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Jonathan S. Kays , Regional Extension Specialist – Natural Resources, Maryland Cooperative Extension
18330 Keedysville Road, Keedysville, MD 21756, (301) 432-2767 ext. 323; jkays@umd.edu

This guide is being developed as an extension publication by the Maryland Cooperative Extension and will be made available from the Natural Resource, Agricultural, and Engineering Service (NRAES). (607) 255-7654. You can find them on the web at www.NRAES.ORG.

Maryland Cooperative Extension offers other information and publication on natural resource income opportunities at www.naturalresources.umd.edu.

Each year, farm and forest owners consider starting nontraditional enterprises using renewable natural resources, such as forests, wildlife, and water, as well as cropland. (The word enterprise is used loosely to refer to anything from a serious business venture to a hobby that may someday develop into a business.) Some landowners are traditional farmers looking to diversify their existing operation. Others are new property owners. Their aim may be to produce a sustainable source of income over a long term. Or they may just want to be good stewards of their forest’s resources. However, many of their efforts are less than successful-or fail altogether-because before they evaluated and chose an enterprise they neglected one or more of the critical steps in decision-making or business planning: assessing their personal and family resources goals, assessing their lifestyle, and assessing their land resources. Equally important, they often lacked necessary technical, business, and marketing skills.

Before considering an alternative enterprise, landowners need to first get their forest resources evaluated and a forest stewardship plan to guide them in the long-term management of their forests. After that, time and effort can be committed to developing other rural enterprises.

The aim of this publication, therefore, is to supply the tools and the approach that will enable landowners to utilize a decision-making process that will assist them in getting their forest resources under management and then making their enterprise assessment. In many cases, the principal manager is more enthusiastic about the enterprise ideas than the rest of the family. This publication will stress that the principal and the others involved must work as a team, with each person pulling his or her own weight.

This guide focuses on the following three types of alternative rural enterprises:

• Put Forest Stewardship into Practice - working with a professional forester to develop a forest stewardship plan to manage for wildlife, forest products, recreation, and other objectives. The harvest of forest products should be done on a sustainable basis and involve the landowner, the logger, and a forester.
• Other Rural Enterprises
• Forest farming and forest product enterprises:
• Managing for a sustainable stream of forest products (firewood, high-quality sawtimber and veneer) while improving other forest benefits; producing mushrooms, maple syrup, pine straw, and medicinals such as ginseng, goldenseal; collecting native plants and materials; producing wood and native crafts; growing Christmas trees; providing custom sawmilling and kiln-drying services.
• Recreational access and ecotourism:
• Offering fee hunting and fishing; hunting preserve; sporting clay; guide service; wildlife viewing; campground; outdoor sports; high-risk recreation; bed ‘n breakfast; vacation cabins, and immersion experiences such as teaching skills and crafts.
• Traditional and alternative agriculture and horticultural enterprises:
• Aquaculture; growing small fruits, vegetables, and herbs; growing or renting land to grow traditional field and row crops; breeding specialty livestock, deer farming; operating greenhouses and other enterprises that use cropland and nonforest resources.

Contact a professional forester to develop a forest stewardship plan for your forest resources. New and old landowners often overlook this essential step and make forest management decisions that result in poor harvesting practices, low economic returns, and serious damage to wildlife, aesthetic, and recreation resources.

