Discovering Resilience: A Legal Workshop for Farmers and Ranchers

Tuesdays, October 19-November 16—6:30-8:30 p.m. ET

Registration is now closed.

Farmers: Ever wonder if your farm is at risk because of a lurking legal problem? Are you wondering how to write an effective lease? Or whether or not to form an LLC? What about hosting interns or hiring employees? Or how you should manage the risks of guests getting injured when they visit your operation? Do you wish you knew where to turn for the answers?

As farmers, you’re no stranger to challenges. In fact, you embrace them. But legal challenges can be some of the trickiest and answers aren’t always easy to come by.

That’s why the Discovering Resilience workshop exists. OEFFA is teaming up with farm law experts at Farm Commons to offer a 5-week, highly interactive and farmer-focused workshop framed around the 10 best legal practices every farmer needs to take to build resilience.

Get empowered with the legal knowledge and skill you need to resolve legal vulnerability in five core areas of farm law: business structures, insurance, employment law, land leasing and purchasing, and diversification (i.e., value-added and agritourism). You will walk away from this workshop ready to implement your own legal action plan, along with continued support from farmer peers in a virtual commons space where referrals, strategies, questions, ideas, and more are shared!

When you register, you’ll get access to:

• Video instruction on key legal concepts
• Interactive, meaningful activities
• Effective negotiation tools
• Engaging weekly live meetings facilitated by legal experts
• A virtual commons space for farmer-to-farmer sharing
• Year-long membership to Farm Commons!

Participants will meet once a week for a 2 hour live meeting led by Farm Commons’ staff focused on legal exploration, negotiation practice, and peer-to-peer brainstorming, while engaging in independent study between meetings using the course workbook, videos, and other website resources.

Event Details

The workshops will be held online. Registration is now closed. Because of our partnership with Farm Commons, we are able to offer this workshop to you at a discounted rate of $49 per farm (use coupon code OEFFA49 at checkout), which includes a one-year membership to Farm Commons, a workbook which will be mailed to you, and access to their robust library of guides, webinars, and other resources. Once you’ve completed the Farm Commons membership form, you’ll be able to register for this workshop series at no cost, plus receive all the other benefits of membership for the next year!

Questions: Contact the Begin Farming Program online or by calling (614) 947-1633.

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What do farmers say about this workshop?

• “This workshop and its supporting website/community is by far the most helpful resource I’ve found for helping me get my farm’s legal ducks in a row!”
• “Farmers know how to farm. Most of us are not trained to run a business and understand the legal implications of our activities. Discovering Resilience is a great workshop that addresses these topics from the perspective of small farmers. Their teachings are concise, and easy to understand, and most importantly, essential for long-term sustainability of your farm business.”
• “Plain-spoken, good real world examples. Very comprehensive.”
• “Way more approachable than expected! I feel like I can actually do this stuff the right way!”
• “It was such an incredible gift to get so much valuable information even though I’ve only just begun learning about farming.”
• “This was the best workshop I’ve ever attended. And I’ve attended a lot of them!”