A great group of farmers and farmer friends came together during the third Young Agrarians Peace Country Mixer! Camp Tamarack was filled with laughter, knowledge, expertise, interesting and curious talk during the weekend of February 22nd and 23rd, 2020. Farmers traveled from far and wide to be part of the networking and education. The farmer speed dating was a great way for everyone to meet each other!
Everyone walked away with a great number of connections after a Mixer! There is strength, kindness, knowledge, support, friendship, wisdom, resources and much more within any farming community.
New alliances and friendships were formed! Who knows what this gang is currently researching here! They might just have had the farm business idea of their lives…
Main Sessions
We invited a number of speakers that were able to give overviews about many interesting topics for aspiring farmers.
Business Model Canvas – Dale Schaub and Jenine Campbell-Cove
The Business Model Canvas is a great way to test out new business ideas and revamp old ones as well as providing structure for when you write a full business plan. Look at the excitement expressed in their faces, presenting their business plan on how to market “Tallow Candles”! For more Business Model Canvas resources and free business support and advice check out Business Link!
Starting out with Poultry- Wian Prinsloo
During this session, Wian from Luna Field Farm shared what infrastructure is needed to raise pastured poultry, also where to find and how to access informative resources on raising pastured poultry.
Choosing Profitable Farm Enterprises- Dana Penrice
Dana gave an overview of figuring out the profitability of different farm enterprises using the Holistic Management Framework. The reflective part of the talk gave participants the tools needed to create goals for their farm that align with their personal goals.
Farmer Success Stories
This year we were lucky to have three powerful women farmers presenting their farm story during the Mixer. Lydia Carpenter came all the way from Manitoba to share the journey and development of Luna Field Farm.
Sarah Grant from Bad Heart, Alberta is not only growing beautiful flowers but also showed how unnecessary equipment is if you have rooting hogs to work your soil for you.
Amy Lewis from Peace River, Alberta walked us through her ups and downs on Northern Family Roots Farm, sharing huge learning curves on choosing which enterprises to run on your farm and which ones to let go of, at least for now.
Mini-Workshops
There was a ton to learn during our hands-on-learning experiences:
Amy Lewis brought out her spinning equipment while Ashley Armstrong taught our farmer friends what to pay attention to while backing up a trailer in the parking lot!
Erik Lundgard handed out the safety glasses, letting his audience have a taste of electric fencing! Others were busy learning how to implement geographic information systems in their daily farm life with Caroline Räbiger.
This is just a small selection, other workshops were about storytelling, farm clubs, writing personal business canvas and more.
Last but not least- aren’t we all food lovers!?
Kari Kitt and her crew made sure our stomachs were filled at all times with delicious food, prepared with ingredients sourced from local producers! Thank you to all the hard-working volunteers that helped on various ends during the weekend.
We are beyond thankful to our numerous sponsors!
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