• Develop a forest stewardship plan. To enhance and sustain the wildlife, timber, water quality, and recreation resources of your forestland requires a blueprint you can follow to reach your objectives. A professional forester will look at your forest resource, divide the forest into different areas or "stands" that are similar enough to be managed as a unit, then provide inventory data and descriptions on each of these stands. For each stand recommended forest stewardship practices will be provided to enable you to reach your objectives. The recommended practices will be included in a chronology of activities for the next 10 years or so. The forester can inform you of the assistance programs that will help you carry out the practices that are recommended assist you with any timber harvesting.
• The harvest of forest products can enhance wildlife habitat and other forest benefits. Most landowners are not opposed to the harvest of forest products if their other objectives of wildlife habitat, recreation, and aesthetics are enhanced and protected. Many forests are now mature and lack the habitat diversity that supports certain species of wildlife. Carefully planned timber harvests can create habitat for wildlife that was not previously present. Well- planned roads also allow for improved recreational access by landowners.
• Tax advantages from practicing forest stewardship. In many states, landowners who develop and implement a forest stewardship plan receive a lower property tax assessment. Your state forester can provide information on your state’s laws. Also, remember that revenues from timber sales have special rules that apply. You can pay fewer taxes by calculating the basis of your timber resource when you purchase or inherit the property. Check with a knowledgeable accountant. Up-to-date information on timber taxes is available at a special website: (www.fnr.purdue.edu/ttax).
• Use a consultant forester when selling forest products. The strong demand for forest products has resulted in landowners being contacted directly by timber buyers. The temptation is to accept an attractive price now for the best trees without considering the impact a harvest will have on the future value. That's similar to a livestock farmer selling his blue-ribbon breeding stock and keeping the runts hoping they will flourish. A wise long-term strategy for landowners when selling timber is to remove poorer trees and leave the better ones for the future. A timber harvest that removes trees above a certain diameter and leaves the smaller ones to grow, commonly known as cutting to a minimum diameter, typically reduces future economic value as well as wildlife and other non-timber values valued by many landowners.

• Trees growing in your forest are like compound interest. A healthy tree 12-inches in diameter, though approaching market size for high-value forest products such as sawtimber, increases in value significantly each year. Its continued growth over several years adds more volume, and thus more value, than that of a smaller tree during the same years. Thinning your forest can open the forest canopy, let in sunlight, and increase the growth rate of the remaining trees. A 12-inch diameter tree growing in a crowded forest may take six years to grow one inch in diameter, an annual interest rate of 2.9 percent. In a thinned forest, the same tree could take only 3 years to grow 1 inch in diameter, a rate of 5.8 percent (see chart 1). The forest thinning can also improve wildlife habitat, trail access, and other benefits.

• Timber harvest can provide needed capital. A carefully planned timber harvest can provide needed capital for starting an enterprise or to make other improvement to wildlife habitat, road access, structures, and other needs.

After you get your forest resources in order it is time to turn to other rural enterprise opportunities. Lots of landowners may think of themselves as entrepreneurs, but many fail to realize their goal. In fact, many people never even set goals. Although motivation, self-reliance, and interest are essential, such personal qualities by themselves are not enough. You will have the greatest chance of success if you realistically assess your goals and resources as well as your marketing, production, and financial capabilities. Then you will be able to base your decision to start or abandon an enterprise on the best available information..

The process of evaluating and choosing an enterprise can be likened to a sieve filtering sand. The sand poured into the sieve corresponds to the ideas you generate before you do much serious thinking or research. The filtering process corresponds to the process of gathering information about your ideas and evaluating your personal and family goals. From here, a few of the ideas emerge as possibilities worth pursuing. This leads to the decision-making stage from which you are able to develop the components of a business plan.

In selecting one or several ideas over others, balance your objectives against the reality of the available resources and markets. Practicing diversification--having several enterprises that are compatible with one another--will give you more flexibility and opportunity than by concentrating on just one. However, start small and then expand. Once you select an enterprise or enterprises, develop a rough business plan for each, which includes addressing basic business and marketing concerns included in this workbook. In following this process you move further down the sieve, refining your ideas.

The key component of this assessment is the development of an enterprise budget, which requires that you estimate your costs and revenues for one year, one season of operation, or whatever length of time is necessary to produce a crop. This simple tool will help you to determine if the enterprise will be profitable or not given all the assumptions you must make for costs and revenues. This is the stage when many people rethink their ideas. Although the more demanding an enterprise is, the more complex the business plan will be, all of the business, financial, and marketing components in the workbook must be addressed. After going through this process, you will be able to go into the venture with your eyes open and have a good idea of what--or what not--to expect.

Many individuals who go through the various steps of the sieve process of enterprise development abandon their ideas along the way. Typically, once individuals become aware of what is involved in an enterprise--the time, resources, and possible financial return (which is usually lower than expected)--they either abandon their effort or look at other options that could be more compatible with their objectives. For example, landowners who do not live on their property realize that their idea will not work unless they live on the land. Landowners who have the modest financial objective of paying the property taxes or who just wish to pursue a hobby may opt for a less intensive venture than the landowner who wants an enterprise to generate significant income.

In the end, landowners who base their enterprise decisions on what they learn going through the sieve process will generally be more successful than landowners who bypass the process.

