In June, 2025, Farm on Central was temporarily shut down. Warren County officials filed for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and injunctions against us, and after a court hearing we were forced to close completely.
Standing outside the courthouse, my wife and I truly wondered if our farm was over.
The next day our PMA members—friends, neighbors, customers—showed up in droves and took home thousands of dollars’ worth of food, completely free, so that not a single carrot, egg, or loaf would go to waste. We’d much rather that food end up on someone’s table, but still…it was painful to watch our coolers and shelves go from full to empty.
Thankfully, we have some amazing customers. Our local community rallied behind our ‘Save Farm on Central’ campaign with incredible energy and our doors were open a few days later, although we had to make some changes to meet regulations before we could sell certain products again.
Today Farm on Central is fully operational. But for us, the story isn’t quite over yet.
Because our drawn-out legal struggles that cost us thousands and eventually led to a TRO were completely avoidable.
They all stemmed from when we set up our business as a PMA (private membership association).
Hindsight is 20/20….
PMA, standing for Private Membership Association. A contractual business model where members agree to purchase goods or services privately.
There are hundreds of farms operating as PMAs right now. We were one of them. (Emphasis on were.)
But operating as a PMA, and trusting that it legally protected us, was a huge mistake that nearly cost us our farm.
We want to be transparent with everyone who follows us, both at Farm on Central and Growing Farmers. But more importantly, we want to warn other farmers who are still operating as a PMA, under the assumption it will legally protect them.
Trust me, I know that a private membership sounds like the perfect business model for selling raw milk and wellness products and packaged foods and everything else that is usually heavily regulated. We thought the same thing.
But then we watched all of the supposed ‘legal protections’ of a PMA get knocked over in court, while we were left with a fat stack of legal bills and months of constant stress.
So whether you are operating as a PMA, thinking about going the PMA route, or have heard that a PMA provides “food freedom,” please read our story.
It’s a very long, hard lesson learned.
