Course locations
Central
Calloway County, Callaway County Extension Center
- Dates
Nov. 17, Dec. 1, 8, 15, Jan. 5, 19, 26, Feb. 2
- Farm tours
Dec. 5, Jan. 23, March to be determined
- Contact
Jim Jarman
573-642-0755
jarmanj@missouri.edu
East Central
St. Louis County, Schlafly Bottle Works
- Dates
Feb. 16, 23, March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 April 6, 13
- Farm tours
To be determined
- Contact
Dean Wilson
636-797-5057
wilsond@missouri.edu
Warren County, Warren County Extension Center
- Dates
Feb. 18, 25, March 5, 11, 18, 25, April 1, 8, 15
- Farm tours
To be determined
- Contact
Shelly Bush
636-456-3344
bushs@missouri.edu
Northeast
Northwest
St. Joseph
- Dates
To be determined
- Contact
Tom Fowler
816-279-1691
fowlert@missouri.edu
Randa Doty at
660-582-8101
dotyr@missouri.edu
South Central
Southeast
Three locations to be determined
- Dates
January, February, March
- Contact
Van Ayers
573-568-3344
ayersv@missouri.edu
Southwest
Mount Vernon, Southwest Research Center
- Dates
To be determined
- Contact
Gordon Carriker
417-581-3558
carrikerg@missouri.edu
West Central
Lafayette County
- Dates
January, February, March
- Contact
Crystal Weber
816-876-2790
webercd@missouri.edu
Nevada
- Dates
To be determined
- Contact
Wayne Prewitt
417-448-2560
prewittw@missouri.edu
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
Grow 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:
- 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.