What is this project about and who is paying for it?
SAFI is a new non-profit organization founded by Ron Macher, editor and publisher of Small Farm Today magazine, and a farmer for more than 40 years. SAFI is dedicated to the preservation of the small family farm, the rural community and the sustainability of our society at large. SAFI has joined with three Missouri universities—Lincoln University Cooperative Extension and the Small Farm Family Program, the Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia—plus University of Missouri Outreach and Extension, to create and distribute an easy to use and affordable computer program to help new farmers make sound, sustainable farm plans.

SAFI has received Grant funding from the USDA's North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (NCR SARE) to implement this project, which is called Planning Your Small Farm for Pleasure and Profit.

This project will merge the interests of you, the new and beginning farmer, with basic agricultural information to provide a comprehensive look at your farm, along with suggestions for its best sustainable use. It is designed for farmers doing the right kind of farming for their market, their farm and their interests. It is designed to help a farmer decide which kind of enterprise to pursue based on their time and money constraints, soil type, etc. The goal of this project is to get sustainable, whole farm information to new farmers before they make costly, but avoidable mistakes.