Winter Financial Series with Ellen Polishuk

Winter Financial Series with Ellen Polishuk
Each session will unlock the possibility of 1-on-1 TA with Ellen Polishuk or Jed Beach. Preference goes to Maine farmers.

Winter Financial Series with Ellen Polishuk: Scaling for Profitability
November 19, 2026; 5-6:30 p.m.

Get clear on your goal of scaling up or down and assess whether or not it is really where you want to go. Is a scale change going to propel you to meet your goals? Are all the pieces in place to make it happen and have it work well? Is the market there? What is your current profit percentage? Can you hire enough labor to expand? What other infrastructure would you need? Are you credit worthy? How will this affect your quality of life goals? Join this workshop and begin to think about these questions and sign up for free follow-up technical assistance with Ellen Polishuk or Jed Beach to do the one-on-one work to get there.

Winter Financial Series with Ellen Polishuk: Labor Considerations & Models
December 14, 2026; 5-6:30 p.m.

Labor is getting more expensive – how can you afford to hire and keep good folks?

We will look at the change in labor cost and discuss that compared to other costs of production. We will look at labor cost as a percentage of gross sales as our gauge of efficiency. Then, strategies on how to get the most valuable work from your crew, and how to gain more labor efficiency. Join this workshop and consider labor on your farm, labor efficiency and different models and then sign up for free follow-up technical assistance with Ellen Polishuk or Jed Beach to do the one-on-one work to get there.

Winter Financial Series with Ellen Polishuk: Infrastructure Investments
January 5, 2027; 5-6:30 p.m.

When there are endless toys and tools to buy, how does a farmer decide what "deserves" to be next in line in their capital improvement budget? We will look at different kinds of investments: equipment, in-place assets (HTs, fencing, buildings, roads, wells), and marketing assets (website, branding work, etc). Spend some time learning to effectively use a partial budget analysis tool to discover the Return On Investment on any single capital purchase. Join this workshop and then sign up for free follow-up technical assistance with Ellen Polishuk or Jed Beach to do the one-on-one work to really dive into your future investments.

This work is supported by the Northeast Extension Risk Management project award no. 2025-70027-45395, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.