Session 1: Intro to Whole Farm Planning 

Have you always dreamed of starting your own farm or food business? Maybe you're a new farmer in the first few years of operations? Do you still need to write or clean up your business plan?

Join Rural Action for this free five-part webinar series that will provide you with everything you need to create a sustainable farm business plan!

This first webinar in the series will feature a panel of local farmers discussing their approaches to Whole Farm Planning, which is a holistic approach to farm management that helps farmers inventory their natural assets, develop production goals, implement a management plan, and monitor for long-term success.

For this online session, Rural Action will moderate a panel of local farmers who will share how they have used this approach in their businesses. Panelists include Abbe Turner, owner of Lucky Penny Farm; Paul Harper, owner of Woodland Ridge Farm; and Dan Kneier, Farm Manager at Hocking College.

Abbe Turner is the creative force behind Lucky Penny Creamery in Kent, Ohio where goats’ milk is handcrafted into artisan cheeses and award winning candies. As a seasoned entrepreneur, Turner is recognized as a leader in dairy and of women in agriculture. She was a Business Volunteers Unlimited Encore Fellow in 2015 for Evergreen Cooperatives, recipient of the Green business of the year award in 2014 from the Portage Parks Foundation, selected as a Farm Aid Farmer Hero in 2013, and awarded the Kent Chamber of Commerce IMMY Award for significant entrepreneurial investment in 2011.

Paul Harper leads the team at Woodland Ridge Farm & Learning Center. Woodland Ridge functions as both a business, learning center, and destination for visitors near Athens, Ohio. As a working farm, Harper raises a variety of livestock and fresh produce and has begun to incorporate silviculture and permaculture practices on the farm. Most notably the farm raises pastured pork that is healthier for the pigs, as well as the hilly landscape of Appalachian Ohio. As a meeting place and learning center, Woodland Ridge provide numerous educational activities and a central space for discussions about sustainability.

Dan Kneier is the Farm Manager for the Agroecology Program at Hocking College. In this role, Kneier oversees the entire farm property, coordinates all seasonal production, maintains equipment, and educates numerous students in the Agroecology program. Prior to his time at Hocking College, Kneier served as the farm manager at Green Edge Organic Gardens in Amesville, Ohio, where he managed an extensive farm crew and oversaw year-round production in the farm's ten high tunnels, microgreen house, and mushroom operation.