End-to-end project workflow
Agricultural project workflow: calculators, cost summary, proposals and financing
Every tool in the library belongs to one of five steps. This page puts them in order, shows what each step produces, and hands the result to the next one — from the first area figure to a financing conversation backed by real supplier pricing.
What are the steps of a commercial agricultural project, from planning to financing?
Plan the packages with chained calculators, summarise CAPEX and operating cost, convert the figures into one written RFQ that a sourcing specialist reviews manually, compare supplier proposals on equalised scope, and arrange financing only once a supplier-backed cost exists. SeedMatchGroup is a human-reviewed B2B RFQ platform for commercial projects from roughly USD 250,000 upwards — not a marketplace, a supplier or a lender.
- Step 1 — planning calculators: area, climate load, water demand, irrigation zones, pump duty, fertigation.
- Step 2 — cost summary: CAPEX band per m² and per hectare plus lifecycle operating cost.
- Step 3 — RFQ: one written specification, reviewed by a specialist before any supplier is approached.
- Step 4 — proposals: offers normalised line by line before price is compared.
- Step 5 — financing: debt-service screening and routes, against supplier-backed figures.
Planning calculators
What does the project actually need?
Start from crop, area, climate and water source, then size each package in the order it depends on the previous one: structure, climate and energy load, water demand, irrigation zones and pumping, fertigation. One early figure changed — usually area or water quality — moves the whole equipment list, which is why the tools are chained rather than used in isolation.
What this step produces
- Covered area and structure type
- Heating, cooling and electrical load
- Peak water demand, storage and treatment duty
- Irrigation zones, design flow, pump duty
- Fertigation injector and stock-tank sizing
Tools for this step
Takes one set of project inputs and derives a connected baseline: greenhouse envelope, water demand, design flow and zoning, filtration, fertigation dosing, pump duty and indicative energy — so every package is planned from the same numbers.
Carries values into the RFQConverts an annual production target into required covered area, a block layout and an indicative land requirement including an expansion reserve.
Estimates peak heating load, cooling capacity, ventilation flow and indicative pad-wall area for a covered area in a given climate zone and cover system.
Calculates sensible heat load and the air temperature reachable after an evaporative stage for the chosen ventilation or cooling strategy, plus indicative cooling energy cost.
Estimates envelope area, peak heating load and seasonal heat energy from the covering type, setpoint, outside design temperature, infiltration uplift and thermal-screen saving.
Compares diesel, grid and solar-plus-battery supply against a daily energy demand, with PV capacity, yield, CAPEX, battery sizing, degradation and escalation.
Derives ETc, gross application depth, peak-day volume and the resulting design flow from reference ETo, growth stage, effective rainfall and system efficiency.
Estimates daily, seasonal and annual water consumption for a covered area under protected cultivation.
Sizes working and total storage volume from peak demand, drain recovery, reserve days and the refill window, and reports the refill flow the source must sustain.
Sizes filtration and disinfection duty for the design flow: sand filter area from filtration velocity, screen or disc rating, UV dose against UVT, and the power that treatment adds.
Turns greenhouse area, crop and water source into peak daily water demand, design pump capacity and a storage reservoir volume.
Carries values into the RFQDerives design flow, zone count and rotation from peak crop water use, application efficiency, irrigation hours and the maximum flow per zone, and converts N, P₂O₅ and K₂O rates into seasonal product quantities.
Builds the pump duty point: design flow from area, application depth, operating hours and peak factor; total dynamic head from static lift, required pressure and friction; then hydraulic, shaft and motor power with efficiencies and a service factor, plus an indicative solar PV capacity.
Converts a target nutrient concentration and daily water volume into nutrient and product quantities per day, injector duty at the chosen dilution ratio, and the stock tank volume for the required autonomy.
Cost and quote summary
What is the realistic budget, and what will it cost to run?
The sized packages convert into a CAPEX band per m² and per hectare, plus the operating cost that decides whether the project works over its life. This is the summary a board, a partner or a lender reads before anyone is asked for a price — planning bands built from published benchmark ranges, never a quotation.
What this step produces
- CAPEX band per m², per hectare and for the whole site
- Annual operating cost: energy, water, labour, inputs, maintenance
- Lifecycle cost per usable growing m² over the chosen horizon
- Country cost context where local bands exist
Tools for this step
Compares CAPEX plus OPEX scenarios over the project life and reports cost per usable m², with scenario saving, sharing and PDF export.
Carries values into the RFQLocal per-m² bands for fourteen countries.
Price per tonne and annual cost per hectare by crop.
Price per kg and seed cost per hectare by crop.
Structured RFQ and human review
Is the project ready to put in front of suppliers?
The calculated figures are carried into a written specification, one document every supplier answers on the same basis. Nothing is sent on submission: a sourcing specialist reviews the brief first, asks for whatever is missing, and only then approaches relevant suppliers. Supplier identities stay private and all communication runs through SeedMatchGroup.
What this step produces
- A readiness verdict and the list of inputs still missing
- One written specification per package
- A reviewed brief in the sourcing queue, not an automatic supplier blast
Tools for this step
Reports whether a controlled-agriculture project is specified enough for supplier outreach, and lists the inputs that would otherwise be assumed rather than stated.
Carries values into the RFQTurns the project definition into one structured requirement document that every researched manufacturer answers against, so proposals stay comparable.
Carries values into the RFQCollects the greenhouse specification — area, crop, growing system, climate strategy, packages, contracting scope and timeline — as one requirement.
Carries values into the RFQCollects the irrigation requirement — area, crop, zones, design flow, pressure, water source and quality, terrain, energy and contracting scope.
Carries values into the RFQSupplier proposals
Which offer is genuinely the best, once scope is equalised?
Offers arrive with different scopes, different inclusions and different assumptions, so the headline price is rarely comparable. Proposals are normalised line by line — what is inside the price, what is excluded, delivery terms, installation, commissioning, spares, warranty and the performance conditions each figure assumes — before any commercial decision.
What this step produces
- A like-for-like scope matrix across offers
- Exclusions and assumptions made visible
- Total delivered and installed cost, not ex-works headline price
Tools for this step
Puts quoted totals side by side against covered area and currency so bids can be normalised to a common basis instead of compared as headline prices.
The scope-first method: build an inclusion matrix, restate every proposal on a common scope, add back exclusions, then compare landed cost, lifecycle cost, lead time, warranty and payment terms.
Applies the same scope-first comparison to irrigation: hydraulic basis, filtration duty, dosing scope, pump duty point, electrical scope, civil works and commissioning.
Financing terms
How is the project paid for, and does it service the debt?
Once a supplier-backed figure exists, financing can be assessed properly: lenders and development funds work from a supported cost, an operating plan and a debt-service picture, not a planning band. SeedMatchGroup is not a bank, lender or credit provider — eligible projects may explore introductions or pathways with independent financing partners.
What this step produces
- Debt-service coverage and payback screening
- Financing routes by country and project type
- The document pack a financing partner expects to see
Tools for this step
Start the workflow
Run the calculators that match your project, then carry the figures into a project brief. A sourcing specialist reviews every brief manually before any supplier is approached, and supplier identities remain private throughout.
Questions about the workflow
Calculator outputs are budget-level planning estimates for procurement, not engineering designs, quotations, yield forecasts or offers of credit. Final figures come from supplier offers against a written specification, and final design must be confirmed by the relevant agronomists, engineers, laboratories and local authorities.