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Sarah Adams / grower / Delhi, California

age / 31

business / Warda Farms

family farm / Susan Warda, mom, and sisters Kristin Bulk, Michelle Dwight

crops / Cling peaches, almonds, custom almond harvesting

title / Managing partner

Q: What was your path into farming?
Growing up, I worked on our farm in the peaches during the summer. In high school I worked at the nearby peach ­delivery station and had an interest in agriculture. Although I did not ­originally go to U.C. Davis to study ag e­conomics, I found that those were the classes that were the most ­interesting to me, so I decided to follow that direction. When my dad passed away while I was in college, I started ­managing our family’s farm, and the rest flowed from there.

Q: What skills have you gained since college?
While I was in college, I had the unique opportunity to take course work that correlated with my job as a farm ­manager, instead of just going to school and then trying to remember what I learned in college later. After college, while ­managing our farm, I also worked as an almond buyer and gained a significant amount of ­practical information about fruit and nut sales and ­marketing. Working full-time for someone else also gave me valuable insight into effective communication and managing my family’s business.

Q: What are the biggest challenges ahead?
On our farm, family relationships have a higher priority than work, so one of the biggest challenges in the future of our farm, run by women, will be balancing growing families and responsibly running a demanding business.