E196: What to Know: Planning Your Dream Farm Shop

Farm shops are a critical piece of infrastructure on virtually all farm operations, and building one that fits the diverse and ever-changing needs of a given ag business, and the family that operates, can be a challenging endeavor. Many spend years dreaming out floor plans on the backs of napkins in the coffee shop, visiting the shops of neighbors far and wide, and planning for all the many uses the building will need to fulfill now and into the future. Alongside many of these farmers, Progressive Farmer Senior Editor and equipment expert Dan Miller has also been thinking about farm shops, and has visited countless across the country to learn what works, what doesn’t, and where farm shop design might be going in the future. Today he joins us to dive into what he’s learned about everything from choosing the right site on your property to placing doors and windows to how many desks should be accommodated in new shop office space. We’ll talk about some of the coolest shops Dan has visited, what he’s learned from growers who wish they’d done things a little differently, and even best practices when searching for a shop designer.