Training for occupational farmers
SPIN stands for s-mall p-lot in-tensive. Its learning series teaches how to grow food commercially using backyards, neighborhood lots and garden plots. It has launched thousands of new community-based farm businesses throughout the US and Canada over the last 25 years.
Here are SPIN-Farming’s Key Characteristics:
— Production-based
— Sub-acre scale
— Low capital intensive
— Close to markets
— Steady cash flow
— Environmentally friendly
— Ideology free
The SPIN guides give you all the information you need to create and run a farm that generates a desired level of income:
— A garden-size farm design
— A relay planting concept that produces a consistent supply of a wide variety of vegetables for the longest possible time without costly season extension
— High-value crops lists
— Investment needed for 4 different operating models
— Gear and tools list
— Detailed day-to-day workflow
— Professional grade harvesting and post-harvesting protocols
— A business concept
— Sales channels
— Marketing and pricing strategies
— Revenue benchmarks: $1 – $3 per sq. ft and $1k – $3k per 1,000 sq. ft. segment
— Square foot yield and income metrics
Here are the advantages to SPIN-Farming:
— It is non-technical.
— It is inexpensive to implement.
— It eliminates much trial and error.
— It accelerates progress.
— It provides specific benchmarks to set goals measure success.
— It provides more control over outcomes and income.
— It provides access to the self-taught SPIN-Farming community for training, support and mentoring.
Why SPIN makes sense now is: 1) several generations have opted out of the farming profession, so there is a lack of mentors and 2) the traditional farming model needs to be reworked to take advantage of new economic and cultural realities. There has to be a simpler, lower-risk way to start a farm business, and SPIN provides it.
On behalf of all those in the SPIN-Farming community, we invite you to join in this new peer-to-peer learning that is making agriculture accessible to anyone, anywhere.
SPIN-Farming’s Value Proposition
In farming you learn by doing, so the sooner you get an income-producing operation in and off the ground, the sooner you know how successful you will be. SPIN-Farming Basics for $83.93, SPIN 2.0 Production Planning for $19.99 and SPIN 2.0 Crop Profiles for $49.99 provide just what you need to know to start a small farm business without being overwhelmed by knowledge that is more appropriate to acquire later in your career. The money you save from not getting entangled in more elaborate programs can be used to bootstrap your operation.
Serious about starting a farm business? Click here.
