The South Dakota Cowgirl

Life on the Ranch Through My Lens

You are here: Home / #Agchat / Harvest Funders- Crowdfunding for Agriculture

Harvest Funders- Crowdfunding for Agriculture

by 1 Comment

Harvest Funders FoundersHi there! My name is Veronica. I write about my ranching adventures after moving from the city to a small town in SW Colorado over at City Life to Ranching Wife. My husband and I proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow ranching and farming families world-wide. After becoming part of the Agriculture industry in 2009, we met several ranchers in our local community that were being denied agriculture loans. We also faced financial issues after working on the family ranch which was one of many reasons why we have since downsized the operation last year.

After discussing the need for funding in our industry, we realized this was not just a problem in our community, but a national problem. This is when Harvest Funders, LLC was founded. Welcome to the NEW funding!

Crowdfunding is the idea of having large amounts of people pledge small amounts of money to an idea or “campaign” of their choice making the idea a reality for the campaign creator.

Kickstarter and Indiegogo are examples of crowdfunding and currently dominate the crowdfunding world by offering a great service and platform for individuals to get their idea, business, project, art and many other projects funded.

Why not Agriculture?

This is the question my husband asked just over a year ago when his cousin Ryan Hayes (who is one half of  Midas Whale  got funding for their first music album using Kickstarter.com. You might have seen and heard (and very likely fell in love with) them on The Voice, too!

Crowdfunding is becoming very popular and widely accepted among the masses and is truly a great option for someone who has a unique idea, or a need for something that is important to their business. Most farmers and ranchers aren’t aware of this platform for funding – it’s a completely untapped resource for the agriculture community!

Harvest Funders is born.

Today, after lots of thought, research and surveying, late nights and testing, my husband Jesse has launched Harvest Funders, LLC. This is a crowdfunding site specifically for the agricultural community! Any farmer or rancher can go to www.harvestfunders.com, create a project and begin raising money for whatever it is they would like! The project does need to be related to the agricultural industry, but I know hundreds of farmers and ranchers can use funds to improve their ranch or farm.

I’m so glad Veronica has shared her story and her idea with us. As I understand it, today is the “Big” Day. The day this project rolls out. So let’s all show some love and share away, please!

Happy Trails! 

About ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Jenn Zeller is the creative mind and boss lady behind The South Dakota Cowgirl. She is an aspiring horsewoman, photographer, brilliant social media strategist and lover of all things western.

After a brief career in the investment world to support her horse habit (and satisfy her mother, who told her she had to have a “real” job after graduating college), she finally took the leap and stepped away from a regular income; trading the business suit once and for all for cowgirl boots, a hat, and jeans. She has not looked back.

When Jenn first moved to The DX Ranch on the South Dakota plains, she never imagined she’d find herself behind a camera lens capturing an authentic perspective of ranching, and sharing it with others. Jenn has always been called to artistry, and uses music, writing, images, home improvement, and her first true love of horses to express her ranching passion.

Horses are the constant thread and much of her work centers around using her unique style of writing to share her horsemanship journey with others in publications such as CavvySavvy, the AQHA Ranching Blog, the West River Eagle, the family ranch website, and her own website.

Using photography to illustrate her stories has created other opportunities -- Jenn’s brand “The South Dakota Cowgirl” has grown to the level of social media “Influencer”. This notoriety has led to work with Duluth Trading Company, Budweiser, Wyoming Tourism, Vice, Circle Z Ranch and Art of the Cowgirl, to name a few. She also serves as a brand ambassador for Woodchuck USA, Arenus Equine Health, Triple Crown Feed and Just Strong fitness apparel. Her photography has been featured by Instagram, Apple, TIME Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Oprah Magazine. Jenn’s work has been published internationally, has been seen in several books and has graced the covers of several magazines.

Jenn became a social media influencer by accident when she started to explore Instagram as a way to share her life on the ranch with folks that don’t get to experience it. It’s grown into an incredible platform that she uses to empower women, create an environment for self improvement and share life on the ranch.

When she’s not working, she loves to drink coffee, play with her naughty border collie named Copper, start ranch colts, and run about the country chasing cans. Her mother still thinks she doesn’t have a “real” job.

Give your horse or dog, or cat the gift of mobility.

Reader Interactions

Comments

What's on your mind?