The Entrepreneurship Project for Agriculture

We are one month away from the first module of a new off-campus education program called the Entrepreneurship Project for Agriculture. There is a new blog site here to present the program, communicate with the participants, and show off the outcomes.

The project is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s competitive grant program for Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development. The USDA funds education programs annually under this title. I was fortunate to be one of the successful grantees from the 2009 program, primarily because my co-PI, Peter Hofherr, is the ideal person to design and lead such a program. There is a brief introduction his bona fides on the site. I am also blessed to have Jill Lucht as program coordinator; she is passionate about small farms, collaborative ventures in food marketing, and alternative agriculture.

Each education program consists of four intensive four-day modules, including a day of site visits with successful entrepreneurs in production agriculture and firms who link to farmers, including public markets, restaurants, retailers, and wholesalers. We will do this in St. Louis, Kansas City,  Marin/Sonoma, and Columbia during the next five months. After each module, we will post pictures and videos, the schedule of activities, and other materials. I’ll note the updates on this site as well.