Prepared for lenders, CDCs, and federal agencies to SBA SOP 50 10 8, USDA RD Instruction 5001, and conventional underwriting standards. Fiduciary duty runs to the lender and the agency, never the borrower. More than 4,000 studies since 1998 covering $40.2 billion in evaluated project value.
Crop feasibility is yield-times-price under cost discipline: the land's productive capacity from soil and yield history, crop-budget economics against university extension benchmarks, marketing plan and price-risk management, irrigation economics where water carries the yield, and the debt structure against the operation's margin volatility. Specialty and organic programs add certification timelines and premium-market analysis.
Methodology uses USDA NASS yield and price series, university extension crop budgets, soil and water resource review, and FSA and Farm Credit underwriting benchmarks. Coverage is tested at conservative price-yield combinations across the firm's standard stress discipline.
Every Wert-Berater financial model is fully linked with no hardcoded values, so any reviewer can stress any input. Deliverables comprise a complete narrative report and the linked Excel model, with ten-year pro forma, sensitivity analysis at ±5, 10, and 15 percent, interest-rate stress from +0.5 to +3.0 percent, and ratio analysis benchmarked against RMA and IBISWorld data.
SBA engagements are prepared to SOP 50 10 8, including its debt-service-coverage minimums of 1.15x operating and 1.00x global. USDA engagements follow RD Staff Instruction 5001 across the Business & Industry, Community Facilities, REAP, and Value-Added Producer Grant programs. Conventional engagements are built to the lender's stated coverage standard, typically 1.20x. Agricultural engagements are the heart of the USDA practice: B&I for rural enterprises, Value-Added Producer Grant studies to RD Instruction 5001 where producers integrate forward, and Farm Credit and conventional structures otherwise; job creation, producer benefit, and rural economic impact are documented to the agency standard.
The firm's agricultural and food-system record includes USDA-compliant processing, cold-chain, and winery engagements nationwide, including a $10,066,000 vineyard and winery estate in Temecula, California. Independence is non-negotiable: determinations follow the evidence and are not revised under pressure, and studies are built to pass lender, agency, and third-party review without exception items.
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