Reflections on my FARMpreneurs Strategic Sprint
All photo credit goes to the incredible Glassell Photography
I spent the second week of March up at the beautiful Carnation Farms for a FARMpreneurs Strategic Sprint.
It was one of those weeks that stays with you.
There were 15 of us, farmers from all over the country. All at different stages. Different scales. Different questions.
Some just getting started.
Some running operations serving thousands.
Some wondering if they even wanted to keep farming.
Hydroponics. Mushrooms. Wineries. Chickens. CSAs. Nonprofits. Small market farms…
A wide spread of people, all tied together by the same thing, trying to build something meaningful through agriculture.
And that’s really what this program is about.
FARMpreneurs isn’t about how to grow better crops. It’s about how to build a farm that actually works. A farm that can support your life. A farm that can last. A farm that can grow into something bigger than just surviving season to season.
They bring you out of the day to day and put you in a room where you’re asked to really look at your business. To ask the hard questions. What are you building? Why does it matter? And what does it actually take to get there?
The faculty were incredible. A mix of business minds, farmers, financial minds, and people who understand both sides of it. They didn’t just ask us to dream big. They pushed us past that. Then pushed us again.
We spent the week digging into everything. Vision. Financials. Revenue streams. Constraints. Opportunities. The pieces that are working and the ones that aren’t.
But more than anything, we were pushed to get honest.
Honest about what we want.
Honest about what isn’t working.
Honest about what we’re avoiding.
That kind of space is hard to come by when you’re on farm, trying to keep things moving.
Leaving the farm for a week in the spring is no small thing.
But it was worth it. Fully.
I came home with a level of clarity I didn’t have before. Not just on the farm, but on myself as a farmer and a business owner.
I have a clearer vision for where Blue Heron Farm is going. A stronger understanding of what needs to happen to get there. And a renewed sense that this thing we’re building matters.
And just as important, I left with people.
A table full of new friends who get it. Who are walking similar paths in completely different places. And who are willing to show up for each other, ask hard questions, and hold each other accountable to the dreams we say out loud.
If you’re a farmer, especially if you’re at that point where you know there’s something bigger ahead but you’re not quite sure how to get there, I couldn’t recommend this program enough.
It’s not easy. It will stretch you.
But it just might change the way you see your farm and what’s possible for it.
Stay tuned for some really really exciting news later this year…. ;-P
Click below to learn more about the FARMpreneurs program.
What is FARMpreneurs?
FARMpreneurs' mission is to enhance the success, profitability, and resilience of community-based farming businesses. We achieve this through entrepreneurial business education programs, including our flagship week-long Strategic Sprint - an executive boot camp where farmers develop strategic plans, leadership skills, and collaborative networks to become changemakers in sustainable food systems.