The Farm Operating System

Working outline, subject to change. One line chapter summaries are new wording for the web.

Inside the book

This is a working outline. It will change before release in early 2027.

The eight-chapter core

The current working structure opens with an eight-chapter core. It is not final. The book has eight core chapters (titles being finalized).

The full chapters

After the core come the full chapters. The list below is the August 2026 working draft (Gate 3.3): 23 chapters in six parts.

Each chapter opens with the principle, the goal, why a small farmer should care, and the minimum effective dose. Each one ends with "What to do on Tuesday", something you can use on your own place.

Part I. Purpose, Judgment, and the Steward

  1. The System and the Steward. Why a farm needs a system, and what it means to be the person responsible for it.
  2. Goals Set Direction. Systems Deliver. Turning what you want from the farm into how it actually runs.
  3. Seeing the Farm as a System of Systems. Water, power, access, buildings and equipment, and how they depend on each other.
  4. Choosing What to Do First. A plain way to rank work when everything feels urgent.
  5. Making Decisions with Incomplete Information. Acting sensibly when you will never have all the facts.

Part II. Know the Operating Base

  1. Deciding What Belongs in the System. What to track and what to leave out.
  2. Building the Asset Register. A simple list of what you own that you will actually keep up.
  3. Condition, Performance, and Criticality. What shape it is in, how well it works, and how much it matters.
  4. Dependencies and Single Points of Failure. Finding the one thing that could stop everything.

Part III. Decide and Plan

  1. Risk, Consequence, and the Cost of Waiting. When putting it off is the expensive choice.
  2. Lifecycle Choices. Repair, rebuild, replace or retire.
  3. The Farm Asset Management Plan. Pulling it together into one plan for your place.
  4. Planning Across Seasons and Years. Matching the work to the calendar and the budget.

Part IV. Deliver and Learn from Work

  1. Maintenance: Prevent, Detect, Correct. Choosing the right kind of maintenance for each asset.
  2. Work Planning, Backlog, and Closeout. Keeping the list honest and finishing what you start.
  3. Projects, Contractors, and Change Control. Getting bigger jobs done without surprises.
  4. SOPs and Repeatable Work. Writing down how it is done so anyone can do it.

Part V. Protect the Operation

  1. Resilience, Incidents, and Recovery. Preparing for the bad day and learning from it.
  2. Insurance, Financial Records, and Proof. Records that hold up when you need them.
  3. Grants and Outside Funding. Using your system to make a stronger case.

Part VI. Review, Transfer, and Stewardship

  1. Annual Review and Continual Improvement. One review a year that makes next year better.
  2. Knowledge Transfer, Succession, and the Minimum Viable Binder. Making sure what you know does not leave with you.
  3. A Gift to Future Us. Why the work matters to the people who come next.

Appendices

A. Glossary. B. Artifact Catalog. C. Quick Start and the First 30 Days. D. Framework Crosswalk. E. Completed Sample Records. F. Binder and Workbook Setup Guide. G. References. H. Reader Feedback and Public Version Control.