No class are currently scheduled - watch Oregon Small Farm News for when the class will be offered again
Growing Farms is designed to provide beginning specialty crop and livestock farmers with the tools and knowledge to manage both the biological and financial risks of farming.
Participants will assess their farm enterprise and gain the ability to develop a whole farm plan. This program targets farmers in their first 5 years of their farm business. Please contact us to see if this class is appropriate for you.
A mix of OSU faculty, experienced farmers, and professionals will present curriculum and resources vital to a sustainable small specialty crop or livestock farm. The workshop series is sponsored by the OSU Extension Small Farms Program with funding from the USDA Risk Management Agency.
A resource binder will be provided and participants will walk away with key components of a whole farm plan. In addition, participants will become acquainted with their regional farm community over dinner.
Sessions:
Dream It: Strategic Planning
This session will focus on participants defining their values and assets so that they can build a strong farm plan. Information on grants, financing, and business structure will be provided. Do It: Farm Operations
A successful production system is essential for a sustainable farm business. These sessions will think through production options, creating efficiency, labor, equipment, and the importance of renewable energy. Manage It: Farm Finance
Financial planning is essential to a successful small farm business. Cash flow, gaining credit, and tax liability will be covered.
Sell It: Marketing Strategies
This session will integrate marketing into participant whole farm plan. Participants will come away with an understanding of wholesale and direst marketing channels, as well as the connection between crop production decisions and marketing channel decisions. Grow It: Production
Participants will learn the strategies to prevent biological problems on their farm. Even with these measures in place diseases and pests are inevitable. Participants will learn how to recognize at what point action needs to be taken and what resources provide solutions. Keeping It: Managing Liability
Now that you have a small farm plan– how do you sustain it? This session will integrate various risk management tools. We will discuss insurance options, decision making, and agricultural entrepreneurship.
Put on in four regions of Oregon, this series is designed to help farmers make connections with one another and the resources available to them in their specific region.
For Regional Information:
Supported By The Risk
Management Agency