As in other communities, Shelby County is seeing a trend toward land ownership of small acreage by families with new or renewed interest in local foods, homegrown food production and small farming. The county has seen steady growth in land ownership in the 1-49 acre range with landowners being a mix of retirees, new-to-farming, and farmers looking to scale-back or diversify their operations away from traditional crops and livestock.  According to the 2017 Census of agriculture, 472 farms reported a new/beginning farmer as the primary producer, accounting for more than 46,000 farm acres.  492 farms reported being in business fewer than five years.  853 farms reported acreage of 50 or fewer.  Farms reporting sales in the $1-$2500 range numbered 708 in 2017.  Due to the increasing number of calls to the extension office from landowners asking, "what can I do with my __ acres?" the agriculture agent and horticulture technician developed a four-part series entitled Small Acreage Farming to provide basic information to this audience.

13 participants attended sessions including topics on farm business planning, SMART goals and missions; production options in livestock and horticulture; legal concerns and liability relative to farming operations; basic forages, fencing, infrastructure and record keeping.  

Each participant was asked to write a mission statement and operational goals for their farm.  At the final session, participants were presented a framed certificate of their farm name and mission statement.  One participant made a point several weeks after completion of the series to tell the agent that he and his wife had “already referred back to the mission statement two or three times to make sure we are staying on track with our decisions.”  He then offered his appreciation for the series and for the exercises participants completed.

Participants will be surveyed 4-6 months post-program in order to determine the usefulness of the information presented as well as implementation of the subject matter.