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Like many small farmers, Julianne McCormick isn’t afraid to jump into new opportunities that can expand her income.
So, it’s no surprise that when she won a $1,500 New Farmer Expansion Grant in the spring of 2025 from the Trumbull County Farm Bureau that she began planting, baking and harvesting for her latest project: A farm stand with expansive offerings including baked goods, vegetables, fresh eggs, flower bouquets and lotions.
McCormick, 32, works full-time at a Burghill, Ohio, dairy farm owned by husband Tim’s uncle, Glenn Brugler, and his four siblings. She and her husband have started a small herd of beef cattle, and McCormick originally planned to use the grant to improve the herd so they can sell freezer beef and some beef cattle.
But the farm stand idea won her over instead and she rolled with it. She planted flowers and vegetables, including a good number of pumpkins, and built the stand. By May, she was up and running and eventually added lip balm and lotions she made herself, as well as baked goods. Soon she was partnering with other businesses for pop-up events that included the farm stand, including coffee-and-a-cow, with a coffee truck and a cow for youngsters to pet.
“It’s way more successful than I ever thought it would be,” McCormick said. “There are endless opportunities for what you can do with it.”
The stand is at the end of the McCormicks’ driveway, which is a quarter mile from Brugler’s dairy farm, and operates May through November. McCormick also fills custom orders, including for holidays such as Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
McCormick didn’t grow up as a farmer. She lived in Sharpsville, in western Pennsylvania, and participated in 4-H with animals from the dairy farm her grandparents had in Jamestown, Pennsylvania. Her father, Joe Holler, grew up there and eventually became a dairy nutritionist.
One of the farms Holler worked with was Glenn Brugler’s farm, Ridge-Dell Holsteins LLC, and McCormick worked there part-time while studying for a biology degree at Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania. After graduating she got into law school but eventually decided to work full time at Ridge-Dell, where she met her husband.
The New Farmer Expansion Grant, she said, “gave me the opportunity to create something I thought had potential.”
About the New Farmer Expansion Grant
McCormick is the second to receive the county’s New Farmer Expansion Grant, established by an anonymous donor, said Mandy Orahood, organization director for Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake and Trumbull counties. Orahood said the donor wasn’t a farmer, but he wanted to give back to the community where he grew up.
He told Orahood that he had watched agricultural land being chewed up by development and believes farming is a critical land-use management tool that needs to be preserved.
She said he wants to help bring young farmers into the industry and “values the idea of ‘hanging tough when things get tough’” to support those who persist as farmers.
“Starting in agriculture is not easy,” Orahood said. “While this grant may not remove all the financial pressure, the goal is to help lighten the load and provide a little extra support as farmers work to build their operations. Supporting new and beginning farmers is an investment in the future of agriculture and our communities. We are so incredibly grateful for an anonymous donor who has made our New Farmer Expansion Grant possible.”
The grant is available annually each spring through the Trumbull County Farm Bureau to Trumbull County residents who are at least 21 years old and have a plan to start or grow a farming operation. The recipient is chosen by the donor.
The first grant in 2024 was awarded to Nate Zimmet, who owns Eagle Ridge Farm in Cortland. He used the grant money to purchase diesel fuel for the farm, where he and his wife, Kaylee, grow sweet corn and flowers.
What’s Next
Do you know what grants for expanding operations might be available to you? Contact your county Farm Bureau, OSU Extension agent or FSA office to find out what opportunities you may be able to take advantage of to grow your farm.
Want to help fund a grant to help a new or existing small farms operation? Visit
ofbf.org/foundation to learn more.
My first recommendation in your journey is to start out with a local farming friend or mentor along with joining an organization like Ohio Farm Bureau.
We’re just so thankful for the Farm Bureau and the foundation for helping put this together. And of course, the Boyert family for the vision they had with this grant. It’s jumping us forward 10 years. It’s unbelievable.
I could not have done it without the resources I have found through Farm Bureau.
It wasn’t until I joined the Wilmington College Collegiate Farm Bureau that I truly saw how my passion could translate into leadership, advocacy and a career.
The issue of property taxation remains as one of the biggest challenges our members face today. Ensuring agricultural property is valued for its agricultural potential and not development is critical to the continued success of Ohio agriculture.
Through the Select Partner program, we became educated in farm insurance and weren't just selling policies. It became more and more clear why farmers need an advocate like Ohio Farm Bureau.
So many of the issues that OFBF and its members are advocating for are important to all Ohioans. I look at OFBF as an agricultural watchdog advocating for farmers and rural communities across Ohio.
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