Altfrid Krusenbaum explains rotational grazing methods to prospective farmers during a 2009 CRAFT Field Day at Krusen Grass Farms in Elkhorn, Wisconsin

Along with the expanding awareness of the benefits of local and organic produce, interest in sustainable, organic farming is growing in our region. This fall, the Learning Center’s Stateline Farm Beginnings® program experienced a rapid spike in demand, when 29 farm families applied for the 15 available slots. Farm Beginnings is a business training course that helps new and emerging farmers develop a strategic farm business plan.

For more than a decade, The Learning Center has coordinated a successful regional farmer training initiative dedicated to training the next generation of sustainable farmers. In addition to Stateline Farm Beginnings®, The Learning Center also coordinates the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (CRAFT), a network that allows new and emerging farmers to learn from established farmers through skills workshops, exchanges, and mentoring throughout the northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

AOLC Farmer Training Program Director Sheri Doyel believes that the increase in demand for farmer training is a result of the growing awareness of the health and environmental consequences of our nation’s food system.

"People are learning about the issues of food safety and the environmental ramifications of commercial, industrial agriculture, and it’s influencing their decisions," Doyel says. "All of the Farm Beginnings applicants have a desire to know their own food, and they want to provide that for people in their communities, too. We are seeing the result of the food conversation reaching a wider audience."

The Learning Center ultimately accepted 20 families into the 2009-10 Farm Beginnings program, and this year’s group is a diverse one.

"We have people in their twenties who are beginning their careers and are focused on environmental justice," Doyel says. "We have mid-career professionals looking to change courses in their career. We also have applicants who are looking to their retirement and would like to earn income from a small farm."

The Stateline Farm Beginnings® program has proved to be a successful model— 70 percent of the program’s graduates since 2005 are now farming. The vast majority of graduates are using organic and sustainable farming practices— resulting in a greater supply of local, organic, delicious produce for distribution in the Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin region.

The year-long Stateline Farm Beginnings® course begins in October each year. The Learning Center also offers Farm Dreams, a half-day introductory workshop for those who might be interested in pursuing a farm career.

Angelic Organics Learning Center, in partnership with Michael Fields Agricultural Institute and the Liberty Prairie Farm Business Development Center has been awarded a 3-year grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program to support our farmer training work. This new USDA funding will allow us to provide additional support for beginning farmers, including enhanced training and technical assistance, support gaining access to land, support with financing and credit for farm start-up, and training in market development.

Fifty percent of those benefitting from AOLC’s farmer training programs are women, 30 percent are limited-resource farmers, and more than 90 percent use sustainable farming approaches, all groups that face significant barriers to achieving viable farm enterprises.

Our collaborative is one of 29 organizations nationwide to receive funding this year through the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program (BFRDP). Visit the USDA’s website for more information on the BFRDP program.