In leading you through the process of evaluating and selecting an enterprise that is compatible with your life situation, we will look at each of the following steps in the sieve or business-planning process.

• Identify personal and family goals
• Determining family labor & management resources
• Assessing the marketplace
• Assessing the site and taking an inventory of 1) land and natural resources, and 2) physical and personal resources.
• Choosing your new enterprise
• Planning and developing the new enterprise, which involves:
• Selecting a marketing strategy
• Determining production needs
• Determining labor & management needs
• Examining legal, regulatory, & liability issues
• Developing an enterprise budget - startup costs & profit potential
• Developing a cash-flow pattern
• Reaching a decision to start or abandon

A family business has to take into account the needs and opinions of all family members. Too

often in family-run or home-based enterprises the principal manager is much more enthusiastic about the idea than the rest of the family. This can spell trouble. For example, many forest

plantations, originally planted with Christmas trees, have had to be abandoned because the landowner assumed wrongly that a spouse or child would help with the pruning, mowing and other management activities. It is imperative, therefore, that you and your spouse, children, parent, or whoever will be involved in the enterprise address the statements posed in the adjacent table. Then, wit the responses in mind, talk with your family or team.

Entrepreneurs must have or develop a number of skills-record keeping, financial, and marketing skills; interpersonal skills; and skills in production and management. Evaluating each individual’s strengths and weaknesses will make it easier to decide who should handle what task and what additional educational or training may be necessary. Therefore, it is important for you and your team to go through the statements below. Then, with the various responses in mind, talk with your team about the proposed enterprise choices.

As you assess your goals and skills, it helps to consider which broad category of entrepreneur you fit into. Experience has shown that landowners tend to fall into one of the five categories. Which one best represents you and others to be involved in the enterprise?

• Traditional Farmer
• Part-time Farmer
• Urban Returnee
• Hobbyist – Non-industrial Forest owner – Non-resident landowner
• Non-landowner

Now that you have considered your family and personal goals and skills, and started to seek information on possible enterprises, complete this initial assessment as a family. It will help you to focus your thoughts and target those things most important. Many of the resource items will be covered more completely when the resource inventory assessment is completed in the following sections.

1. Provide a brief description of your property: a) distance from home; b) location; c) acreage in different uses (forest, cropland, pasture, pond); d) number and type of structures; e) access; and; f) other important information. Long and short-term goals you and your family hope to achieve by starting this new enterprise? Will you be involved as resident or absentee landowners?
2. Name up to five enterprises you are considering. What is your experience or background with these types of enterprises?
3. List the family members who would like to be actively involved? What types of responsibilities will each take on?
4. How much time will you and your family have available for your new enterprise?
5. If you already run a NR-based business, what are your goals over the next 3-5 years for the enterprise you are currently involved in?

___ Maintain at about the same level ___ Cut back some. How?
___ Expand. How? ___ Get out altogether.
___ Other: ____________________

6. What are your financial goals for this new enterprise? For example, once established, what amount of your family living income do you expect from the following sources?

In our example, the Smith family lived on the property. If the Smiths lived 1-1/2 hours away from the property, however, this would have a profound effect on the options that they could pursue. Residency status--whether resident owner or absentee owner--is a crucial consideration for landowners. Living off-site has the following implications:

• The lack of security limits opportunities that require a presence daily in order to stop theft. Enterprises such as ginseng would be very risky.
• Available time and labor for intensive activities is limited or may require special arrangements.
• Practicing forest stewardship is an attractive option: management activities can usually be completed when time is available on weekends throughout the year.
• Other options--renting the house, renting cropland, and renting hunting rights-are attractive.

Once you have some ideas for enterprises, plus a good idea of your goals, carefully assess all of your resources. Your assessment will likely spark some totally new ideas and change your opinion of some of the ideas on your current list. While you can do part of your assessment from your couch, walking over the property with the help of a natural resource professional, such as a forester or Extension agent, will help you discover opportunities that you may not have been aware of. (Time available from resource professionals is scarce. Be prepared with your assessment of resources, goals, and responsibilities in order to make the best use of their time.)

