INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS

Intensive Workshops take place Sunday, January 31, at the Miller Plant Sciences Building and offer an opportunity to dive deeper into a specific topic through extended, hands-on learning. Each intensive is a longer-form experience than the educational sessions offered during the main Summit and is designed to provide more in-depth exploration and practical takeaways. Intensives run concurrently, so attendees may select one of the four available options.

Farmer Summit Registration - coming soon

Getting Ready to Stay Ready: Climate Risk Management and Resilience Planning for Farms

  • Building resilience starts with understanding risk. In this interactive workshop, Karen McSwain of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association will lead farmers through the Five Steps to Climate Resilience Planning process. Participants will identify key climate threats, assess how those risks may affect their operation, explore practical adaptation strategies, and develop priorities for action. By the end of the session, farmers will leave with a working draft of their own climate resilience plan and practical next steps to strengthen their farms' resilience.

  • Karen McSwain (Carolina Farm Stewardship Association)

From Off-the-Cuff to Built to Grow: Financial Systems for a Farm Business

  • At some point, a growing farm reaches a stage when keeping the numbers in your head—or relying on systems that worked when the business was smaller—is no longer enough. Growth brings new questions: Are our prices actually working? Where is the profit coming from? How should inventory be handled? What will a lender, grantor, or investor see when they look at the business? And can our financial systems give us the information we need to make the next big decision?

    Using Chattahoochee Queen as a real-world case study, farmer Evan Neal and financial consultant Elaine Lemmon will open up the numbers behind the farm and examine the evolution from informal financial management to systems designed to support a growing business. We’ll work through examples including translating sales data into a useful P&L, separating and analyzing enterprises, cost and price analysis, inventory and cash-versus-accrual accounting, and preparing financial information for lenders, investors, and grant opportunities.

    This is an intermediate, hands-on intensive rather than a lecture. Participants will work in small groups with real farm financial information, discuss decisions and tradeoffs with Evan and Elaine, and have opportunities to apply the same thinking to their own businesses. Farmers are encouraged to bring their own financial statements or business numbers so they can leave with specific ideas for strengthening their financial systems, improving decision-making, and preparing for growth.

  • Elaine Lemmon (Hayseed Collective)

    Evan Neal (Chattahoochee Queen)

Beginning Farmer Bootcamp: The Essentials of Farm Planning

  • Led by Daniel Parson of Oxford College Farm, Tianna Neal of Starlit Roots, and Alec Smith of Crop Culture Farm, this intensive will walk beginning farmers through the fundamentals of farm planning, from choosing the right markets and selecting crops to, planning crop rotations, and deciding what infrastructure, tools, and equipment to invest in. Explore practical considerations for seeds and transplants, greenhouse production, recordkeeping, succession planning, and farm sales and marketing. Leave with a stronger foundation for making informed decisions and building a farm business that works for you.

  • Daniel Parson (Oxford College Organic Farm)

    Alec Smith (Crop Culture Farm)
    Alec Smith is a first-generation farmer, the owner of Crop Culture Farm in Newborn, Georgia, and the host of The Rookie Farmer Podcast. Drawing on nearly a decade of agricultural experience, Alec is dedicated to helping aspiring and beginning farmers succeed. He shares practical advice, real-world stories, and business insights to guide beginners through the highs and lows of starting and scaling a farm. Alec is passionate about empowering the next generation of growers to build profitable, sustainable, and community-driven farm businesses.

    Tianna Neal (Starlit Roots)

Sustainable Farm Management: Labor Systems that Support Farmer Health

  • Running a farm shouldn’t mean sacrificing your health, family time, or personal well-being. Led by Mark Cain of Dripping Springs Garden and EliYahu Ben Asa of Atlanta Harvest, this interactive intensive will explore practical labor management strategies and how to build the capacity, team structures, and systems needed to step away without everything falling on one person. Learn how to delegate responsibilities, distribute workloads, and create sustainable routines that make time off, family commitments, and personal health a realistic part of running a successful farm.

  • Mark Cain (Dripping Springs Farm)

    EliYahu Ben Asa (Atlanta Harvest)