Agriculture


Course locations

Central

Coming in the Fall 2010 at the Boone County Extension Center

East Central

To be held at the Schlafly Bottle Works in Maplewood

  • Dates
    Feb. 16, 23, March 2, 3, 9, 13 (farm tour), 16, 23, 27 (farm tour) 30 April 6
  • Contact
    Dean Wilson
    636-797-5057
    wilsond@missouri.edu

To be held at the Perry County Extension Center, Perryville

  • Dates
    Feb 4, 11, 13 (farm tour), 18, 25, March 4, 11, 13 (farm tour)
  • Contact
    Kate Kammler
    573-883-3548
    kammlerk@missouri.edu

To be held at the Warren County Extension Center, Warrenton

  • Dates
    .Feb. 18, 25, March 4, 6 (farm tour), 11, 18, 25, 27 (farm tour), April 1, 8
  • Contact
    Shelly Bush
    636-456-3344
    bushs@missouri.edu

Northeast

 

Northwest

To be held in St. Joseph

South Central

 

Southeast

To be held at the Telecommunication Community Resource Center, Poplar Bluff

  • Dates
    Feb. 1, 8, 15, 22 and March 1, 8, 15, 22
  • Contact
    Sarah Denkler
    573-686-8064
    denklers@missouri.edu

To be held in Fredericktown, Madison County

  • Dates
    Feb. 2, 9, 16, 23, March 2, 9, 16, 23, Farm tour date to be determined.
  • Contact
    Kendra Graham
    573-224-5600 ext. 8
    grahamkk@missouri.edu

Southwest

To be held at the Southwest Research Center, Mount Vernon,

West Central

To be held alternately at the Lafayette (Higginsville) and Johnson (Warrensburg) County Extension Centers

  • Dates
    Jan. 27, Feb. 3,10,17,24, March 3, 6 (farm tour), 10, 17, 24, 27 (farm tour), 31
  • Contact
    Katie Nixon
    816-809-5074
    nixonk@linconu.edu

Grow your farm
Grow your farm

  • Have a creative farming idea?
  • Need practical guidance to help turn your farm into a profitable business?

If you answered yes to these questions, then the Grow Your Farm course is right for you. Grow Your Farm will help you translate your farming ideas into a successful business venture.

Course specifics

CowGrow Your Farm is designed for prospective farmers, beginners with some experience and seasoned farmers who want to make a "new beginning" with alternative farming methods. MU Extension specialists and experienced, innovative farmers teach the sessions.

Grow Your Farm meets 11 times over a 16- to 18-week time frame. Classes include eight seminars with three farm tours.


Course objectives

Information on production techniques is relatively easy to find and use, but what many landowners need is help to develop the farm as a profitable business. With this in mind, Grow Your Farm is designed to assist you, the producer, in creating and planning your farm as a business.

This course will help you:

    Cow
  • Identify and prioritize personal and family values and use them as the foundation for the farm mission statement and goals.
  • Learn how to "walk the farm" to assess the land and its facilities.
  • Learn to evaluate the feasibility of particular farm opportunities.
  • Understand the components of a business plan and create one of your own.
  • Understand financial aspects of a business plan and review popular tools to manage financial records.
  • Consider different types of agricultural marketing and draft a marketing plan.
  • Become familiar with a variety of legal issues that pertain to farming enterprises.
  • Network with other farmers.