According to many state fire officials, we no longer have simply a ‘Fire Season' but a ‘Fire Year'. In winter drought conditions, some parts of our region do not receive enough rain to mitigate fire danger.  It is more important than ever to constantly assess your farm for fire safety and be prepared for any emergency.

The following information will assist you in thinking through four important areas of disaster preparedness for your farm: Paperwork & Plans, Farm Map & Layout, Tools & Machinery, and Operations & Training.

Paperwork & Plans:

1. Conduct a fire risk assessment and record your findings. Assess brush clearance, road access, evacuation routes, defensible space, topography (fire climbs hills quickly), and water sources. If needed, make a plan to address any critical issues.
2. Evaluate current insurance coverage to ensure adequate coverage for farm assets. Consider livestock, crops, buildings, and equipment.
3. Keep up-to-date production, marketing, and financial records. Check the Foothill Farming website resources on risk management and business planning tools for templates. Scan or store them on a USB flash drive or external hard drive.

• http://ucanr.edu/sites/placernevadasmallfarms/Farm_Business_Planning/FBP_Risk_Management/

4. Make a farm communication plan. What happens if you are not home during a disaster situation? Do you have phone numbers and good relationships with neighbors? Are the phone numbers written down for your family members and employees as well?
5. Create a farm emergency plan, use the following free online templates or use them as a guide to create one more suitable for your own farm.

• http://ucanr.edu/sites/placernevadasmallfarms/files/289237.pdf
• https://www.formsbank.com/template/325465/emergency-plan-for-farm-template.html?page=5
• http://www.maeap.org/uploads/files/EMERGENCY_PLANNING_fillable_Form_E2575-ET_AA.pdf 
• http://www.ncagr.gov/disaster/Farm-Emergency-Plan-Template.pdf

Developing a farm emergency plan before a disaster can help you respond more rapidly and objectively.

Farm Map & Layout:

1. A farm map should be part of your emergency plan. Create a map including symbols and a key for the following:
   1. Homes, barns, and outbuildings.
   2. Utility shutoffs.
   3. Power and utility lines.
   4. Fuel and chemical storage.
   5. Roads and bridges (including weight limitations).
   6. Water sources and delivery systems.
   7. Gates (including combinations).
   8. Fuel breaks.
   9. Any other possible farm hazards.

You may include brief general guidance for emergency responders on the map as well.

Example Farm Map

2. A well-maintained and accessible water source is critical. If possible, consider a water source for fire trucks. An accessible source includes:
   1. Defensible space.
   2. Gravel road access within 12 feet of water source.
   3. Minimum 45-foot radius turnaround close by.
   4. Post permanent signs indicating water source location.

• For more detailed information about what is needed at a water source, check out this information from Oregon State Extension https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/supplemental/pnw618/pnw618-chapter6.pdf

3. Farm design should incorporate these principles, especially around structures. Create at least 100 feet of defensible space by:
   1. Removing flammable objects from around barns or dwellings (e.g. flammable vegetation, feed bags, cardboard boxes, plant debris, fuel, etc.).
   2. Breaking up fuel continuity by separating plants from each other in gardens and landscape design.
   3. Taking care in selecting, locating, and maintaining trees.
   4. Post a clearly visible sign with property name and number at the entrance.

Tools & Machinery:

1. Carry fire extinguishers and fire tools, especially in off-road vehicles. (e.g. trucks and tractors), CalFire requires a 5-gallon water supply and a fire tool be carried in wildland settings – consider adding this equipment to your tool box!
2. Conduct frequent inspections of farm machinery for debris removal. Pay attention to hazards associated with exhaust systems and catalytic converters.
3. All farms should have proper personal firefighting equipment such as shovels, hoes, and fire extinguishers that all farm employees can carry.
4. Use rodent deterrents as they can chew through electrical insulation.
5. Limit or postpone machinery use on high fire danger days. If use is unavoidable, plan for competing tasks before 10:00 AM.
6. Stay 30 minutes after machinery use is shut off to monitor fire risk.

