • Ask an experienced producer to be your mentor
  • Set a date to revisit your goals and decide whether to keep leasing or begin looking at property

General information, not legal, tax, financial or agronomic advice. Program terms change; use the official links in the guide and talk to your local Extension office and USDA Service Center.