The crop farm launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 51 steps in 8 phases, 21 of them specific to a crop farm. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan51 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A crop farm makes money one fundamental way: acres times yield per acre times price per bushel, realized once a year at harvest and shown here as a monthly average.
Typical for one unit is $200,000 to $3,000,000 a year; the owner keeps 8 to 18% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~10-15% owner earnings (). University of Illinois budgets for the 2027 corn crop, at $5.00 corn on cash-rented ground, leave about 10% (southern Illinois) to 15%...
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: rent to scale the operation and prove you can farm profitably; buy the ground when you can afford it, because in farming the land is the asset that quietly builds the wealth the thin... Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
Farming is capital-heavy even on rented land: most of the money goes into machinery and a season of inputs you pay for in spring and recover only at harvest.
The itemized cost to open8 lines
- Tractors: $207,855 to $694,000A used row-crop tractor and a loader tractor for the grain cart, to new
- Planter, sprayer and tillage: $58,450 to $328,400No-till with the co-op spraying at the low end
- Combine, corn head and grain cart: $217,463 to $867,260Older used combine to new; custom hiring the harvest skips this line
- Semi, hopper trailer and pickup: $97,950 to $305,905
- Grain bins, dryer and machine shed: $0 to $1,192,000None at the low end; up to 100,000 bushels with a dryer and a shop
- First crop’s seed, fertilizer and chemicals: $264,000 to $404,800About $330 to $506 an acre; usually financed with an operating loan repaid at harvest
- Shop tools, insurance, licenses and setup: $12,329 to $31,339
- Initial working capital: $50,000 to $250,000Fuel, repairs, labor, rent and float until the crop is sold
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- USDA FSA farm loans (Land up to ~40 yr · operating loans annual)The Farm Service Agency offers ownership and operating loans, including programs aimed at beginning farmers, for land, equipment, and inputs.
- Operating line of credit (Annual · revolves with the season)An annual revolving line that funds spring inputs against a fall harvest.
- Equipment & machinery financing (Secured by equipment)Finance combines, tractors, and implements secured by the equipment itself.
- Crop insurance (risk financing) (Subsidized premiums · per crop year)Federally subsidized revenue or yield protection.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/6Open
Find and secure the spaceone to three months
A crop farm’s "location" is the land: its soil, its water, and its climate.
What decides it for this business: high-quality, productive soil, reliable water (rainfall or irrigation), favorable growing climate, good drainage & field layout, proximity to elevators & markets.
One call to the planning desk with the address: is this use allowed there, and what will it take (, permits, fire sign-off)? A space that needs a change of use can add months.
Rent, free months for the , who pays for what, the and the renewals, subject to financing and permits. The lender needs this letter or a draft lease to take your application.
After: ,, renewal options, increase caps, what the landlord adds on top of rent, and what happens if you have to leave. For a location business the lease is part of the purchase price.
After:at minimum; property, workers’ compensation and the rest as the business needs. The landlord asks for a certificate at signing and the lender at closing.
Walk the floor plan and the equipment list, then get contractor quotes. The lender wants the quotes; the health department wants the plan.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the or draft lease, the and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
After:The lender approves against the ; you sign the lease once approved; the loan closes against the signed lease and the insurance certificate. Ask for the to match the or longer.
After:
- 06Not started0/13Open
Permits and the build-outone to three months
Crop farming is less licensed than the regulated trades, but it is far from rule-free: you handle restricted chemicals, draw water, and may enroll in federal programs that carry their own requirements.
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:Your contractors pull the building, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits and close them out by inspection. Hold the free rent months for this.
After:Most cities approve exterior signs separately; signs take weeks to make. Order early.
City or county registration, and a DBA filing if you trade under a name other than the company’s.
With your state, before the first taxable sale. Usually free and online; check your state.
Register your or farm entity and obtain a federal farm number through the USDA FSA to access programs and crop insurance.
Where you irrigate, water rights or withdrawal permits govern how much you can draw.
Sign up through an approved crop-insurance agent by the program deadlines for the crop year.
Optional enrollment in commodity, conservation, or disaster programs through the FSA, each with its own rules and reporting.
Fertilizer and, where applicable, manure handling can be regulated to protect water quality, especially near sensitive watersheds.
Report planted acres and production to the FSA and your insurer by the deadlines to stay eligible for programs and claims.
Fire-marshal review of exits, extinguishers and load, after the build and before the .
After:The city’s sign-off that the space is approved for this use. You cannot open the doors without it.
After:
- 07Not started0/10Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
Variable-rate seed and fertilizer, yield mapping, and field records.
Federally subsidized or yield protection.
A relationship with elevators and a brokerage to lock part of the crop forward at a known price.
An operating line funds inputs in spring against a harvest you sell in fall.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Federal plus state employer registrations, and agricultural and any H-2A guest-worker requirements once you hire.
After:Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Owners usually post the jobs a month out and hire two to four weeks before opening so training happens before the doors open.
Pre-season (winter): Plan the crop, lock seed and fertilizer prices, line up financing... Planting (spring): A short, weather-gated window to get every acre in the ground at the... Growing season (summer): Scout fields, apply chemicals as needed, irrigate where applicable,...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/5Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
Inputs (seed, fertilizer, chemicals); Land (cash rent); Equipment (payments, fuel & repairs).
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
A crop farm exits differently from most small businesses, because the land and the operation are two separate assets.