Winter Workshops
Financial Foundations: January 15, 2025 - 5:30 – 7:30pm - free virtual workshop for farm owner/operators and farm managers who want to learn or get a refresher on financial information including how to set up your financial statements, cash flow budgeting, fixed vs. variable expenses and Cost of Goods Sold. This course, taught by an instructor with agricultural financial and business expertise, will help you with tools to evaluate your farm business for greater efficiency and profitability. Free and open to Massachusetts farmers.
Jacqueline Mastrangelo and Ray Belanger of Fish Park Consulting have worked with farmers across Massachusetts for 20+ years, analyzing their current financial state, training them on how to review financial statements and how to prepare a budget utilizing valid assumptions. They both have an extensive financial background. *Registration is no longer available; this workshop is now full.
Reaching Your Market: January 29, 2025 - 5:30 – 7:30pm - free virtual workshop for farm owner/operators and managers who want to learn or get a refresher on marketing concepts including identifying who you are trying to reach, what makes your farm stand out, and how to communicate this in your messaging including social media. This course, taught by an instructor with agricultural marketing and business expertise, will help you evaluate what’s working and what’s not to help focus your efforts. Free and open to Massachusetts farmers.
Since 2004 Rose Wilson of Rose Wilson Consulting has been helping farms hone in on their sales and marketing efforts by sharing how to understand your target market- who are they? what makes them tick? - and pairing this knowledge with actionable and measurable marketing strategies to ensure their investment in marketing is well spent. *Registration is no longer available; this workshop is now full.
Contact Melissa at Melissa.Adams@mass.gov with any questions.
Growing Your Farm Business Plan Course
Structured support to help you set goals for your farm business resulting in a written business plan with financial projections by attending 5 sessions over 6 weeks. Topics include assessing your resources, risk management, marketing strategy, financial & capital planning, goal setting and quality of life, and applying it on your farm. The course is taught by professional business planners with years of experience working with farmers. Enrollment is open to farmers who have been operating/managing a farm business in Massachusetts for at least the two prior years, but could also have years of experience and utilize the course to plan for growth or to obtain financing. Prior to taking this course, participants should understand how to generate financial statements and cash flow budgeting by taking Farm Financial Foundations (see above for description of this free workshop to be offered in January 2025) or have had similar financial management training. Note: Those who take both the Farm Financial Foundations workshop and Growing Your Farm Business Planning course will meet requirements for USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) certified borrower training for financial management.
Final 2025 Growing Your Farm Business Plan course schedule*
- Wednesday, Feb 5 (in person W. Springfield 2:00-5:00pm) - Assessing Resources; Farm Operations & Management
- Wednesday, Feb 12 (virtual 5:30 – 8:00pm) - Develop Mission & Marketing Strategies
- Wednesday, Feb 26 (virtual 5:30 – 8:00pm) - Financial & Capital Planning
- Wednesday, March 5 (virtual 5:30 – 8:00pm) - Goal Setting: Applying it on your farm
- Wednesday, March 12 (in person W. Springfield 2:00-5:00pm) - Wrap-up: MDAR grants & resources, potluck celebration
No class the week of Feb 19. Snow date Wed. March 19.
Course location: MDAR West Springfield physical office address for GPS - 42 Century Way, West Springfield
*Note that virtual session times have been revised from the original schedule
Farmers that have completed a business plan by participating in a recent Growing Your Farm business plan course and then apply and get accepted to MDAR’s APR Improvement Program (AIP), Farm Viability Enhancement Program (FVEP), or Matching Enterprise Grants for Agriculture (MEGA) may be able to abbreviate the business planning phase of these programs, enabling them to move to the contract phase to start implementing grant-funded projects sooner.
- To register for the farm business plan course, fill out application at this link: Growing Your Farm (Application)
For more information or to submit an application, contact Melissa at Melissa.L.Adams@mass.gov. The course fee, subsidized by MDAR, has been reduced to $100 per farm for up to two owner/operators from each farm. It is important to us that the course fee does not create a barrier to participation. If the fee would prevent you from participating, please contact Melissa to discuss waiving the fee at the above email or at 857-276-2377.
Farm-Pass: Farm Transfer Planning Assistance
**Informational webinar was held virtually on December 11th - link here.
MDAR’s new Farm-Pass will provide direct assistance to help Massachusetts farm owners pass their farm on to the next generation. This service is targeted to owners who have already identified a successor – either within the family or not – who is interested in transitioning to own and manage a commercial farm business on the farm property in the near future. This is a no-cost opportunity for farm owners, family members, and the identified successor to work one-on-one with an experienced, dedicated Planner to create a customized farm transfer plan. Participants will meet regularly over the course of approximately one year to set goals for retirement and the future farm business, and create tangible next steps to transfer assets and management. The Planners will NOT provide legal or tax advice but WILL help you develop a written action plan that identifies concrete next steps to work on with your attorney and/or CPA/tax advisor to make the transfer happen.
To access the Request for Response and application, click the link below. The PDF application is listed under the “File Attachments”:
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, but must be received by January 15th, 2025 to start in March 2025. A subsequent round will be due on April 15th, 2025 for a June 2025 start. Contact Laura Barley at 857-507-5548 or Laura.Barley@mass.gov with any questions.
Succession School
Mondays from 9:30am – 3:00pm, on January 27th, February 24th, and March 17th, 2025
Taunton Public Library at 12 Pleasant St, Taunton MA - register for the course at this link!
MDAR is hosting Land for Good’s Farm Succession School for Massachusetts farmers again this winter! This is an opportunity for senior generation farmers to talk with peers, learn from advisors, and get support on the challenging process of farm succession and transfer planning.
- Have questions about retiring that you don't know how to answer?
- Feel like your family needs to start talking, but you don't know where to start?
- Are you unsure who will take over your farm?
- Can the farm support two generations?
Succession School provides farmers and farming partners with the structured and sustained support to make decisions, engage their families, and organize the legal and financial mechanics. It is an opportunity for senior generation farmers, with or without identified successors, to talk with peers, learn from advisors, and get support on the challenging process of farm succession and transfer planning. The course will meet in-person in for a three-session course at the Taunton Public Library in Taunton, MA between 9:30 am – 3:00pm on the following Mondays 1/27; 2/24; and 3/17. The fee, subsidized by MDAR, is $100 per farm. Registration will remain open until the course is filled and will depend on sufficient interest to run the course.
To learn more or register for the course, visit the Succession School registration page. For questions about the course, contact Deanna Levanti with Land for Good at deanna@landforgood.org or 339-235-0859. The course fee for Succession School is $100. It is important to us that course fees do not create a barrier to participation - if the course fee would prevent you from participating, please contact Deanna to discuss waiving the fee.
If you are interested in learning more generally about succession planning assistance, you can fill out this Farm Transfer Planning Interest Form