The Program

Each cohort runs as a single, intensive three-day block so participants can attend without leaving a job or family for weeks at a time. Mornings are classroom-based — soil science, enterprise planning, and safety briefings. Afternoons move to partner farms, where participants work alongside experienced producers on real tasks in an active production environment. Cohorts are held quarterly so a farmer is never more than a few months away from the next start date.

• Three consecutive days, in person, no remote substitute
• Classroom instruction paired with same-day field application
• Quarterly start dates — twelve cohorts over three years
• Small groups so every participant gets hands on equipment

The core of the curriculum is risk management education: teaching farmers to identify, measure, and manage the five risks that end farm businesses. Participants arrive with their own numbers and leave with a drafted enterprise budget, an insurance coverage worksheet, a lease checklist, a one-page marketing plan with price floors, and a farm stress and safety protocol — then two one-on-one coaching sessions turn those drafts into practices their operation actually uses.

• Financial risk — recordkeeping, enterprise budgets, cost of production, cash flow
• Production risk — crop insurance and NAP coverage, diversification
• Marketing risk — marketing plans, buyer channels, price floors
• Legal risk — leases, contracts, land tenure, transition planning
• Human risk — farm stress, safety protocols, seasonal labor

The program does not end when the third day does. Community partners — service organizations, extension offices, lenders, equipment dealers, and working farms — refer eligible participants in and open doors on the way out. Participants leave with named contacts, not a resource packet.

• Referral pipeline through community and grower organizations
• Introductions to lenders, extension agents, and land programs
• Mentorship matches with working farmers
• Industry and employment connections in rural communities

We serve beginning growers, specialty crop producers, and anyone who wants a real career in agriculture. No prior farming experience is required. What matters is the intent to build or grow an agricultural operation or career, and the willingness to show up for three full days.

• Beginning and aspiring farmers
• Specialty crop and livestock producers
• Farmers growing an existing operation
• No prior agricultural experience required
• Ten participants per cohort

Twelve cohorts. Ten participants each. One hundred twenty farmers over three years, concentrated in rural communities across the Southeast US where the need for new producers is most acute. Success is measured in operations started, jobs taken, and acres brought back into productive stewardship — not in attendance counts.

• 120 farmers trained over three years
• Focused on Southeast US rural communities
• Measured by careers started and operations grown
• Building strong futures in agriculture