Purdue Farm Business
Short Course
February 1-5, 2027
A next-generation farm business education experience for progressive farm leaders navigating growth, volatility and long-term decision-making.
Built for today’s farm business
Inspired by Purdue’s historic Winter Short Course, this next-generation program is designed for progressive farm leaders who want to think more strategically about their business.
This is not a technical workshop. It’s a business-focused experience centered on how decisions are made, evaluated and improved over time.
PROGRAM Dates:
February 1-5, 2027
Location:
West Lafayette, Indiana
Format:
In-person, five days
Virtual sessions in spring and post-harvest, summer field visits and ongoing dialogue with peers and program faculty
COST:
$4,995/person or email aissa@purdue.edu for team pricing
PROGRAM Information:
Farm businesses today are operating in a different environment than they were even a decade ago. Margins are tighter. Volatility is harder to manage, and technology is advancing faster than most operations can evaluate it. The decisions that matter the most are becoming harder to get right.
The Purdue Farm Business Short Course is being built to help farm leaders operate effectively with those challenges at hand.
Day One | Monday, February 1
Establish your baseline – where you are, what you know and what the gaps are. Form your peer team, encounter the first of several Purdue research tools and begin the Farm Business Blueprint with a candid assessment of your own operation’s business position.
Day Two | Tuesday, February 2
Learn to read your own operation’s financial ratios, benchmark them against current Purdue research data and apply that analysis to a real capital investment decision.
Day Three | Wednesday, February 3
Set a three-year direction for your operation. Map and respond to your most significant risks, and build a grain marketing strategy that’s more than a set of habits you’ve been repeating for years.
Day Four | Thursday, February 4
Address the decisions that don’t appear on a balance sheet and determine whether a farm business survives the next generation. Leadership, family dynamics, ownership transition and succession planning.
Day Five | Friday, February 5
Everything built throughout the week comes together for a final integrated plan. The explicit connection from the practice operation to your real one. Leave with a 90-day action plan, a cohort that will hold you to it and a year of programming ahead.
Travel information and details will be posted as the program date approaches.
A learning experience built around real farm decisions
Context
Before and during the program, participants engage with practical business frameworks, financial tools and key concepts through pre-work and live faculty sessions. These sessions are designed to prepare them for the decisions ahead.
Practice
Across five days, small teams work through a realistic farm business scenario that unfolds over time. Financial, marketing, risk and succession decisions are connected, because earlier choices shape later outcomes just like they do in a real operation.
Application
Participants build a personalized Farm Business Blueprint focused on their own operation, connecting program ideas directly back to real conversations, priorities and decisions at home.
Learning that extends beyond the week
The short course is designed around the real farm decision cycle, not just five days in a classroom. Participants stay connected through seasonal touchpoints, including spring and post-harvest virtual sessions, a summer field visit and year-end planning discussions with peers and Purdue faculty.
What the program will focus on
The Short Course is being developed around four core areas:
For more information, contact Aissa Good, managing director, at aissa@purdue.edu
Strategy and positioning
How your operation creates and captures value over time – and how that may need to evolve
Financial resilience and risk
Understanding financial performance, managing volatility and making disciplined investment decisions
Leadership and decision-making
Leading people, managing growth and making better decisions under pressure
Technology and the changing farm business model
Evaluating new tools and understanding how they fit into the economics of your operation
Who should attend
- Farm owners and operators
- Next-generation leaders preparing for expanded responsibilities
- Family business partners involved in strategic decisions
Operations may benefit when multiple decision-makers attend together, including different generations and leadership roles. If you’re thinking beyond this year’s production and focusing on the long-term direction of your farm business, this program is for you.
Be part of the first cohort
We’re currently building the inaugural cohort for 2027. If you’re interested in attending, referring someone or staying connected as the program develops, we’d love to hear from you.
A legacy, reimagined
For generations, Purdue’s Short Course brought together farmers together to learn, challenge ideas and think differently about their business.
That same spirit is driving this next chapter.
Questions? Contact Aissa Good at aissa@purdue.edu.
