Creating a positive workplace culture is essential to building a productive, motivated, and resilient farm team. This workshop is designed for farmers who want to strengthen their team dynamics, foster inclusive and supportive work environments, and invest in employee development to improve satisfaction and retention.

Drawing on insights from hundreds of interviews, surveys, focus groups, and lived experiences of farmworkers, Sarah Janes Ugoretz (University of Wisconsin–Extension, Dane County) and Anita Adalja (Not Our Farm) will lead participants through practical strategies and real-world examples that support stronger workplace culture on farms.

You will learn:

• Strategies for clear communication and effective delegation
• Practical approaches to improving worker retention
• Worker-centered practices you can implement during the current season
• Long-term planning strategies to build a strong, supportive farm team

The session also acknowledges the real challenges farmers face and focuses on practical, creative ways to balance farm needs with the well-being and success of employees.

Speakers

Sarah Janes Ugoretz, University of Wisconsin-Extension/FairShare CSA Coalition

Sarah Janes Ugoretz (she/her) is a Farm Labor Extension Educator with UW Extension, working in partnership with FairShare CSA Coalition. She focuses on farm labor management and leadership, working closely with farm owners, farm managers, and farmworkers to build rewarding, safe, and productive farm work environments.

Anita Adalja, Not Our Farm

Anita has spent nearly 15 years working on farms including non-profit, for-profit, urban and rural farms in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, Washington, D.C., and New Mexico. In 2019 she founded Not Our Farm, a non-profit farmworker storytelling and power building project. NOF is building power among farmworkers by cultivating a community in which farmworkers share their stories and skills, create resources, and form relationships with each other. Anita is also an okra farmer at Ashokra Farm and a proud food safety nerd. Anita is a USDA HGAP+ auditor, Produce Safety Alliance lead trainer and a food safety specialist with New Mexico Grown where she works to uplift the intersections of farm food safety with dignified labor conditions.

This work is supported by the Northeast Extension Risk Management project award no. 2024-70027-42540, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture