The 13th annual beginning farmer class, PLANT (People Learning Agriculture Now for Tomorrow), starts Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020. This class covers many production and business related topics for aspiring farmers (see below). Each class meets for three hours, from 6-9 p.m. at the Orange County Cooperative Extension office, located at 306-E Revere Road, Hillsborough, NC. Each three-hour class is split into three segments, taught by experienced local vegetable growers, University professors, Extension specialists or agents, or other topic related experts.
This class is part of the PLANT Beginning Farmer program run by Orange County Cooperative Extension that started in 2008. To register, please go to here or look for class information on the homepage of the Orange County (NC) Cooperative Extension website. Registration deadline is January 3, 2020.
If you have questions about this class or any aspect of the Beginning Farmer Program can call Mike Lanier at 919/245-2063 to discuss your interest.
Typical Topics Covered in this Class
- Cover Crops
- Drip Irrigation
- Equipment for Small Farms
- Farmers Market Set-up and Display
- Financial Resources
- Food Safety
- Introduction to Soils/Soil Testing
- Legal Issues Pertinent to Farm Start-up Businesses
- Livestock and Poultry Enterprise Opportunities
- Local Farmers Market Representative(s) Talk About Their Markets
- Observations on Direct Marketing Farm Products
- Overview of Soil & Water, FSA, and NRCS Programs and Resources
- Perspectives of a Young Beginning Farmer
- Planting and Growing Vegetables
- Post-Harvest Handling
- Season Extension and High-Tunnel Production
- Starting a Farm/Preparing a Cash Flow
- Transplant Production
- Vegetable Diseases
- Vegetable Insects
- Weed Control with and without Plastic
- Whole Farm Planning