Orchard business plan template

June 2012 | Developed by AgFirst for the Future Orchards® project | Orchard business plan template

This Orchard Business Plan template was created by AgFirst as the working document that accompanies the Future Orchards® Orchard Business Plan Guidelines. It gives growers a practical place to record the strategic, technical and financial decisions that shape the future of an apple or pear business.

The template is designed to move planning beyond informal discussion by documenting the business vision, current position, objectives, responsibilities and measures of success. Used with the companion guidelines, it can capture decisions about orchard site risks, variety mix, redevelopment, orchard systems, crop management, labour, machinery, post-harvest, marketing, compliance and finance in one structured plan.

For orchard businesses considering major changes, the template provides a useful way to test whether redevelopment, new plantings, changes in variety mix, machinery investment or labour-system changes support the overall business direction. It also provides a place to assign timeframes, identify the people responsible for actions and record the KPIs that will be used to monitor progress.

The value of the template is in keeping the plan active. Rather than being a document prepared once and filed away, it can be reviewed with family members, managers, advisers and lenders as conditions change. This makes it easier to compare intended actions with actual performance and to keep technical orchard decisions aligned with long-term profitability and business goals.