Earlier this month GreenStone hosted their second annual CultivateGrowth Conference for young, beginning, and small farmers. As part of GreenStone’s CultivateGrowth program, these farmers were invited to network and learn with other young, beginning, small farmers about various business strategies.
Brady Brecht, a local beef farmer in Gratiot County, attended the conference last year and noticed an appreciable difference!
In Brecht’s review from the 2023 conference, he mentioned that he would have liked to have seen more cattle industry focused sessions throughout the conference. This year, he was appreciative to find just that - an industry specific break out session for different operations like cash crop, dairy and livestock, and agritourism.
“After seeing the changes that were made, it felt like our opinion matters,” Brecht says. “It was a good learning experience on where the industry is going and where it is now.”
Attendees during one of the seminars.
The CulivateGrowth Conference not only offered industry specific sessions, but also sessions on business planning, accounting practices, ways to market farms, and transitional planning.
“This year’s conference was better then last years for sure. Being in the smaller break outs helped because you are moving seats in different rooms with different people,” says Bj Benkovsky, another second-year attendee. Benkovsky is a dairy farmer in Eaton County. “We don’t have a plan for the future, so attending some of the transition and planning sessions helped us realize what the next steps are and what we need to do to prepare for the future.”
Travis Jones presenting during the conference.
One of the biggest reasons GreenStone offers a conference like this is for the participants to network and learn from each other. Since the program is designed uniquely for those within the age, years of farming, or farm sales criteria, these participants are often just starting out in the agricultural industry and face challenges beyond the production side of farming. Being able to reap other perspectives from people in similar situations helps them grow through each other.
“It has been nice networking with other people my age. Most farmers in my community are older, so it has been nice to get to know people that are in the same situation as me,” Autumn Tait, cash crop and livestock farmer in Huron County, says.
Three young, beginning, and small farmers networking with each other!
GreenStone’s CultivateGrowth program is all about giving young, beginning, and small farmers the opportunity to educate themselves and network with others, which is exactly what the conference was all about! For more information on GreenStone’s CultivateGrowth program please visit CultivateGrowth | GreenStone FCS.
