A system and method for operating a wind farm connected to a power grid, the wind farm having one or more wind turbines includes implementing a shutdown mode for the one or more wind turbines of the wind farm in response to receiving a shutdown command. The shutdown mode includes disconnecting the one or more wind turbines of the wind farm from the power grid via one or more respective individual turbine controllers and reducing, via the individual turbine controllers, a rotor speed of the one or more wind turbines to a cut-in speed. After the shutdown command is cleared, the method further includes reconnecting the one or more wind turbines to the power grid.