Join Young Agrarian’s Melanie Buffel for a hands-on look at exercising your business planning muscles.
Are you thinking about starting a farm business or actively looking for land, but planning for your farm feels impossible with that big missing piece – the land? This session is a great starting point for planning how you’ll bring your farm to life, as well as figuring out just what land will be right for your business!
Date: Tuesday, November 21, 2023 | 7-8:30 PM PST
Location: Online on Indigenous territories across what is today known as B.C. Join us from the comfort of your couch, office, tractor, compost heap – wherever you find yourself able to tune in!
Register: Please RSVP on Eventbrite by clicking the button below.
Remember the old saying, it’s not the destination but the journey that matters? The same can be said for the process of planning for a farm business when you don’t yet have land. Your vision for your farm determines what you need in terms of land access and infrastructure including the scale and location of your farm, your capital needs, start-up costs, what you will grow, where your market is… These are important decisions to consider.
Engaging in the process of planning for your farm business will help you factor in these and other variables that will affect the long-term viability of your farm. The time it takes you to find the right land situation for your business is well-spent exercising your business planning and management muscles so you are well-prepared to launch your business when the lease is signed. Join Melanie Buffel, Manager of the YA Business Mentorship Network, in this workshop to learn more about the planning process and tools in order to create a viable farm business plan before you commit to a land lease.
Speaker Bio
Melanie comes from a long line of farmers and found a lot of joy in spending time at her grandparents farms as a child growing up in Alberta. Melanie has been an urban homesteader most of her life, growing and preserving her own food since her early 20s. After completing her BA in Psychology she moved to Vancouver and was inspired to study business and community development. She went on to complete her MBA in Community Economic Development and developed a thriving practice as a Money Coach for small businesses. Melanie realized a personal dream when she moved to the Fraser Valley in 2017 to live on and manage Abundance Community Farm, a not-for-profit community farm that aims to connect people to the land and each other by growing food collectively. Melanie’s approach is to meet farmers where they are at in their journey and share her knowledge, experience and resource referrals to support their next steps towards their goals.
2023 Online Land Access Events
We are offering a series of online land access workshops this winter, covering everything from business planning to land sharing and leases to co-operatives. Make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter so you don’t miss future workshops!
- Nov 28, 2023: ONLINE – Co-ops for Land Sharing with Emi Do – 7:00 – 8:30pm PST
- January 2023 – Indigenous Food Sovereignty, dates TBD
- February 2023 – Land Leasing 101, Negotiation, Panel: Land Sharing Success Stories, dates TBD
Questions about this event, or about the B.C. Land Matching Program? Reach out to our BCLMP Coordinator, Kat, at bclmp@youngagrarians.org.
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Stay in Touch
- Not able to join this event? Visit our Events Page for other events in your community and online!
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- We welcome cancellations at any time – you can do so through Eventbrite, through the link in your registration confirmation email, or by contacting bclmp@youngagrarians.org. Please let us know if you aren’t able to attend.
If you are interested in hosting an event at your farm and bringing together the farming community in your area, please reach out to bclmp@youngagrarians.org with your idea!
GOT LAND? WANT LAND?
Through the B.C. Land Matching Program, Young Agrarians offers support to farmers looking for land for their farm business, and landholders looking for farmers to farm their land. We’ve made more than 288 matches on over 11,400 acres to date!
Are you on the Young Agrarians UMAP? List your land or future farm dream today! You just might find a farmer who can turn your vacant field into a productive farm, or a landholder who has the ideal piece of land for you.
For more info about our land access resources, visit the YA Land page!
The B.C. Land Matching Program is funded by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative, with additional support from Columbia Basin Trust, Bullitt Foundation, Cowichan Valley Regional District, and the Real Estate Foundation of BC.
planning to buy or rent a land and work as farmer , or rent part of the land out