Free kits for people who work the land

Records, planning, and field-operations material we built because we needed it ourselves. Free to download. No signup, no tracking, no upsell. Use it on paper, on a clipboard, on a barn wall, or on a screen - your choice. If it saves you time, a donation keeps it free and updated.

The Homestead Operating System

Free download

Complete records and planning kit for small farms and homesteads. 9 functional spreadsheets, 41 print-ready barn-wall templates, and a 36-page workbook guide.

The Practitioner's Playbook

Free download

Field operations manual - spray-window decision trees, irrigation thresholds, cover crops, forage moisture, yield-monitor calibration, and record-keeping templates. A 42-page PDF.

The Land Atlas

Free download

Field guide to reading your own land - water, soil, climate, topography, energy, wildlife, fire risk, regulations, infrastructure, and a year-one plan. A 56-page PDF.

For homesteads

The Homestead Operating System

Free - instant download

The operating manual we wished existed when we started. A small farm or homestead does not fail because the work is too hard - it fails because there is no system, and everything lives in one operator's head. The Homestead OS is the calm, repeatable framework for running a property.

  • 9 functional spreadsheets - inventory, harvest, livestock, equipment, expenses, and more
  • 41 print-ready barn-wall templates - feed schedules, fence checks, repair logs
  • 36-page workbook guide for setting up the year, the month, and the week
  • Solar, water, and fence sizing references for the most common build decisions
  • Decision frameworks for build vs buy vs defer

Built by the team behind Manley Farms - the same people behind the free tools you are already using.

Download free No signup - yours to keep, print, and use - PDF and printable
For working farms

The Practitioner's Playbook

Free - instant download

The agronomic and operational reference for the day-to-day calls that move yield. Spray windows. Irrigation timing. Cover crop selection and termination. Hay moisture. Yield monitor calibration. Telematics setup. Soil sensor placement. Organized so you can find the answer in under a minute, on a phone, in a wet field, with one hand.

  • 128-page field operations manual
  • Monthly farm operations calendars
  • Spray-window decision trees and irrigation threshold tables
  • Cover crop, tillage, and rotation playbooks
  • Equipment calibration and weather-station integration guides
  • Record-keeping templates that survive a real season

Free like everything else on the site. If it earns its keep on your operation, a donation keeps it free. Something it should cover that it does not? Tell us - we read every email.

Download free 42-page PDF - no signup - yours to keep and print
For mapping the land

The Land Atlas

Free - instant download

The geospatial companion - boundaries, soils, satellite imagery, RTK GPS, drone workflows, variable rate setup, and the practical references that pull them together. If you have ever stared at the USDA Web Soil Survey trying to find the answer you actually wanted, this is the book that gets you there faster.

  • 180-page field guide to reading your own land
  • Water, soil, climate, topography, energy, wildlife, fire history, regulatory, infrastructure
  • NRCS soil profile and Web Soil Survey shortcuts
  • Satellite imagery, NDVI, and remote sensing recipes
  • RTK GPS, drone, and variable rate setup playbooks
  • 40-page workbook plus a parcel profile template you can fill out for your own ground
  • Year-one action plan for someone who just bought land

Free like everything else here. If it helps you make a better call on a piece of ground, a donation keeps it free. Tell us what your land needs that it misses - we read every email.

Download free 56-page PDF - no signup - yours to keep and print

Why these are free

The free tools on this site answer one question at a time. These kits bundle the answers - and the systems behind them - into something you can keep on a clipboard, pin to a barn wall, or carry into a real field. Charging for them never sat right with the rest of the site, so they are free too.

None of it is theory. The spreadsheets are the ones we keep open. The decision trees are how we actually decide. The workbooks are how we write the plan down once a year so the year does not just happen to us.

If one of these earns its keep on your operation, a donation keeps the whole thing free, ad-free, and moving forward. If something is missing or could be better, tell us. We read every email.

Donate to Manley Farms