lllinois Farm Beginnings®
lllinois Farm Beginnings is a great way to jump-start your entrepreneurial farm business. It is a year-long training and support program with three components:
- Business Planning Seminars - A seminar series that leads students through the business planning process (October to March)
- On-Farm Field Days - Work days hosted by local, sustainable farmers interested in providing students with practical farming knowledge (March to June)
- One-on-one Mentorships - Students are given the opportunity to engage in a season-long, customized mentorship with a local farmer (April to October)
Illinois Farm Beginnings is held in three locations:
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Stateline Farm Beginnings (facilitated by the Angelic Organics Learning Center) serves Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. For more information, contact Sheri Doyle, Program Director, at (815) 389-8455 or |
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Central Illinois Farm Beginnings (facilitated by The Land Connection) serves Illinois counties south of Interstate 80. For more information, contact Cathe Capel, Director of Farmer Programming at (217) 688-2570 or |
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Southern Illinois Farm Beginnings (facilitated by Food Works) serves Southern Illinois. For more information, contact Dayna Conner, Executive Director at (618) 319-0542 or |
"There is absolutely nothing like talking to the very people who have walked the path of sustainable farming. I learned so much hearing the success stories, and even the failures, from the wide variety of farmers that presented, one class after another. Getting to know my fellow students was a treasure as well. I look forward to comparing notes with them in the years ahead. What a blessing and a bargain this course was. Farm Beginnings will likely save me thousands of dollars in mistakes!"
-Bill Wilson, Central Illinois Farm Beginnings Graduate, 2006