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Farm Beginnings

Farm Beginnings. A program of Land Stewardship Project. What Is Farm Beginnings?. Provides education, support and equity-building opportunities for beginning farmers Started in 1997 Western and Southeastern Minnesota - recently expanded to Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska.

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Farm Beginnings

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  1. Farm Beginnings A program of Land Stewardship Project

  2. What Is Farm Beginnings? • Provides education, support and equity-building opportunities for beginning farmers • Started in 1997 • Western and Southeastern Minnesota - recently expanded to Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska

  3. Who is Farm Beginnings? • Established farmers and community members • Land Stewardship Project staff and members • Organizational partners

  4. What Sets Farm Beginnings Apart • Farmer-to-farmer networking • Coaching and planning for your whole farm • Opportunities for no-interest Livestock Loans • Presents opportunities for successful farming alternatives

  5. Who Are Beginning Farmers? Women and Men Teachers Policemen Part-time Farmers Secretaries High School Students 2nd Generation Farm Families Accountants Doctors Crop Seed Specialists Mechanics University Students...

  6. Farm Beginnings Provides… • Whole Farm Planning • Business Planning & Coaching • Connecting to Resources

  7. On-Farm Education • One-on-One Mentoring • Farm Tours • Peer Groups

  8. Where Have We Come? Of the people who go through Farm Beginnings… • 90% participate in mentoring • 20% apply and receive low-interest livestock loans • 60% successfully start farming

  9. What Have We Learned? • Farm Beginnings Structure • Class Participants • Larger Sustainable Ag Community • Impacts for General Public/Consumers • Lifestyle/Quality of Life Issues • Belief and Proof that it Can and Does Work!

  10. Where Are We Going? Robin Moore Easy Blooms Farm Beginnings 2000-01 • Expand training and support network for increasingly diverse pool of farmers, farm practices and businesses. • Broaden collaboration, support and training within beginning farmer education network. • Develop training program to share Farm Beginnings with other audiences.

  11. Where are we now? Illinois Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences Agroecology/Sustainable Agriculture Program P.O. Box 410 Greenview, IL 62642 217/968-5512 cvnghgrn@uiuc.edu Missouri Debi Kelly Farm Beginnings University of Missouri 3 Whitten Hall, Columbia, MO 65211 800-433-3704 (Missouri Only); 573-882-1905 (In Columbia) kellyd@umsystem.edu Nebraska Jim Peterson University of Nebraska 402-274-4755

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