Name: Starting Farms with Limited Resources: What Actually Works and How to Support It
Start: 2026-09-22T13:30:00-0600
End: 2026-09-22T15:00:00-0600

Starting Farms with Limited Resources: What Actually Works and How to Support It

Tuesday September 22, 2026 1:30pm - 3:00pm MDT

Turquoise

This highly interactive workshop shares real-world lessons from working closely with immigrant, limited-resources, and Spanish-speaking farmers in New York State over the past four years. It focuses on how farmers actually start and grow farm businesses when they have limited access to land, capital, and formal support systems. While traditional approaches emphasize business planning, financing, and readiness, this session explores what happens in practice. Farmers often begin with experience, relationships, informal systems, and small, strategic steps—and build from there. Participants will be introduced to a practical framework that reflects these realities and can be used to better support beginning farmers. Through case-based group activities, peer discussion, and guided reflection, attendees will analyze real farmer scenarios and explore how to apply these insights in their own work. The session will be co-facilitated by leadership from the Cornell Small Farms Program, bringing both field-based experience and program design perspectives. This is not a lecture. It is a hands-on session designed to help professionals rethink how they assess, support, and design programs for farmers—especially those navigating structural barriers. Learning Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will be able to: -Recognize alternative pathways to farm start-up beyond traditional capital-based models -Identify how farmers use experiential knowledge, social networks, and informal systems to initiate and grow their operations -Apply a practical framework to assess farmer readiness and development trajectories -Identify strategies to better support farmers with limited resources through programs, advising, and technical assistance -Reflect on how to align their own work with the realities and strengths of the farmers they serve

Speakers

Anu Rangarajan

Director/ Sr. Extension Associate, Cornell Small Farms Program

Anu Rangarajan is the Director of the Cornell Small Farms Program and a national leader in farm viability, agricultural education, and program development. She has extensive experience supporting beginning farmers and leading initiatives that integrate research, extension, and policy... Read More →

Mildred Alvarado

Director, Equitable Farm Futures Initiative / Extension Associate, Cornell Small Farms Program

Mildred Alvarado has over 20 years of experience in agricultural development, working closely with immigrant, limited-resource and Spanish-speaking farmers in the U.S. and Latin America. Her work focuses on farm business development, land access, and equitable agricultural systems... Read More →

Tuesday September 22, 2026 1:30pm - 3:00pm MDT
Turquoise

Business Planning and Development, Land Access Retention and Transfer

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National Farm Viability Conference

Anu Rangarajan

Mildred Alvarado

Attendees (4)

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Success you have shared X tickets.

National Farm Viability Conference

Anu Rangarajan

Mildred Alvarado

Attendees (4)

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