Resources are divided into two main types for the site assessment:

Now, it is time to complete an inventory of your resources. Before you start, however, obtain a map of the property that identifies fields, forests, and water and the location of structures, roads, and other physical resources. A map allows you to mark the location of natural resources and make notes as you walk the property. You can purchase an aerial photograph of the property for a nominal fee from the county office of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Farm Services Agency (formerly the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service). The agency is typically listed in the blue pages of the phone book, under U.S. Government. If you have an existing forest or farm management plan, use the map included with the plan. Continue to seek educational information about your enterprise ideas and measure your ideas against your available resources.

Contacted a state forester for assistance.
What non-timber forest products are present on the property (mushrooms, ginseng, floral plants, vines, etc)?

Contact your state wildlife biologist for assistance.

List unique locations on your property, with aesthetic appeal, that can be developed for recreational enterprises. These would include rivers, streams, scenic overviews, rock cliffs, wetlands, etc.

4. Water Resources

Quality and utility of ponds, streams or springs for recreation or production enterprises.

List size, age, condition, and the cost to convert or upgrade structure for use in the enterprise.

For each piece of equipment (tractor, chain saw, wagon, rototiller, backhoe, bulldozer, etc.) list make, horsepower, age, condition, attachments, or other relevant information.

Time for management and labor involved in an enterprise must come from the team members or from outside sources. Develop a table based on the heading below to help team members determine how much time they have available during each quarter of the year for management and labor activities. The time available can either be on the weekend or during the week. Completing this table will help you look at your time more realistically and see if the enterprises you are investigating are compatible with the time you have available.

• How much start-up money can you raise using personal or family resources?
• Where will the start-up money come from (e.g., personal savings, family member, farm credit, bank, cooperative)?
• Do you plan on borrowing money from a bank in the future?

• Do you or any of your team members have any special skills or experience?
• Also, add the names of relevant agencies or organizations that these individuals may have connections with (e.g., Cooperative Extension, Agricultural Experiment Station, U.S. or State Dept. of Agriculture, state forestry agencies).

By now you should have a good idea of your resources and the assessment should help you identify possible enterprises you wish to pursue. Comparing the relative merits of one enterprise over another will help you to decide what types of enterprise is the best match for your resources.

As an example, the Smith Family has chosen five possible enterprises and eight criteria for judging how compatible each choice is with the family goals and resources. The table below shows the Smith Family has ranked their choices on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being least compatible with the criteria and 10 being most compatible. You can make a similar table and add the criteria most important to you. This exercise might show that the highest ranked enterprise might not necessarily be your personal first choice. Also, you may decide to pursue more than one enterprise to diversify your efforts. After you have selected the enterprise(s) you wish to pursue, you can then move on to the next section to assess the marketing and financial concerns for each.

After you have selected the enterprise(s) you wish to pursue, assess the marketing and financial concerns for each enterprise. The exercises that follow are intended to help you to: 1) define your product or service, 2) determine what marketing resources are available, 3) assessing your marketing options, and 4) analyze and understand your competition.

Before you can market something, you have to know something about the product features, service features, marketing season, and benefits to the consumer. Describe below the product and/or service you are selling in your own words, and the benefits to the user in about 50 words. If more than one enterprise is being considered, how do they integrate or work together? Explain?

You will need to choose your target market carefully and develop a marketing strategy to reach it successfully. Use whatever resources you can to find the following information about your target market.

• Demographics - Ethnic groups, age group, average income, place of residence, number of children, marital status, education level, etc.
• Lifestyle Patterns -Common interests, beliefs, values, wants, and needs
• Expectations - What do buyers want and expect from your product or service?

Please list your local marketing resources. Use specific company names and contacts if possible.

• Farmer’s markets; roadside stands, highway rest areas, field days, fairs.
• Wholesalers, brokers, distributors
• Marketing co-ops, food co-ops
• Restaurants, groceries, supermarkets, specialty stores
• Cooperative Extension; local-state tourism & economic development
• State Foresters, private foresters, forest product companies
• Sportsman clubs; forest associations; farm bureau; other associations.
• Newspapers, magazines, trade journals

Who your competitors are, the specific types of buyers they serve (their target market), and their competitive strengths & weaknesses will help you define your own position in the marketplace. Your direct competitors are those businesses who are supplying the same types of products as you are to the same potential customers. Indirect competition is any other type of product which customers might buy instead of your. Make it your business to find out all about your direct and indirect competition.

