LEWISTON, Minn. — One of the most successful beginning farmer training programs in the country is now accepting applications for its 2024-2025 course session serving the Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa region. The Land Stewardship Project’s (LSP) Farm Beginnings initiative is a training program that focuses on the goal-setting, marketing and financial skills needed to establish a successful farm business. The deadline for applications is Sept. 1. The cost of the class is $1,000 for up to two participants per farm. Early bird applications submitted by Aug. 1 will receive a $100 discount if they are accepted into the class. Scholarships are available. For more details (including a class schedule) and to apply, see landstewardshipproject.org/farm-beginnings-class or contact LSP’s Annelie Livingston-Anderson (annelie@landstewardshipproject.org, 612-400-6350) or Whitney Terrill (wterrill@landstewardshipproject.org, 612-400-6346).
Beginning and prospective farmers are invited to apply to the course. The 2024-2025 session will be in hybrid form, taking place mostly online via Zoom, but also including some in-person sessions in the Twin Cities, Minn., area. The course will run from November 2024 through March 2025, with some additional educational opportunities to take place later in 2025. For LSP’s 2024-2025 Farm Beginnings class, applicants from Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa will be given priority because the organization is best able to provide resources and connections in this region. For information on Farm Beginnings courses in other regions of the country, see farmbeginningscollaborative.org.
The Farm Beginnings course creates a space for students to name their vision, acquire the tools and skills needed to make it happen and become part of a community of support to help them succeed. Since it was launched in the late 1990s, over 1,000 participants have graduated from Farm Beginnings in the Minnesota-Wisconsin-Iowa region, and many of those graduates are involved in farming enterprises such as vegetables, grass-based livestock, organic grains, Community Supported Agriculture and specialty crops. Farm Beginnings has served as the model for similar beginning farmer training programs across the country. Profiles of past graduates can be read at landstewardshipproject.org/category/farm-beginnings-profiles. Podcast interviews with Farm Beginnings grads are at https://landstewardshipproject.org/fresh-voices.
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The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering an ethic of stewardship for farmland, promoting sustainable agriculture and developing healthy communities in the food and farming system. LSP has offices in the Minnesota communities of Montevideo, Lewiston and South Minneapolis.