First steps

Why do you want to farm? Once you know that, you can determine what you want to produce and how you want to farm. People want to be farmers for many reasons, including:

• A way of earning a living.
• Cultural ties to the land and/or the farming way of life.
• A desire to increase household food security and self-reliance.
• A way to supplement income from another job; and
• A combination of any of these reasons or other reasons.

Most people have more than one reason for wanting to farm. For example, those who want to earn their main income from their farm will develop a different scale of enterprise than those who only want to supplement their income. Beginning farmers with small children will have different goals than retirees. Talk with someone who has agricultural or business expertise about what you expect from farming or read some of the resources listed in this Road Map before taking the next step. Our agriculture business growth officers, and commodity specialists can assist you define your goals.

Resources include your people, land, capital, infrastructure, equipment and information. Make a list of what you have and another list of what you think you still need to get started. If you have trouble completing this step, the Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries can help.

Land:

• How much area do you want to farm?
• Are there any zoning, bylaws or regulations that would restrict the type of farm enterprise you can develop?
• Are there any environmental or other considerations that would restrict the type of farm enterprise you can develop? (e.g., proximity to neighbours, proximity to wetlands)
• What kinds of crops and livestock are suited to the land? (This will depend on soil type and productivity, drainage, slope, climate)

Capital:

• How much can you or are you willing to invest in your farm enterprise?
• What return on investment do you expect and how quickly do you expect to see it?
• On what other sources of capital, including commercial lenders, can you draw?

Infrastructure:

• What sort of infrastructure exists on your farm (e.g., wells, barns, sheds, fencing)?
• Is the infrastructure in a safe and useable state? If not, can it be repaired?

Equipment:

• What sort of equipment do you have? (i.e., tractors, other farm machinery, machine and carpentry tools, computer, stand-by generators, snow plowing equipment, etc.)
• Is the existing equipment in a safe and useable state? If not, can it be repaired?
• Are there custom operators available in your area? Using them can reduce equipment needs – especially in beginning years.

Information:

• What do you know about farming?
• What do you know about marketing farm products?
• What do you know about farm legislation in New Brunswick?
• Do you know where to get more information about farming in New Brunswick?

There is a wide variety of farms in New Brunswick. These include supply-managed livestock, non-supply-managed livestock, crop farms and farms producing specialty products. Supply management means the relevant commodity marketing board matches supply to demand by allocating production quotas to producers and setting the prices for the commodity. This ensures that farmers have a stable and adequate income and provides consumers with a high-quality and consistent supply of these commodities.

However, the supply-managed commodities are heavily regulated and often the most difficult commodities for new farmers to enter.

Some of the commodities produced in New Brunswick can be categorized as follows:

Supply-managed livestock (a quota is required for this group):

• Dairy cows
• Poultry-meat chickens (broilers)
• Egg-laying chickens (layers)
• Turkeys

Non-supply-managed livestock:

• Beef
• Swine
• Sheep
• Goats

Crop farms:

• Potatoes
• Tree fruit – primarily apples. A few plum, pears and other tree fruit
• Small fruit – strawberries, blueberries, cranberries and raspberries
• Mixed vegetables
• Grains, oil seeds, cereals
• Forages
• Wine grapes
• Shrubs, sod
• Floriculture

Specialty products:

• Maple syrup
• Christmas trees
• Bees – honey, pollination
• Fur – mink, fox, rabbit
• Ducks, quail.

For more information on each commodity, see Choose your commodity.

Many farms are engaged in more than one commodity. In addition, within each commodity there are farms of different scales. For example, one vegetable farm might be 100 acres and sell all its produce to a wholesaler, while another may only be two acres but sell all of its produce at a farmers’ market or through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

Within each category, there is a variety of production and marketing methods. You can raise beef cattle on pasture or feed them grain and silage in a feedlot. You can have an apple orchard and sell all the apples to a retailer or sell them primarily through a U-Pick.

What you decide to grow, at what scale, and the production methods you choose to use depend on your goals, the amount of capital you have to invest, your location and how you plan to market your farm products. The various commodity groups and their contact information are found in Commodity groups and associations. These groups may be able to help answer questions related to their industry.

Organic farming

One production method is organic farming, which restricts and, in some cases, prohibits the use of synthetic inputs. Most, if not all, of the above farm commodities can be certified organic. For more information about organic certification and production, contact the organic specialist or one of the three following organizations:

• Atlantic Canada Organic Regional Network (ACORN);
• Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada (OACC);
• Canadian Organic Growers (COG).

An important note for those wishing to use the word “organic” for a product produced and sold in the province:

New Brunswick has an organic grade regulation under the New Brunswick Farm Products Commission, which regulates the use of the word “organic” (see Organic grade regulation). In simple terms, any New Brunswick products sold in the province that are labelled as organic must be certified in accordance with the Federal Organic Products Regulations and the Canadian Organic Standards. To keep its organic status, a product needs to be certified yearly by an accredited organic certification agency. For a list of certified organic agencies, contact ACORN (Commodity groups and associations) or the organic and vegetable specialist with the Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries.

Woodlots on the farm

Forests cover 85 per cent of New Brunswick, and woodlands often make up a significant portion of New Brunswick farms. Private forests play a vital role in our economy, environment and society. They provide many traditional forest products such as firewood, pulpwood, hardwood and softwood lumber. They also offer opportunities in non-timber products such as maple syrup, Christmas trees, wild berry jams and jellies, medicinals, decoratives, nature enjoyment as well as recreation and wildlife habitat. For more information about New Brunswick forests, several sources are available: the Department of Energy and Resource Development, the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners, or the forest products marketing board in your area.

Christmas trees

Growing Christmas trees is another potential source of income for farmers. (See Choose your commodity for more information).

Think about adding value.

One way that farmers can increase their profits is by adding value to their farm product. You can turn milk into cheese, pork into sausages, wool into sweaters, or small fruit into jam. There are a number of small-scale processors of farm products throughout the province.

However, BEFORE you begin production of value-added products, be sure to contact the provincial Department of Health and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for any food safety regulations and food premises licences that may be required. (see Acts, regulations and policies for details on provincial regulations). The Department of Health can provide guidance on CFIA requirements, if any.

Now that you have completed First Steps, it is time to put together a business plan based on your best estimates. Essential elements of a business plan include, but are not limited to, the following items:

• A self-assessment of your skills, strengths and weaknesses.
• A sales and marketing plan - What and how much you will sell during the next five years, and identification of your markets.
• A projection of your profit and loss (P&L).
• A cash flow projection (different from your P&L projection) that includes capital needed for equipment and infrastructure purchases and operating capital to cover financial needs until cash flow from operations starts coming in.
• Labour needs and how they will be fulfilled.

In developing your business plan, it is important to make it as realistic as possible. It is recommended that professional advice be sought at this stage of your plan. This could be from other successful farmers, the Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries, farm business consultants or accountants trained in assisting in the development of a business plans.