• More tips on preventing farm equipment fires,  http://www.redrivermutual.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Preventing-Farm-Equipment-Fires4.pdf

Operations & Training:

1. Conduct an annual fire plan and equipment “refresher” for all farm personnel. Consider labeling safety equipment and fire tools on your map, with signs for your employees and family. Train folks on how to use this equipment.
2. Have a routine for “red flag days” such as delaying mowing or machinery use.
3. Although California law requires all electric fences to have low-impedance chargers, check frequently to ensure wires are free of materials that may cause the fence to arc. Always operate according to manufacturer directions.
4. Restrict or clearly designate smoking areas.
5. Include fire danger mitigation and forest management in annual planning.

Fire prevention should be a year-round activity in our fire-prone region. Be sure to consider the needs of both family and farm personnel in any emergency situation. Proper planning now will help mitigate the inevitable stress involved in farm emergencies. We would love to hear your thoughts, plans, and ideas related to disaster preparedness. Please feel free to comment below.

We like to get farmers and ranchers together and ask them this question: What could go wrong? Preferably after they've had a good night's sleep and a filling breakfast and at a time of year when their farms and ranches are relatively quiet. It is not the happiest of conversations, to say the least. But we feel that talking about farm and ranch risks, and hopefully, taking steps to create resilience in the face of these challenges, is critical to the success of agricultural businesses. Having a plan of action in the face of unforeseen crisis can be the difference between making it and losing it all.

Here are a few topics that came out of recent Risk Management discussions held during our Farm Business Planning short course and Farmer-to-Farmer Networking Breakfasts (for info on both of these events, visit our Foothill Farming website.)

Human Risk – What happens if you get hurt or sick?

This is not a fun topic. Knock on wood, you will be fit as a fiddle into a ripe old age. But what if? You need to buy health insurance. Period. You don't have the money or time to deal with being uninsured when you need health care. Take it from a gal who's racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, health insurance is well worth the investment.

You also need to have an Operations Manual. Do it right now! Write down each enterprise that your business relies on and the basics of keeping it functioning from day to day. It can be rough but should be enough information that a person could read the thing and keep everybody/thing alive. Print it out and keep it in an obvious place, like a binder that says “Operations Manual.” Tah Dah! Your business just became more resilient.

Now you need a designated person/persons who can read the Operations Manual and run your farm in your absence. Employees are a good place to start as they probably have a good idea already. How about a neighbor or good friend? Have them over for a cup of tea and show them where the operations manual is kept. Maybe walk through a typical feeding of the animals or watering the greenhouse. How about a farm buddy system? I'll be your emergency farmer if you'll be mine.

Marketing Risk – What if there is a sudden change to your sales outlets?

Marketing risk is a much tougher nut to crack and prepare for. We build our businesses around projected sales to retail outlets, restaurants, and farmers' markets. What if one of those outlets suddenly became unavailable? You've produced the product and may not have another buyer lined up, so what options do you have?

Jim Muck of Jim's Produce has a good strategy. He tries to always have three potential outlets for a farm product, e.g. Restaurant A, Restaurant B, and Grocery Store X. While he may have made a commitment to Restaurant A for the season, he knows that if Restaurant A were to go out of business both Restaurant B and Grocery Store X would likely be interested in the product he was supposed to sell to Restaurant A.

So what are your options? Would your wholesaler buy more? Do you have a relationship with a Farmers' Market Association that will allow you to attend a market at the last minute? How about a place that will always take a bulk order to make jam or salsa? As Paul Muller of Full Belly Farm says, a successful farmer must spend her time “100% farming and 100% marketing.” Take a moment to identify your most risky marketing outlet and create a back-up plan for that product.

Legal Risks – Are you above board with your employees?

If you aren't filing payroll tax and covering workers with workers compensation insurance, you're walking on thin ice (and technically, breaking the law.) While talk of the costs may have dissuaded you from hiring employees the right way, it's time to make the switch. And if you think you can't afford minor costs like payroll tax and insurance, you may have bigger problems in your production plans than you realize. These costs are insignificant enough that you should be able to pay for them if you can afford hired labor. The risk of getting busted for violating labor laws is significant and fines could very well put your farm or ranch out of business. Time to read up on how to follow the law (getting legal?.

