Learning By Growing: How UMass Students Run Their Own Farm

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Most college classes don’t end with their students’ work on grocery store shelves. But the UMass Student Farming Enterprise program allows students to do exactly that. What started in 2007 as two students growing kale on a quarter-acre of land has grown into a 20-acre, student-run farm that sells to Big Y and UMass Dining, and runs a 100-person, community-supported agriculture (CSA) operation.  

Rows of leafy greens, tomatoes, squash, and countless other vegetables stretch across the fields while UMass students harvest and load crops into trucks. The crops will then be washed and distributed to a number of buyers. The farm thrives as students learn through doing. Each year, the UMass Student Farm accepts 15 undergraduate students to participate in a two-semester course (with an optional summer internship to plan, market, and manage an entire growing season. Each season students learn the realities of running a farm and gain experiences that can only be found beyond the textbook. This model has yielded a thriving program that builds not only students' farming skills, but also their business, interpersonal, and problem-solving abilities. 

Following the independent study that spawned the idea for the program, UMass's Amanda Brown and Ruth Hazzard collaborated in the spring of 2008 to transform this idea into a year-long class beginning in the spring semester and continuing into the fall semester, with an optional summer component. They originally grew on 14 acres of land at the Crop and Animal Research Education Center in South Deerfield, but in 2013 six acres were acquired through the UMass Agriculture Learning Center, located on North Pleasant Street. In 2011, the Big Y collaboration began, and by fall of 2012 UMass Student Farm produce was available on Big Y shelves.  

Amanda Brown has been with this program since the beginning—almost 20 years—and has seen the way this program benefits students:  

“When I talk about what is so awesome about this program, I have to be very honest and say a lot of this was not intentional. It really has been a reflective practice of...hearing from the students [concerning] what's not working and being able to adapt and modify what we’re doing based on the needs of the people coming into the program.” 

— Amanda Brown

Brown has found that, over the years, there has been a shift in what the students want to get out of this program. For a long time, students wanted to learn how to drive a tractor and other technical skills related to the business side of a farm. Now, she sees students' desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves and getting directly involved in their food system. She feels that the student farm gets back to the roots of why UMass—originally an agriculture school whose motto was “learn by doing”—started in the first place.   

Every year a new group of students finds ways to grow the program and inject their own values into the farm. This year, the students have added a summer share for the first time in the program's history. 

How to Support the UMass Student Farm 

You can support the UMass Student Farm by purchasing a CSA share. A CSA allows small farms to take one-time payments from their customers to pay for the upfront costs of farming. In return, community members pick up a share of the farm’s produce throughout the year. 

By purchasing a Student Farm CSA share, you get 25 pounds of local, organic produce each week, for ten weeks. Now until May 1, you can get $25 off per share as part of an early bird special. There is also a 6-week summer share option.  

Getting your produce through the Student Farm CSA means fresher produce, less transport, and lower costs. Plus, you get the chance to get to know your farmers and gain hands-on experience through pick-your-own herb and flower opportunities on the land where the students grow your food! It’s a meaningful way to enjoy the seasonal harvests while actively sustaining the educational mission of the farm. 

Learn more about the UMass Student Farming Enterprise program and click here to purchase a CSA share.