04/21/2026
It was a fun day hosting the Agricultural Operations students from State Technical College of Missouri!
These “kids” came as part of their Ag Marketing class. Of course we talked flower farming, wholesale and direct-to-consumer marketing, and the pros and cons to both.
But we also talked about pivoting, finding your own niche in a family farm, and understanding that expanding your operation doesn’t always equate to increasing your income.
I made sure we talked livestock and commodity crops too, since our farm is about as diverse as the kids in this class. 👩🏼🌾 🌼🐮🌽 👨🏻🌾
And, since we are all about hands-on learning around here, I had them walk the peony patch to check for “marshmallow stage” - the ideal phase for peony harvest.
They did pretty good and I had about a dozen peonies ready, and that’s after harvesting at sunrise today! Bet not many people can say they harvested peonies in their ag class. 😆
State Tech- Agriculture Operations