• In today's society, it is necessary to consider legal, regulatory, and liability issues as they apply to your enterprise. State your plans for handling each of the issues. If any of these issues present obvious hurdles, state your plans for overcoming the hurdles.

Estimate the number of hours or days of labor required to start and maintain the enterprise, Is the business seasonal or year round? Is the labor and management only available on weekdays, weekends, or both? Determine if and how the time needed to manage this business might conflict with other obligations. If conflicts exist, state what they are and how you plan to handle them.

It is now time to address the production and financial management planning for your new enterprise(s). Will the enterprise you are considering actually make money, and how much? Many individuals start an enterprise never completing this step only to find out much later than the business will never make enough money to compensate them for their efforts. First, determine the costs of producing your product(s) or service(s). Then do some basic financial management planning.

• You will probably have to make some capital purchases- such as buying buildings, equipment, and land and making major improvements – to start your new business. List the capital purchases and their costs.
• What will be your major production & marketing tasks, such as planting, advertising, sales, maintenance, etc. When should they occur? List them for each month of the year.

The enterprise budget is the most common financial tool used to determine the profitability of alternative enterprises. An enterprise budget projects the cost of the operation for a given period (typically one year or season of operation) and compare this figure to potential sales. Variable costs are costs that take place each year (labor, food, etc), while fixed or overhead costs such as buildings, equipment, signs, and long-term improvements can be charged over a number of years. The different between the two is your profit. The budget may look very different depending on the type of enterprise and circumstances of the situation. Every landowner has a different set of circumstances, commonly known as "assumptions," that set the background for their individual situation. Therefore, when you are examining enterprise budgets to find one that suits your needs, you will likely have to change some of the values and factors given your own set of assumptions. To provide you with a selection of models to choose from, examples of four enterprise budgets for selected natural resource income enterprises follow. (Numbers in parentheses in the text refer to numbered lines in the corresponding budget.).

Projects the timing of cash inflows and outflows. It breaks down a business into monthly or yearly increments to assess when additional capital is required for expenses and when revenues can be expected. Lack of adequate cash flow is a major reason why businesses fail in the long-term.

Example of an Enterprise Budget:

• This budget was based a landowner with the following assumptions: a one-acre pond within 50 miles of a large population area with high water quality. No feeding of fish was required and it was on a property with a scenic location.
• The variable costs, or costs paid each year, are listed and include items like: the purchase of fish at a certain price per pound; advertising expenses; and cost to purchase snacks for resale.

• Fixed or overhead costs are also included.
• Gross income from fishing fees, fish kept charges, rentals of equipment and snack sales are provided based on an estimate of the number of people who will fish per year. These estimates would be determined from research and surveying completed by the team members.
• From this information, total costs and net income can be calculated to answer a number of questions. If profitability is not what is expected, it may require added research into marketing and other areas to see if you can realistically change your assumptions and estimates.

• This example demonstrates a net income or profit of $4,728 found on line 4. Is this worth the effort? How will profitability change if the business grows? These are questions can now addressed after developing a sample enterprise budget and changing values to reflect different scenarios.

Developing the budget allows you to plan an enterprise that will actually make money or abandon or improve an idea that is unrealistic; before you put money into the venture. Regardless of the enterprise, work up an enterprise budget using the best information available along with your best judgment. Any computer spreadsheet program can be used to develop an enterprise budget.

At this point you should have all the basic information you need to make a well-informed decision about whether or not this enterprise will make it out of the sieve. By now you may have abandoned many ideas. If you have gotten this far, however, your chances for success are pretty good.

Before you decide, it may be beneficial to do some test production or marketing of your product or service. If you are growing something, you may want to do some trials for a growing season. If you are marketing a service or unique product, you may want to do some test marketing in potential markets. Be aware that what a person says they will pay for a product or service is different than what they may pay in reality.

As you develop and implement your own ideas make sure you consider the following:

• Do the easy things that are long-range, take minimal effort, and can save property taxes, such as contacting a state forester to develop and implement a forest stewardship plan.
• Evaluate the full range of income opportunities before you make a decision.
• Start small. Never invest more than you can afford to loose. Look at the bottom line. Can you really make enough money from the enterprise, given the effort?
• Understand how your residency status and lifestyle affect the opportunities you consider.
• Markets and opportunities change, so always look for ways to improve or diversity.
• Always think like a consumer first; think like a producer second!