Financial Risks – How well do you understand your Cash flow?

It is likely that your farm and ranch business goes through ups and downs in your cash flow cycle. Our work is largely dependent on the seasons and cycles of animals and therefore there are times when we have a lot of cash coming into the business and there are times when there is not a lot coming in. For many of us, when we have the least amount of cash coming is also when we have a lot of cash going out! Create a cash flow budget for your farm that shows the months across the top and different categories of income and expense along the side. You can then go through and project income and expense by month. This will help you plan for when cash is short, and budget more stringently when income is strong. Another strategy to weather a lopsided cash flow is to move major bills and payments to times of the year when you have income. For example, pay for liability insurance in August instead of February.

Production Risk – Do you have a plan for wildfire?

We farm in a part of California with a particularly high threat of wildfire. Now is a great time to get your wildfire plan written down and understood by all involved. Do all of your properties have at least two exits? What will happen to your livestock if you happen to be out of the area when a fire threatens your farm? Did you know that Cal Fire does not want you to leave sprinklers on when you evacuate and would rather you place buckets of water around structures? Do you maintain 100 feet of defensible space around all outbuildings? There are a lot of great resources available online to help you get started creating a plan. Start off by reading this Foothill Farming blog post on wildfire planning: http://ucanr.edu/sites/placernevadasmallfarms/blog/?blogpost=19003&blogasset=24945

One of the most important parts of managing risk on your farm is preparing yourself for the emotional toll that accompanies all of these scenarios. By taking a moment to think through a list of potential risks and what actions you'll take in the face of these risks, you are making yourself more resilient. Understandably, an initial reaction to these scary situations is to avoid thinking about them altogether. By looking at these risks as hypothetical situations, we are training ourselves and our businesses to react effectively if and when we need to.

For more information on the types of risk your farm or ranch needs to prepare for, visit the Risk Management section of our Foothill Farming website: http://ucanr.edu/sites/placernevadasmallfarms/Farm_Business_Planning-_new_2/FBP_Risk_Management/Risk_Management/

As we farmers and ranchers determinedly pace the rows of trees, as we tread upon the fields of foliage and flowers, and herd our stock across green and brown pastures, an underworld of microbiology and geology hums beneath our feet. Hold a handful of soil in your hands and you hold billions of micro-organisms. More importantly, you hold the cornerstone of productivity on your farm. With all of the work required by the production of food and fodder, it is easy to overlook the significance of soil. It is also easy to postpone the improvements to the soil that can greatly impact the yields and health of farm plants and animals. It is vital for all farmers, ranchers, and orchardists to incorporate soil building into our annual routines.

The first and most important step in improving your farm and ranch soil is to understand the make-up of your soil and create an action plan for improvement. To do this, you will need to take a soil sample for analysis. To accurately take a soil sample for analysis by a professional laboratory, a very specific protocol must be followed. Please watch our recently published video on soil sampling for more information (https://youtu.be/eo2pS9mSZi8) We also have a publication on taking a soil sample for analysis available on our Foothill Farming website (http://ucanr.edu/sites/placernevadasmallfarms/files/142586.pdf).

Once you have your results from your soil test, you will need to spend some time interpreting the information. This is often a sticking point for farmers- all of that chemistry and so little time to understand what to do. Soil is a complicated living system and making a mistake in what and how much you add to your soil can have dire consequences for your crops. That sounds scary, so no wonder farmers are intimidated.

The good news is that you can ask the soil lab that analyzed your samples to give you recommendations for soil amendments and application rates. If your farm is organic be sure to tell the lab that you want organic advice, otherwise you will get conventional farming suggestions. The soil lab, at a minimum, should be able to tell you how much nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, you will need to apply in order to achieve good yields. Depending on the lab and the tests you requested you can also get recommendations for how much and what kind of lime to apply; if you need trace minerals like boron, sulfur, or zinc; and how many tons of compost you should add. Different soil labs use different test methods so it is a good idea to use the same lab to test your soil each year. In other words, once you get going on a soil fertility plan from one lab, stick with it. Soil building takes years so you must be patient and consistent in both your testing and following of the lab's recommendations.

