Emerging Farmers Learning Series

To provide support for emerging Michigan farmers and food business owners, Michigan’s Emerging Farmers and the Michigan Good Food Fund partnered to host a free webinar series focused on key business topics. This farmer training series covered a range of subjects, including value-chain coordination, customer insights, preparing for financing, and more.

Emerging Farmers Learning Series — Wrap Up and Celebration: Peer to Peer with a Farmer

Published on May 5, 2026
During this session, Alex Ball, Founder and Owner of Old City Acres Farm, led a discussion on how he founded the farm and the various lessons learned along the way.This is the seventh and final webinar as part of the Emerging Farmer Learning Series.
Emerging Farmers Learning Series — Financial Fluency: How to Read the Numbers

Published on May 4, 2026
During this session, Andy Larson of Food Finance Institute of the Universities of Wisconsin System led a presentation on basic business accounting and business management. This is the sixth webinar as part of the Emerging Farmer Learning Series.
Emerging Farmers Learning Series — Legal: Intro to Farm Business Law and Liability Insurance

Published on May 3, 2026
During this session, Carolyn Johnson of LightStone Law led a presentation on Legal: Intro to Farm Business Law and Liability Insurance. This is the fifth webinar as part of the Emerging Farmer Learning Series.
Emerging Farmers Learning Series — HR: Hiring and Keeping Employees

Published on April 9, 2026
During this session, Carolina Puerta-Estevez, Founder and Director of Human Resources - Bilingual International Services led a presentation on HR: Hiring and Keeping Employees. This is the fourth webinar as part of the Emerging Farmer Learning Series.
Emerging Farmers Learning Series — Customer Insights & Marketing

Published on April 1, 2026
Erika Tebbens of Taste the Local Difference presented on growth planning and finding what works. This is the third webinar as part of the Emerging Farmer Learning Series.
Emerging Farmers Learning Series — Value Chain Coordination: Other Sales Avenues

Published on March 16, 2026
Paul Green, Sales Manager of Marrow Detroit Provisions, presented on 3 sectors of the value chain, discussed MI local food value chain coordinators, and outlined alternative models. This is the second webinar as part of the Emerging Farmer Learning Series.
Emerging Farmers Learning Series — Business Model: How to Scale for Growth

Published on March 11, 2026
Millie Chu, Founder and CEO of Global Entrepreneurship Business Lab, presented on five different business models for food businesses and methods for scaling for growth in this first webinar as part of the Emerging Farmer Learning Series.

Acknowledgement

This work is supported by the American Rescue Plan Technical Assistance Initiative program, project award no. 2023-70417-39233, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.