Headed West

This week I headed west. I don’t often associate farming with travel. But this week I was excited and somewhat apprehensive to travel west into the sunset to a farm in northern Indiana. With brooder and chicken coop building projects on the go, I felt a twinge of irresponsibility as I hopped in the car. Why would I leave the farm when there was so much to do?

Now I am traveling home, dictating this blog in transit, and as I pass through the endless cornfields of Indiana I am left with a feeling that my trip has actually been one of the most responsible farming decisions I have made. I attended a workshop put on by the folks at GrazeCart, the e-commerce platform we use to host our website and make the online store run smoothly. GrazeCart was created by the folks at Seven Sons Farm in Roanoke, Indiana.

There were 15 of us who had traveled from across the country to this little town in Indiana to learn from the seven brothers, who all collectively run Seven Sons Farm. The objective of the workshop was to help the participants identify where and how to grow their business.

You might ask, why would a successful farm want to share with other farmers and its sector what they have learned and how to succeed? Would that not just create more competition? Why not protect their market share? From the very beginning it was clear that these brothers had a grander vision in mind. If we’re going to try to shift our food system to farming practices that benefit and do not degrade our land and environment, it’s going to take working together and learning from one another.

​Unlike every other farming workshop I’ve ever attended, we did not talk about the technical aspects of production. Instead, we focused on leadership, time, management, teambuilding, finance, and margins, and how to set goals and establish a vision. I am sure I’m not alone in saying that it was an impactful two days for everyone in that room. 

I am grateful for the opportunity to continue learning, and also grateful to all of our customers who choose to spend their dollars supporting our mission and vision. Thank you.