The time required to chase information is valuable, but the need is constant. Knowing where to look and how to get information is a cost-saving practice.

• Paid Consultants B Accountants, Attorneys Bankers, Insurance Agents
• Internal Free Consultants – Suppliers, salespeople, customers and potential customers, trade associations Business Assistance From The Public Sector - Government agencies and government funded organizations
• Chambers of Commerce
• Cooperative Extension Offices - These offices specialize in education and are an outreach of the land-grant university system.
• City and County Government - Public officials are knowledgeable of many resources
• Libraries
• Educational Institutions - Many high schools, vocational schools and colleges offer classes
• Regional State and Federal Sources
• Small Business Administration – SBA. To access toll free, call 1-800-UASK-SBA . Small Business Development Centers B SBDC. There are over 900 SBDC=s throughout the US.
• Senior Corps of Retired Executives(SCORE). Contact SBA for Chapter near you.
• Public Officials - Governor=s offices, legislators and other elected officials.
• Internet Websites

The Internet provides a great resource. Below are a few websites to get you going.

SBA (Small Business Administration) http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov
SBA outside resources http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/hotlist
U.S. Gov. websites http://www.utdallas.edu/utdgeneral/news/New%26Info/govRes.html
State Cooperative Extension http://www.reeusda.gov/1700/statepartners/usa.htm
Rural Dev. Business Programs http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/index.html
U.S. Dept. of Commerce http://www.doc.gov/
National Assoc. State Development Agencies http://trade.wa.gov/nasdalist.htm
USDA Forest Service State & Private Forestry Programs http://www.fs.fed.us/spf/coop/
State Foresters http://www.stateforesters.org
National Agroforestry Center http://www.unl.edu/nac/
Forest Landowner's Guide to Internet Resources http://na.fs.fed.us/pubs/misc/ir/index.htm
Special Forest Products http://www.sfp.forprod.vt.edu/regions/eastern.htm
Maryland Cooperative Extension http://www.naturalresources.umd.edu
ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas) http://www.attra.org
Missouri Alternative Website http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/

• Hilchey, D. 1998. New enterprise pre-feasibility assessment: taking stock in your natural resources. In: Natural Resource Income Opportunities for Private Lands -Proceedings of the Conference. Eds: Kays, Goff, Smallidge, Grafton, and Parkhurst. Maryland Cooperative Extension, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
• Josiah, S.J. 1999. North American Conference on Enterprise Development Through Agroforestry-Proceedings of the Conference. CINRAM-University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN. $25. 612-624-7418. Website: CINRAM@forestry.umn.edu.
• Kays, J.K., G.R. Goff, P.J. Smallidge, W.N. Grafton, and J.A. Parkhurst. 1998. Natural Resource Income Opportunities for Private Lands -Proceedings of the Conference. Maryland Cooperative Extension, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. 288-page pub. Natural Resource Income Opportunities for Private Lands Conference Proceedings held April 5-7, 1998. Over 35 speakers, including landowners, consultants, Cooperative Extension staff, economists, business management specialists, researchers, foresters, and lawyers, shared their expertise in the areas of legal liability, business planning, consumptive and non-consumptive recreation, forest farming and utilization-related opportunities, aquaculture, and growing and marketing ginseng and goldenseal. The 288-page proceedings provides practical information needed to achieve an understanding of how to choose and manage a private land income opportunity while protecting natural resources and minimizing liability and financial risk. The cost is $20 per copy (bulk discounts availble and it is available from the Natural Resource, Agricultural, and Engineering Service (NRAES) at www.nraes.org. To order, make your check payable to NRAES and mail to NRAES, Cooperative Extension, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-5701. (607)255-7654. You can order online at the web site using a credit card. e-mail: NRAES@cornell.edu
• Penn State Small and Part-time Farming Project Series. Series of 38 publication on a range of alternative agriculture enterprises, business management, marketing and other subject. Fact sheets include simple enterprise budgets and excellent resource information. Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences - Cooperative Extension, State College, PA. Website: http://agalternatives.aers.psu.edu/
• Schuck, N.G., W. Knoblauch, J.Green, and M. Saylor. 1988. Farming alternatives: a guide to evaluating the feasibility of new farm-based enterprises. Natural Resources Agricultural Engineering Service, Ithaca, NY. Available at Maryland Cooperative Extension website.