The Spirit of Farming: Enterprise, Vision, Optimism

In late January, Connecticut’s congressional delegation in Washington, DC, announced a $220 million block grant for small local farms hit hard by adverse weather and market conditions. The media accounts focused on the funding and the political savvy required to secure it, but embedded within the news narrative is a much bigger story that transcends legislatures and farm bills and whichever way the political winds might blow today or tomorrow.

Farming is tough. President Dwight Eisenhower recognized that it takes a lot more than money from Washington, DC. He said, “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles away from the cornfield.”  

Farming is hard, and small, local farming might be the most difficult of all. Insurance is tougher to get, margins are tighter, and economies of scale are elusive or nonexistent. “No matter how much planning you do as a farmer… we are not in charge of what happens in the weather and the climate,” said Suffield, Connecticut farmer Lisa Griffin. Why do they keep going?

Because Connecticut’s farmers know something that makes all the difference: They are in charge of something more powerful than the weather and the climate, with more upside than anything a legislature can deliver. Farmers are in charge of themselves; they’re in charge of the spirit of enterprise that got them into farming and keeps them there. They’re in charge of the optimism that drives them forward and creates new opportunities. “The farmer has to be an optimist, or he wouldn’t still be a farmer,” said 20^thcentury American icon Will Rogers.

Enterprise, vision, and optimism. That’s what fuels small family farms. That’s what fueled Northford farmer William Delacamera and moved him forward for hundreds of miles when he drove his tractor from Connecticut to DC to tell lawmakers face-to-face about the challenges of farming, and not just the challenges, but the possibilities. It’s the possibilities that matter most.

Farmers pursue possibilities because they believe in their mission, and they believe in their mission because when all is said and done, they believe in making people’s lives better. That is the mission. Why else would they do it? Japanese philosopher and farmer Masanobu Fukuoka said that “the ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.” 

Funding from Washington, DC, is helpful, but the biggest story in farming is not political headlines or this year’s funding package. It’s much bigger than that. The biggest story is–and always will be–the farmers, the family farms, and the spirit of farming with its heartbeat of enterprise, vision, and optimism. 

That’s why The Farmer’s Cow exists, why it’s growing fast, and why it’s poised to redefine the future of small local farming. It’s a future that includes multiple creative revenue streams and innovations that generate large-scale models for economic success across an array of business categories while simultaneously strengthening and investing in their local people, communities, and neighborhoods. It’s not only the biggest story in farming. It’s also the most beautiful.

Entrepreneurial visionary George Gilder wrote that “the difference between the successful and the unsuccessful is not merely a matter of knowledge or skill but of attitude, of daring, of faith.”

The Farmer’s Cow grows and succeeds because it captures that attitude, that daring, that faith and spirit that propelled William Delacamera’s tractor ride, the spirit of farming itself, fueled by the enterprise, vision, and optimism of its farmers. 

The farmers of the Farmer’s Cow plant not just seeds but hope, daring, and faith. Every day. There’s no limit to the success that lies ahead.

Read the full article from WTNH here – Connecticut lawmakers say $220M grant will help small farms affected by severe weather

About the author: Matt Kinnaman, currently residing in Park City, Utah, is a seasoned investor and entrepreneur with a rich background in fostering disruptive innovation. Having collaborated closely with influential thought leaders, including George Gilder and Clayton Christensen, Matt is committed to the advancement of information theory principles and innovative practices across various sectors. His leadership experience spans technology, education, and media industries, culminating in his current role as the founder and president of Leadership Media Group LLC. When he’s not steering ventures into new opportunities, Matt enjoys the thrills of skiing the Wasatch Mountains of Utah and embracing the challenge of long-distance running.