Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow

Purpose

After learning about the basics of the dairy industry during the “Introduction to Dairy” unit and digging into more of the financial information throughout this unit, the time has come to put your knowledge to the test.

Have you ever wondered how you would design a dairy business of your own? Before you get started, there are numerous questions that must be answered…How many cows would you own? Would you sell your own bottled milk or sell all your milk through a cooperative? How many employees will you need?

This lesson brings in all of the information you have learned up until this point. You will be creating your own business plan to represent the dairy facility of your dreams. Remember, people do not plan to fail—they fail to plan. Make sure your business plan contains all the necessary details that a financial lender would need to approve your business plan.

Materials

Pen/Pencil Dairy Farm Business Planning PowerPoint (from Lesson 3.7) Dairy Farm Business Plan Template Dairy Farm Business Plan Rubric

Procedure

Part One—Creating your Business Plan

Lesson 3.8: What is my Ideal Dairy Business?

Using your notes from Lesson 3.7, you can see the required sections for your business plan. Utilize any previous lessons from the Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow curriculum to help you compile information for your plan.

Also, your teacher will provide you with a Dairy Farm Business Plan template in a Word-Document. This document provides some formatting and examples to assist with your assignment.

Please view the Dairy Farm Business Plan rubric to see the point values assigned to each section.

Submit your business plan as instructed by your teacher, then complete the conclusion questions.

Conclusion Questions

1. What section of the business plan was the most difficult to write?

2. How will a business plan assist a dairy farmer in receiving a loan to begin (or expand) their dairy business?

3. Which section of the business plan is most important? Why do you think so?