How Profitable will My New Orchard Investment Be? Evaluating Capital Investment Decisions in a Farm Business
The purpose of this on-line course is to help you learn to make informed investment decisions for your farm. The focus is on investment decisions that have long-term implications for your business. The course uses an apple farm, Smith Orchard, as an example, but the skills taught in this class are appropriate for any farm business. In this course you will learn to:
- Identify possible investment opportunities for your farm.
- Use your financial statements, farm financial information, and other data to evaluate your farm's performance and to help prioritize investment options.
- Develop an enterprise budget and use your enterprise budgets and partial budget analysis to evaluate the risk and profitability of potential investments.
- Use cost-benefit analysis tools that consider the time value of money to help you choose among investment options.
The course is held over 2 weeks and the primary mode of instruction will be online using Moodle. You will have access to instructional videos, written instructions, sample financial information and practice scenarios and on-line forums for discussion. This work can be done at a time and location that is convenient to you. Each week will end with a 1.5 hour Zoom session on Thursday from 3:00-4:30, where we will go over key concepts and answer any questions you may have. The Zoom sessions will be recorded if you are unable to attend.
Event Details
Date
February 29, 2024
Time
3:00-4:30
Location
Zoom
Cost
Registration : $25.00
Host
Eastern New York Commercial HorticultureWeek 1 of the course (February 23-Feb 29)
In week 1 you will learn:
- How and why to use a structured process to make investment decisions.
- Identifying the problem to be addressed, generating possible solutions and identifying what information you need to acquire.
- Gathering data and using farm financial statements and farm financial ratios to help make decisions.
You will have access to videos and resources to learn and practice using the concepts covered. In the zoom session we will consider scenarios and go over questions you may have.
Event Details
Date
March 7, 2024
Time
3:00-4:30
Location
Zoom
Host
Eastern New York Commercial HorticultureWeek 2 (March 1 - March 7)
In Week 2 you will learn
- How to develop an enterprise budget and use your enterprise budgets and partial budget analysis to evaluate the risk and profitability of potential investments.
- How to use cost-benefit analysis tools that consider the time value of money to help you choose among investment options.
Like week 1 you will have access to videos and resources to learn and practice using the concepts covered. In the zoom session on Thursday we will consider scenarios and go over questions you may have.


Upcoming Events
Vegetable Field Meetings with Dr. Steve Reiners

July 14, 2025 : Herkimer County - Ivan Martin's Farm
Herkimer, NY
Topics: Tomato Fertility and Mitigating Physiological Disorders; Pest Scouting, ID, and IPM Field Walk.

July 15, 2025 : Washington County - Hand Melon Farm
Greenwich, NY
Topics: Tomato Fertility and Mitigating Physiological Disorders, Tomato and Sweet Corn IPM; FSMA Water Assessments and Postharvest Sanitation

July 16, 2025 : Ulster County - Wallkill View Farm
New Paultz, NY
Topics: Tomato Fertility and Mitigating Physiological Disorders; Veg Pest Update and Management; Cornell Tomato Breeding Program and Slicer Tomato Variety Trial Tour
2025 Berry Twilight Meetings

July 2, 2025 : Berry Twilight Meeting at Dressel Farms
New Paltz, NY
Join Heather Kase, CCE ENYCHP, and Anna Wallis, Cornell IPM, for seasonal updates on berry pest man-agement and IPM.

July 16, 2025 : Berry Twilight Meeting at Samascott Orchards
Kinderhook, NY
Join Heather Kase, CCE ENYCHP, and Anna Wallis, Cornell IPM, for seasonal updates on berry pest man-agement and IPM.

August 6, 2025 : Berry Twilight Meeting at Fishkill Farms
Hopewell Junction, NY
Join Heather Kase, CCE ENYCHP, and Anna Wallis, Cornell IPM, for seasonal updates on berry pest man-agement and IPM.
Champlain Valley Orchard Field Afternoon

July 17, 2025 : Champlain Valley Orchard Field Afternoon
Chazy, NY
This July ENYCHP will be hosting an orchard field afternoon highlighting Mike's research trials at Chazy Orchards.