BF 101: Starting at Square One

Creating a Farm to Match Your Values, Goals, Skills, and Resources

So you're thinking about starting a farm, but feeling overwhelmed by all the decisions? Have your online searches turned up piles of information, but you still feel a bit lost? This course can help. It was designed to assist new and aspiring farmers in taking the first steps in thinking through farm start-up (whether you already have land access or not). As Ben Franklin said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Thoughtfully defining your goals and strategy will prepare you for this endeavor and can prevent disasters down the road.

Target Audience

Aspiring/Beginner – This course is for those who want to make some or all of their livelihood from farming, and those who are actively planning the start-up of a farm in the next few years. Each participate will be assessing their own resources and will begin developing a farm start-up plan. You do not need to have land or know what you will grow – just that you want to explore the possibilities and learn about the steps you need to take to begin farming.

NOTE: This course covers some of the same material as BF 202: Writing a Business Plan, but at a much more introductory level. We recommend taking BF 101 first to prepare for the more advanced material in BF 202. We also recommend following this course with BF 102: Markets and Profits in order to complete your start-up plan.

Webinars

The bulk of the course happens on your own time, with discussions, readings, and assignments here in Teachable, our virtual classroom. To add to the experience, live webinars will be woven into the online interface for 6 weeks each Fall to allow you to meet on a weekly basis to learn from presenters and ask questions in real time. If you miss one, they are always recorded and posted for later viewing.

Webinar Schedule

Live instruction for the 2021-2022 season has ended, and the next live session will be in late September 2022. While we encourage live attendance so you have the opportunity to engage with the presenters and ask questions, all webinars are recorded and posted in our online classroom for students to watch anytime. Once you have enrolled in this course, you will retain access to all materials indefinitely, and can return to participate in the live webinars in future offerings of the course if you wish.