How does culture play into the success of the family farm? Family farms can measure success and value in a number of ways, whether objective (for example, income) or subjective (for example, the perceived success of business owners; working with family members). We believe that when family businesses practice a culture of collaboration, they will…Read more about Farm Success and Creating a Culture of Collaboration[Read More]
Maria Marshall
Financial stress is the psychological strain that results from concerns about one’s financial situation. For farm households, this strain is not incidental; it is a measurable and prominent feature of agricultural life. Most agricultural economists use financial ratios and/or profitability to measure farm financial stress. The financial stress measure used for this article, the APR…Read more about Farming and Financial Stress[Read More]
Small and medium-sized vegetable farms face unique challenges balancing profitability with sustainable production practices and food safety requirements. To better understand how these farmers navigate complex decision-making processes, the Soil to Market Team—comprising Maria Marshall, Renee Wiatt, Petrus Langenhoven, Betty Feng, and Nathan Shoaf—conducted a comprehensive survey of 500 small and medium-sized farmers across the…Read more about Understanding Farm Decision-Making: Insights from the 2024-2025 Producer Survey[Read More]
Small and medium-sized vegetable farms face unique challenges balancing profitability with sustainable production practices and food safety requirements. To better understand how these farmers navigate complex decision-making processes, the Soil to Market Team—comprising Maria Marshall, Renee Wiatt, Petrus Langenhoven, Betty Feng, and Nathan Shoaf—conducted a comprehensive survey of 500 small and medium-sized farmers across the…Read more about Understanding Farm Decision-Making: Insights from the 2024-2025 Producer Survey[Read More]
The survey examined how farmers integrate decisions across three critical areas: farm business planning, production management, and food safety practices. Participants were asked detailed questions about their operational decisions, the timing of various planning activities, and the people involved in farm decision-making processes. The research team sought to understand what decisions farmers make and when…Read more about Understanding Farm Decision-Making: Insights from the 2024-2025 Producer Survey[Read More]
Small and medium-sized vegetable farms face unique challenges balancing profitability with sustainable production practices and food safety requirements. To better understand how these farmers navigate complex decision-making processes, the Soil to Market Team—comprising Maria Marshall, Renee Wiatt, Petrus Langenhoven, Betty Feng, and Nathan Shoaf—conducted a comprehensive survey of 500 small and medium-sized farmers across the…Read more about Understanding Farm Decision-Making: Insights from the 2024-2025 Producer Survey[Read More]
Small and medium-sized vegetable farms face unique challenges balancing profitability with sustainable production practices and food safety requirements. To better understand how these farmers navigate complex decision-making processes, the Soil to Market Team—comprising Maria Marshall, Renee Wiatt, Petrus Langenhoven, Betty Feng, and Nathan Shoaf—conducted a comprehensive survey of 500 small and medium-sized farmers across the…Read more about Understanding Farm Decision-Making: Insights from the 2024-2025 Producer Survey[Read More]
In a producer survey done in 2024-2025 by the Soil to Market Team (Maria Marshall, Renee Wiatt, Petrus Langenhoven, Betty Feng, and Nathan Shoaf), small and medium farms were asked questions related to decisions, operations, and people on the farm. Some of those questions inquire about their interactions with and considerations of customers. From interacting…Read more about Small and Medium Farms: Does Focusing on and Communicating with Customers Pay Off?[Read More]
Families can create policies without realizing it. A decision made about who can come into the business and when they can come into the business can develop into an expectation of how things will be done from then on, which then becomes a policy. In other words, it is an implicit policy and, as such,…Read more about Policies before Problems: Setting Expectations in Your Family Business[Read More]
Grab your farm family and join the Purdue Succession Planning Team as we offer a three-day lunchtime virtual succession series! There will be presentations from Extension Educators and Specialists on “First Steps To Succession Planning” along with “Financial Feasibility of Farm Succession.” An attorney will also present at the workshop on the topic “Structuring…Read more about Virtual Succession Planning Workshop Series[Read More]