A Farm Dream: Building Equity in Agriculture

Andrea Richardson and Rebeca Chacon are farm partners and participants of the 2021 Stateline Farm Beginnings® cohort, as well as members of Upper Midwest CRAFT. They generously agreed to share their inspiring farm dream with us in an interview. ​

Q: Why did you sign up for Stateline Farm Beginnings®?
A: We had purchased a six acre farm in Black Earth, Wisconsin. At the same time we learned about Stateline Farm Beginnings®, our jobs were unstable and we were thinking seriously about starting a farm-based business. And we were digging deep into issues of racial oppression in the U.S., how we could concretely support the movement for Black lives and the lives of other people of color, and for Andrea, what reparations would look like. Our farm was a blank canvas and we weren’t sure what the painting would be. Stateline Farm Beginnings® has been like throwing paint on the canvas, and it is turning out pretty! This program is helping put our dreams into focus. 

Rebeca (left), Andrea, and their pups

 “I love being on the farm, but I know the reason I can be there is because of my privileges as a white, cis-gender woman that are denied to other people, and I can’t be at peace with that.” - Andrea

Q: What is your farm dream?
A: Our dream is to be an incubator-type farm for queer, Black, Latinx, Indigenous and other farmers who have historically been excluded from commercial agriculture in Wisconsin. We want to share our farmland and infrastructure so they can build up their business and capital without having to invest a lot up front. We’ll be mentors if they want that and do whatever we can to help their dreams come true. We plan to keep the land in the incubator style and have a nonprofit model. We currently have a farmer-partner who is starting his business on our farm, and he brings energy to the farm that we didn’t even know was missing. ​

Andrea and Rebeca's original garden plot

Q: Describe one of your biggest learning moments during this course.
A: During the Farm Dreams Intensive course, it was eye opening to me to realize the power in putting time and energy into talking about, visualizing, and creating our farm dream. We are figuring out how to connect our passions and the change we want to see in the world into our farm. The dream started off as just a flicker. Each time we are asked to share our story, it gets bigger and brighter.

​Q: Has Stateline Farm Beginnings® helped you overcome any challenges to reaching your farm dream?
A: The challenge was making our farm dream a priority, and this course has forced us to do that. For years we knew we wanted the farm to be something bigger than just the two of us, but between our jobs and everything else in life, it was hard to find time and energy to develop our farm dream. Committing to the SFB program makes it a priority. This experience helped us get over the fear of failing. One of the biggest benefits of this program is supporting one another. Being a part of this community’s passions feeds our own passion.

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Garden expansion for farmer-partner in 2021

Q: Anything else you would like to add?
A: We are living in a capitalist economy that supports huge corporations and doesn’t support small-scale, sustainable agriculture. It is well known that a local farm puts the bulk of its money back into the local economy and is a huge part of a thriving rural economy, but small, local farms won’t make it without community support. Everyone who wants to live in a world with small-scale, sustainable farms needs to put time and money into creating and supporting that world.