You do not have to get recommendations from a soil lab. You can learn how to read your soil test results and then develop your own soil building plan. To learn how to read soil lab test results start by taking one of the interpreting soil test results workshops offered by the UC Cooperative Extension. Be sure to keep an eye on the event calendar on the Foothill Farming website for the next workshop.

70% of all purchases are made with plastic!

Did you know that cash is used at only 25% of point of sale purchases? Predictions are that cash will be used even less as more alternative payment methods become available. Debit and credit cards are used for over 70% of purchases.   Customers enjoy the flexibility and ease of using plastic to pay for purchases.  And research shows that consumers spend differently with credit cards than they do with cash!  "Mental accounting” is the idea that people treat money differently based on a number of factors: where the money came from (salary vs. gift), the size of a transaction, and the form the money is in when a purchase is made. That last one is important – people tend to spend more money paying by card than  paying with cash; i.e. when they don't actually see those dollars and cents leaving their hands. You should not use a credit card reader because it is a stealthy way to dupe your customers into purchasing more of your gorgeous veggies. But it is undeniable that accepting cash only sales severely limits the number of potential customers you may have at a farmers' market.

But what about the fees?!

All credit card processing companies do charge a service fee, usually around 2.75%. It may be a good idea to set a minimum for card purchases – $10. You can also feel comfortable passing the processing fee to customers by charging a convenience fee per swipe (consumers do this all of the time- think about the fees for pumping gas or withdrawing money from an ATM.)   In my personal experience as a farmers' market vendor, customers often forget to grab their cash or hit the bank before a market and are relieved that they don't have to limit their market purchases. They enthusiastically whip out their plastic and are tickled by the user-friendly technology they get to use. Writing a signature across the screen of a smartphone is fun! Remember: you can always let people know that you prefer cash but having your credit card reader will help you build your customer base and make shopping at your market booth more convenient. It will probably also increase your sales.

How do I get started?

It is very simple to set up and use a smartphone credit card reader. You must have a smartphone that has a data plan (i.e. access to the Internet through a network.) Next step- set up an account with a smartphone credit card reading company. Square Up is the most used card reader available currently, though Intuit and Paypal both have similar products. I recommend Square. It is free, simple, used at many retail locations and customers are familiar with it. Once you have an account set up, you will receive a free credit card reader in the mail.It plugs into the headphone jack of your phone. You will also need to download the free app that accompanies the card reader. If you are feeling intimidated, ask a fellow market vendor for a quick tutorial.

Great sales tracking!

Once you have an account with Square, you can customize your account to track your sales. You can create “items” with specific prices or leave prices blank to fill in at check-out (in the case of items that you sell by weight.) A few quick taps of the finger and instead of a $30 payment without any details, you can record transaction details: 1 bouquet, 3 baskets of berries, and 2 pounds of tomatoes.

Another great tracking and management tool is the ability to set up employee profiles. Your employees can access your square account using a password that you assign. You are able to specify what each employee is able to do; ie accept payments, access sales records, etc.

A few tips

• You will need to update your card reader every year or so to keep up with the changing technology and improvements that Square makes. This is free to do and you will receive a reminder email. You can have as many card readers as you like- always good to have a back-up on hand.
• Square will save the personal information a customer enters to receive a receipt (either as a text message or email.) You can skip the receipt- I remind people that they will see the charge on their credit card or bank statement.
• The money you accept through Square is deposited to your specified bank account the next business day. For weekend farmers markets, this means you won't see the money until Monday. Don't forget to include these sales in your farmers' market accounting.
• Be sure to make a big sign for the farmers' market letting customers know that you accept plastic! Square will provide you with a small window decal, but you need a sign that catches the eye from across the market!

Using this technology is simple and many of you already possess the tools needed (i.e. a smartphone) to offer this simple service to your customers.   Get started today!

References:

https://www.javelinstrategy.com/brochure/251

http://elearning2.uniroma1.it/pluginfile.php/101759/mod_resource/content/1/Thaler1999.pdf