CISA Workshops for Businesses

This is the fifth class in the winter workshop series. Structured Decision Making (SDM) is a decision making process that integrates empirical and on-the-ground data with values-based objectives. SDM provides outcomes that are grounded in reality and represent the ethics, values, and desires of those individuals involved in decision making. SDM is the standard decision making process used by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and this workshop transfers the steps of SDM from the field of wildlife conservation to the field of sustainable agriculture. During the workshop you will learn about, practice, and apply the steps of SDM to specific on-farm decisions thanks to Assistant Professor, Curt Gervich from SUNY Plattsburgh. At the end of the session you will have the skills you need to implement and adapt this process to your specific farm. Farmer, Marco Turco from Manzini Farm will share his experiences using this tool for decision making.

These meetings will give winter workshop participants the opportunity to network with one another and also provide additional time to discuss and consider their own individual farm needs as it relates to the workshop topics. Each session will have a CISA staff facilitator and a farmer expert (Missy Bahret–Old Friends Farm, Pete Solis– Hampshire College Farm, and Gary Gemme– Harvest Farm of Whately). The topics for the meeting will be determined based on participant interest and determined as the class date gets closer.

Benneth Phelps from The Carrot Project will provide farmers with applicable and effective financial management tools that can be used to make business decisions during this seventh workshop in the series. These tools can be easily used by farmers to implement into farm business operations, to improve productivity, reduce costs, increase net farm income, and improve overall quality of life. This class will use real-world experience of farmers and their service providers to describe farm operation experiences, provide insight into what has worked, what hasn’t, and why. The class will also review the concept of benchmarking, both against your own farm and against others.

These meeting will give winter workshop participants the opportunity to network with one another and also provide additional time to discuss and consider their own individual farm needs as it relates to the workshop topics. Each session will have a CISA staff facilitator and a farmer Expert (Missy Bahret–Old Friends Farm, Pete Solis– Hampshire College Farm, and Gary Gemme– Harvest Farm of Whately). The topics for the meeting will be determined based on participant interest and determined as the class date gets closer.

When farms assess new enterprises, investments, markets, or products, they need to consider many factors, including how the new activity will impact personnel needs, family life, seasonal schedule, and existing enterprises. In addition, farmers also need to assess and plan for new risks that may arise as a result of the new activity. This workshop will discuss the broader context of business decision-making and include a panel of farmers, Wally Czajkowski– Plainville Farm, Allison Landale– The Bars Farm, and Sorrel Hatch– Upinngil Farm, that have extensive experience making a great number of business decisions throughout their years of operation. They will share the broad implications of business decisions they have made, giving participants examples of how they identified and weighted risks, challenges, and opportunities on their farm.

These meeting will give winter workshop participants the opportunity to network with one another and also provide additional time to discuss and consider their own individual farm needs as it relates to the workshop topics. Each session will have a CISA staff facilitator and a farmer Expert (Missy Bahret–Old Friends Farm, Pete Solis– Hampshire College Farm, and Gary Gemme– Harvest Farm of Whately). The topics for the meeting will be determined based on participant interest and determined as the class date gets closer.

Every year, CISA brings market managers together for a time to meet, share best practices, and learn from one another. This year, farmers' market managers from around the Pioneer Valley will gather at the Senior Center in Holyoke to get ideas for new concepts and ways to improve the overall operation of their markets. CISA welcomes market managers, steering […]