People who are exploring new farm businesses will benefit from participating in the Michigan State University Extension 2019 Beginning Farmer Webinar Series. New and expanding farm businesses provide jobs, income, increased economic and social stability, and increased food security to rural and other communities. The program will help small businesses succeed by providing basic, practical information on sound production practices, business management and marketing to people interested in, or already engaging in, new and expanding farm enterprises of any size.

From January to April, MSU Extension will offer 12 online programs that will take place at 7 p.m. EST on Wednesdays. Each is one hour long. These programs, followed by the date when they will run, will provide valuable startup information on general and more specific farming topics, including “Getting started with…”:

• the physical labor of farming, Jan. 16

• growing specialty mushrooms, Jan. 23

• pruning fruit trees, Jan. 30

• soil physical properties for field and hoop houses, Feb. 6

• seed saving, Feb. 13

• small farm business startups, Feb. 20

• small farm meat chicken production, Feb. 27

• pruning small fruits, March 6

• quality hay and pasture, March 13

• selling to wholesale buyers, March 20

• cover crop types and uses on your farm, March 27

• the next steps of farm financial management, April 3

Participate from the comfort and convenience of your own home or office. A fee of $5 per webinar is required, or register for the entire series for $30. Webinar recordings will be provided to all registered participants. A high-speed internet connection is required. Webinar connection information will be provided after registration.

Registration, a brochure containing details on each individual program and online or mailed payment options can be found at Beginning Farmer Webinar Series 2019.

Register for some or all of the courses at any time, even if the session has already taken place. In that case, you will get a link to the recorded program.

If you experience any problems with registration, contact the Alger County MSU Extension office at 906-387-2530 or [email protected].

Several archived recordings of MSU Extension Beginning Farmer webinars on a variety of topics from previous years are available for viewing at the Beginning Farmer Webinar Series website.

For more information, contact the Alger County MSU Extension office at 906-387-2530 or [email protected].

Source: MSU Extension