Training
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- Dairy Beef: Maximizing Quality & Profits
An online course offered by the University of California-Davis intended for dairy producers, milk producers, dairy herd managers, and others. The course consists of a number of educational segments including videos, slide sets, and written material. The design of the course will allow you to go through all these segments in sequence and provide you acces to more specific information and resources about market cattle food safety and quality. - Farm & Industry Short Course
Offered annually by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this 17-week short course provides "education in agriculture for individuals planning careers in production agriculture or related agribusinesses." Students learn sound business principles; basic care and handling of livestock, equipment, and machinery; and principles of soil stewardship and crop husbandry. Includes courses in marketing, rural economic issues, farm management, production, and decisionmaking. - Iowa Community College Sustainable Agriculture Program
Marshalltown Community College in Iowa has accepted a $25,000 challenge grant from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture to initiate a two-year sustainable agriculture degree program that will be the first of its kind in the Midwest. The Sustainable & Entrepreneurial Agriculture program will train beginning farmers, sharpen skills for existing farmers, and help farmers from Iowa's immigrant communities who would like to enter agriculture. The degree will provide students with experiences in both producing and marketing agricultural products. - New Farm's Online Training Programs
Rodale Institute currently has one training program available, The Transition to Organic Program. Four additional courses are being developed, including Advanced Marketing. Details will be posted at the link above as they become available. - Online Agriculture Degree Programs
Identifies a number of colleges and universities that offer online and distance learning opportunities for agriculture. - Penn State Home Study Courses on Livestock Production
Penn State Cooperative Extension is offering six-week home study courses on beef, sheep and meat goat production. The three separate courses are available either by mail or through the Internet, and offer full- or part-time producers information on livestock nutrition, reproduction, health and marketing. Participants in each course will receive course readings and complete worksheets that are submitted to the instructor with any questions. - Principles of Farm Management
This 10-week home study course offered via the Internet focuses on agricultural management. Topics covered include: economic principles, time value of money, cash flow and partial budgeting, enterprise budgeting, market planning and marketing decisions. Offerd by the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.
- Purdue University's Executive MBA in Food and Agricultural Business
A two-year, distance-learning program intended for "individuals in the food and agribusiness industries that want to pursue a top-tier graduate education in management while retaining their current job responsibilities." - Teaching Organic Farming and Gardening: Resources for Instructors
A new 600-page training manual to be used by a diverse group of instructors in farming and gardening, produced by The Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The publication covers practical aspects of organic farming and gardening, applied soil science, and social and environmental issues in agriculture. Units contain lecture outlines for instructors, detailed lecture outlines for students, field and laboratory demonstrations, assessment questions, and annotated resource lists. A printed copy of the manual is available for $45 from the Center, or the entire manual may be downloaded from the Center's website. - Tilling the Soil of Opportunity: A Guide for Agricultural Entrepreneurs
A 10-session course that assists farmers, ranchers, and gardeners explore different distribution channels needed to get their agricultural products to market, including niche markets such as organic, sustainable and value-added products. Instructors also help participants analyze their costs of production. - Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers
Combines on-farm experience with classroom learning brings farmers, researchers, and students together helps students bridge the school-to-work transition positions graduates to establish successful careers in grass-based dairy or livestock farming. For those interested in distance learning, a three-CD set that contains the lectures and discussions from the Grass-Based Dairy Seminar is available for $115. Contents include: Starting a grass-based dairy business; Developing a business plan; and Managing a grass-based dairy business. For more information, contact Dick Cates, WSBDF coordinator at 608-265-6437 or 608-588-2836.