Farm Planning

Farm plan templates and planning tools

Resources

The links below will lead you to a variety of tools and resources helpful for planning. This list is not exhaustive. If you have a tool or page you use for planning, let us know and we can add it to the list.

• Better Ground

• WSU Small Farms Team

• WSU Organic Farming Systems and Nutrient Management

• Washington NRCS Homepage

• NRCS eFOTG (Field Office Technical Guide) - Find all the NRCS Practice Standards and support materials from this link.

• Ag Waste Management Field Handbook (AWMFH)

• Web Soil Survey - Free soil maps and information for all of WA.

• WADE Presentations - Find links to great presentations and resources from WADE tracks.

New to farm planning, or want to up your expertise? Here are the recommended trainings and opportunities to get you started and advancing:

• Meet the NRCS Planner Designation requirements for the Apprentice/Level 1 and/or Certified/Level 2. This will help set your base understanding of resource concerns evaluation and planning assessment process.

• NRCS Conservation Planning, Part 2 - This is the second section of the three part Conservation Planning series that encompasses a book learning (AgLearn Part 1), hands-on classroom (Part 2), and planning (Part 3) portion to build your general planning foundation.

• NRCS Conservation Planning, Part 3 - This is the final section of the three part Conservation Planning series in which you work with a mentor to write a full Resource Management Plan (RMS) specific to your planning discipline. Once you complete this section you receive your Conservation Planner certificate and can begin to plan on your own.

• Farm Planner Certification - Once you have your planning base and start working in your field, it is time to work towards your CTD Planner Certification to verify your expertise and help you create a training plan on getting to the next planning level.

Technical Assistance Letter

Definition: Formal letter provided to cooperator with guidance and information relative to their site, activities, and/or resource concerns.

Activities/DetaiI: Initial research and/or site visit reveal no or limited resource concerns existing on site. Perform a site visit with assessment checklist; identify issues on farm with cooperator and identify pathways to fix (may be informal and not require NRCS Specs); may be asking for formal plan, but low or no resource concerns identified by planner. TA letter can outline action plan and timeline, but indicates less commitment on the side of the cooperator. Serves as a "reminder" to cooperator of discussion and recommendations. Responsibility of cooperator to follow up and request assistance. Planner may follow up to check in if have not heard from cooperator, but not required. Document with P&I notes, and paper and electronic files of any map sets created, research done, or written correspondence with cooperator.

Correspondence

Definition: Communication back and forth with a landowner

Activities/Detail: Cooperator asks a question and an answer is provided; educational materials provided to cooperator; communication back and forth, but no plan provided; no formal documentation of work recorded except P&I (Planning and Implementation) notes if appropriate. This process of correspondence may be used to filter individual into the next step if resource concerns are identified and cooperator indicates willingness to proceed with planning process.

Conservation Plan

Definition: There are three primary plan types: Practice plan, Comprehensive plan, and NRCS plan. The one you choose will depend on the site complexity, regulatory requirements, and/or if it is for participation in an NRCS program. Is some cases, you

may have two plans for a site.

Activities/Detail: All conservation plan types have these initial steps in common:

• Process follows NRCS 9-steps of planning.

• Initial site visit and resources assessment. Provide landowner with a copy of site assessment checklist and educational materials (as applicable).

• Utilize applicable tools to assess resource concerns.

• Create plan, including site map, to provide to landowner documenting resource concerns and methods/practices recommend to address issues.

• Formally document with P&l notes and file all paper and/or electronic notes, plan, and information.

• Schedule and conduct plan delivery visit. Present farm practices plan map, record of decisions/action plan, and educational resources. Agree on any changes to practices map or record of decisions/action plan. Follow up with revisions if landowner requests changes, as well as offer another site visit and/or correspondence to support implementation.

Plan Update

Definition: An update of any part of a plan based on a change in operation or management of the farm.

Activities/Detail: Triggered by changes in livestock number or type, addition or subtraction of land base while retaining some similar acreage to original plan, addition of new practices, address new resource issue; or enhancement for something like a permit. Add updated farm practices map and amendment form. Site visit with cooperator to conduct inventory of new circumstances, and plan delivery visit to present new documentation and educational materials. If there is a change in owner, or a complete change in land base, this triggers creation of a new conservation plan.

Definition: An NRCS approved plan including, but not limited to, an NMP, CNMP, or RMS plan. All resource concerns are identified, evaluated, and addressed using NRCS Practice Standards.

Activities/Detail: See steps above, plus... Required for participation in an NRCS program. Include completed CPA-52 and all relevant assessment tools. Follows NRCS Resource Management System (RMS) planning process. Use comprehensive assessment tools and planning process and include Record of Decisions, alternatives, and timeline of activities. Prescribed practices must meet all standards described in eFOTG. Plan is approved and/or certified by NRCS.