Vegetable Farmers: Becoming the Employer of Choice

Motivating and managing employees is essential to most diversified vegetable farms, and rare is the farmer who comes to farming with those labor management skills. Whether you have worked with employees for many years or are in the early stages of hiring staff, these sessions will give you practical tools to make your farm an employer of choice. We will cover hiring the right people, developing a motivated workforce, establishing a positive farm business culture, providing reviews and feedback, and much more through this nine-part series. Research-based approaches and real world examples make this series practical and useful for any vegetable farm employer.

“Nothing replaces the value of managing your crew well during the season - making sure you're taking care of them, supporting them, listening to them. You can't just leave that work to the end of the season and expect people to come back. BTEC has been such a transformational tool for me as a farmer and an employer. It's helped me keep this work front and center even as the season gets super busy.” - Cassie Wyss, Farm Owner at Crossroads Community Farm

Dates and Topics (sessions delivered in Central Time):

5 January from 9:00-11:00 | Strategic Leadership

9 January from 4:00-6:00 | Developing a Motivated Workforce

12 January from 9:00-11:00 | Hiring the Right People

16 January from 4:00-6:00 | Employee Onboarding and Training

19 January from 9:00-11:00 | Farm Business Culture

23 January from 4:00-6:00 | Reviews and Feedback

30 January from 4:00-6:00 | Becoming an Ethical H-2A Employer

2 February from 9:00-11:00 | Developing Intercultural Competence for Farm Employers

6 February from 4:00-6:00 | Managing Conflict

Speakers:

David Bachhuber, Lovefood Farm

Kat Becker, Cattail Organics

Katie Bishop, PrairiErth Farm

Stacey Botsford, Red Door Family Farm

Robyn Calvey, Park Ridge Organics

Linda Halley, Gwenyn Hill Farm

Kristen Kordet, Blue Moon Community Farm

Cassie Wyss, Crossroads Community Farm

Michelle Week, Good Rain Farm

Claire Strader, Extension Dane County & FairShare

Sarah Janes Ugoretz, FairShare

For more information about the BTEC program, visit our webpage: https://www.csacoalition.org/employee-management