A Fresh Vision for Ecker’s Apple Farm – 2021 Virtual Annual Conference

Returning to the family orchard after working away from agriculture, sisters Sara and Jess Ecker brought a new passion for local food and customer engagement to Ecker’s Apple Farm. During this session, they discuss their experiences of coming home to the farm, designing their business for the next generation and what they’re learning along the way.

• Sara and Jess Ecker are the orchard and marketing managers at Ecker’s Apple Farm, where they work alongside their mother, Mary, in the heart of the Driftless Region near Trempealeu, Wisconsin. In addition to stewarding 35 acres of apples, peaches and blueberries, the orchard is diversifying with new enterprises including a bake shop, orchard market, outdoor event spaces and a local beer garden, Hog’s Back Brew Farm.