Meg Runyan of Wild Goose Farm, SFB Graduate (photo credit Maryanne Natarajan)

The 6th year (2010-2011) of Farm Beginnings applications are now being accepted! Early bird discount ($150) period ends August 15, 2010 (postmark). All applications and $100 deposits must be postmarked on or before September 1, 2010 to be considered for the upcoming sessions beginning in October.

If you are interested in reading more about Stateline Farm Beginnings, click here. (You can find a downloadable information and application packet here or at the link below.)

Information and Application Packet for the upcoming Stateline Farm Beginnings course (Year 6: 2010-2011)

Click here if you would like the SFB Application in Word format.

Click here if you would like to apply for a scholarship.

If you are not ready to apply yet or have additional quesitons, please email Joanne, Program Assistant at CRAFT@LearnGrowConnect.org.  

If you are interested in reading more or joining our CRAFT network (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training) you can read more about CRAFT here.

Stateline Farm Beginnings® is a farmer-led training and support program designed to help people plan and launch sustainable farm businesses. Since 2005, graduates of the program have launched more than 20 new sustainable farms in our region!

Through Farm Beginnings®, you can:

• Tap the knowledge of some of the most innovative and skilled farmers operating in the Midwest.
• Develop lifelong friendships and networks with other beginning farmers.
• Learn critical farm management skills such as creative financing and innovative marketing strategies.
• Receive mentoring from a farmer engaged in a similar enterprise.
• See sustainable farming practices being used on real farms under a variety of conditions.
• Learn to view a farm as an interconnected system and learn how goals determine farming practices.
• Access opportunities for land and equipment use and/or rental.
• Craft a tailor-made farming/business plan.

Stateline Farm Beginnings® serves northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Click here for Central Illinois Farm Beginnings® (you will be taken to a separate site).

The one-year Stateline Farm Beginnings® program has three components:

• Winter course (October to March): ten business planning sessions from that focus on goal-setting and planning for profit.
• Training events: CRAFT monthly field day workshops (April to October) at sustainable farms around the region. Tuition includes a $100 reimbursement for skills development workshops of your choice.
• Mentoring from a successful sustainable farmer in your field of interest. Mentoring arrangements are flexible, taking employment and family situations into account. Students may or may not be paid, depending on the agreement between the mentor and apprentice.

Stateline Farm Beginnings® is a collaboration of Angelic Organics Learning Center, the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (CRAFT), The Land Connection, the Land Stewardship Project, and other partners.

For more information, contact Sheri Doyel, Farmer Training Initiative Program Director, at 815.389.8455 or sheri@learngrowconnect.org.

All Farm Beginnings® material was developed by the Land Stewardship Project based on the experiences of their farmer members. It is used by permission under license. To learn more, visit www.landstewardshipproject.org. Stateline Farm Beginnings® adapts these original materials based on the experiences of its CRAFT member farmers.