Vision, objectives, and constraints¶

Hub: Planning framework

Vision (10 years)¶

Build a for-profit, two-site farm business in East Tennessee: ~120 acres as primary production, ~5 acres as family home + control center (smart house, workshop/lab, telemetry spine). Move from side income to credible salary-replacement cash only if gates and margins justify reducing off-farm work.

Objectives (ranked)¶

Rank	Objective	Measurable proxy
1	Profit	Operating margin after full-cost allocation (incl. labor at replacement wage)
2	Low labor	Owner hours per $ gross; peak-week survivability
3	Sustainability / resilience	Shock survival (drought, price dip) without liquidity failure

Hard constraints¶

ID	Constraint
C1	5 ac = not primary commercial production land
C2	120 ac = primary land-based revenue
C3	~35 min one-way between sites (planning basis)
C4	Family labor primary—no implicit hired resident manager
C5	Minimal early spend; phased CAPEX; selective infrastructure financing
C6	Automation is budgeted (install, maintain, false positives, cyber)

Success criteria (by phase gate)¶

Gate	Pass condition (fill numbers locally)
End Phase 1	Land/water/legal unknowns bounded (measured, deferred with owner, or waived in writing); pilot telemetry one green light—see `Execution gates — Phase 0–1` EG-LEV / EG-SITE
End Phase 2	Positive operating cash or honest subsidy budget with dated end
End Phase 3	Margin supports scale or second stream without heroic labor
Phase 4	Farm cash ≥ X% of household need for Y consecutive years

Stop rules (pause capital / pivot)¶

Trigger	Action
Two consecutive years negative operating cash (after replacement-wage labor charge)	Freeze non-essential CAPEX; cut herd or raise lease share
Automation OPEX > documented benefit (trips avoided + risk value)	De-scope sensors; consolidate stack
Key person unavailable > N weeks	Reduce livestock exposure; activate degraded SOPs
Debt service > D% of gross farm revenue	No new term debt without written recovery plan

Non-goals¶

Lifestyle branding as substitute for unit economics
Maximum sensor count without registry + triage
Single-enterprise lock-in before Phase 1 validation

Evidence and doctrine alignment (2026-04)¶

Phase 1 “bounded unknowns” in the success table means honest closure or deferral of register items—not “we read the wiki.” Route desk evidence (county NASS bands, WSS-derived terrain bias, portals) through Local evidence package and parcel truth through Claxton and Demory — missing data register + Field verification program — Phase 0–1. Ledger: Business plan integration revision audit (2026-04).

Known facts¶

ID	Fact
K1	Two parcels: ~5 ac home base, ~120 ac production
K2	Profit intent; 10-year horizon; side business → possible salary replacement
K3	Family labor model as default
K4	Telemetry/automation is an explicit operating philosophy

Assumptions¶

ID	Assumption	Review by
A1	35 min is typical one-way for batch planning	Seasonal drive log
A2	At least one family member can do surge weeks (calving, hay weather)	Annual calendar
A3	Off-farm income bridges Years 1–3	Household budget

Execution risk: A2 and A3 are wishful until evidence. A2 is illusory without V11 time log plus one documented surge window and coverage that does not assume heroics. A3 is illusory without named income sources and stress if job loss or health event—the “bridge” is not automatic.

Emotional scaling (explicit non-goal)¶

Profit intent does not protect you from scale-before-proof under stress. If stop rules in this page would be emotionally “too harsh” to follow in public, the plan is not operational—it is theater (Ready for execution).

Open questions¶

ID	Question	Owner
Q1	Household cash need for “salary replacement” ($/yr range)?	Family
Q2	Maximum acceptable annual farm loss before exit?	Family
Q3	Debt appetite and personal guarantee limit?	Family