Most of the Compass decision-support tools that CIAS has created are backward-looking in that they ask a producer to enter information on the previous year in order to parse out what crops or enterprises were more profitable than others. When CIAS and collaborators began the project that resulted in the Fruit & Nut Compass, it was decided that a tool was needed to help those interested in perennial crops better understand the significant up-front costs of establishment and the lag time between planting and actually having a crop to take to market.

Many perennial fruit and nut crops take 3 to 7 years to mature and yield at maximum potential. Consequently, anyone planning a farm that will feature fruit and nut crops needs to do careful planning to make sure they will eventually be profitable and recoup the cost of planting and establishment. The Fruit & Nut Compass provides the framework for a  complete and careful examination before you start spending considerable time and money purchasing plants and necessary infrastructure. By using the Fruit & Nut Compass, a new or beginning grower can rigorously test and tweak their plan to help ensure financial success.

Key features of the Fruit & Nut Compass:

• Examine up to 12 crops, simultaneously, as part of an integrated farm plan over a 15-year timeline.
• Step-by-step approach walks user through all potential expenses
• Offers the option of listing expenses and revenue from temporary, secondary enterprises that might take place on the land where perennial crops are grown (such as alley cropping, grazing animals, etc.) in order to generate income while perennial shrubs or trees are developing and not yet providing income.
• Year-by-year yield projections that the user enters allows you to reflect reality in your enterprise plan as many crops will gradually ramp up in terms of yield over time. This also allows the user to build in and see the impact of a year with reduced yield or a crop failure.
• All expense information is entered in “per acre” units making it possible to alter the plan later in terms of planting size without adjusting every expense or revenue estimate.
• Although the tool utilizes acres as the primary unit of land measure, less than acre plantings are accommodated and perfectly acceptable.
• Final page presents user with a “dashboard” where they can tweak yield and selling prices to see how those changes affect the bottom line over the 15-year planning period.
• Tool is “agnostic” in terms of crops which allows you to create a plan based on your own research, reflecting the realities of your location, your growing techniques/systems, local markets, and your own marketing plan.