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

Cow 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.

Updated 1/17/08

Contents

Course specifics
Course objectives

Course locations

Central

Columbia

Dates
Feb. 7, 21, March 6, April 3, 17, May 1, 15, 29
Contact
Don Day
573-445-9792
daydr@missouri.edu

East Central

Hillsboro, Mo.

Dates
Feb. 12, 26, March 11, 25, April 8, 12, 22, May 13, 17, 27
Contact
Dean Wilson
636-797-5057
wilsond@missouri.edu

Northeast

Macon, Mo.

Dates
Feb. 5, 12, 19, 26 and March 4, 11, 18, 25
Contact
Joe Koenen
660-947-2705
koenenj@missouri.edu

Northwest

St. Joseph

Dates
Feb. 11, 18, 25, March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
Contact
Tom Fowler
816-279-1691
fowlert@missouri.edu

South Central

Lebanon, Mo.

Dates
Jan 24, Feb 7, 21, March 6, 20, April 3, 17, May 1, 15
Contact
Jim Thompson
417-532-7126
thompsonjo@missouri.edu

Mountain Grove, Mo.

Dates
Jan 22, Feb 5, 19, March 4, 18, April 1, 15, 29, May 13
Contact
Ted Probert
417-741-6134
ProbertT@missouri.edu

Rolla, Mo.

Dates
Jan 21, Feb 4, Feb 18, March 3, 17, 31, April 14, 28, May 12
Contact
Mick Gilliam
573-458-6260
gilliamm@missouri.edu

Southwest

TBA

Dates
TBA
Contact
Gordon Carriker
417-581-3558
carrikerg@missouri.edu

West Central

Nevada

Dates
April 3 through May 8
Contact
Wayne Prewitt
417-448-2560
prewittw@missouri.edu

Warrensburg

Dates
Late February
Contact
Crystal Weber
816-876-2790
webercd@missouri.edu