Betsy King-McDonald

Passionate about helping individuals and communities learn to grow food at any scale. Graduating 2025 with a Doctor of Ministry degree focused on incorporating agriculture with Christian worship.

Preferred location: Genesee, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lapeer, Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw, Wayne

Desired Transitional Agreement: Farm Seeker/Farm Owner Partnership, Sale, Working arrangement with future partner

Jul 15, 2024

Desired Acreage

  • 1-5 Acres
  • 5-10 Acres
  • 11-25 Acres

Desired Infrastructure

  • Barns or other facilities
  • Electrical Access
  • Farmer Housing
  • Farm Equipment
  • Irrigation/Water Access

Desired Land Usage

  • Bees
  • Christmas Trees
  • Flowers
  • Fruit
  • Fruit Trees
  • Grains
  • Nursery Stock
  • Organic crops
  • Poultry - Layers
  • Poultry - Meat
  • Vegetables

Goals, Values, Vision

Purchasing farmland would be a dream, but a big step. I'd need a lot of help and would need to learn a lot.

I am currently earning a doctorate (graduating 2025) focused on (small-scale) wheat farming as a spiritual practice for Christian communities.

I have a deep reverence for food, and would love a space that could produce a wide variety of food products from vegetable to tree fruits to eggs. I'd love to create a farm-based community and retreat space that introduces people to agriculture and ecology as explicitly spiritual practices. I imagine Farm Stays and contact with a wheat crop being a part of this model. (Plainsong Farm in Rockford, MI may be a good model of what I have in mind.) 

I am close friends with the director of the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission. I helped ghost-write her bestselling book Grace, Grit & Lipstick: Wit and Wisdom for the Modern Female Farmer and her Farm-Curious Friends. This was a great opportunity to learn about farming culture, and the unique complexities and pressures that members of the farming community face. It also deepened my sense of how very much I'd have to learn to take a step toward farming at any type of scale.

Farming Status

Current Farming Status

Not currently farming

Farm Experience/Education

No experience farming

Mentoring

I am seeking mentorship

Farming Plans and Practices

If I started farming, I'd be interested in regenerative practices and polyculture.