lllinois Farm Beginnings^®

lllinois Farm Beginnings is a great way to jump-start your entrepreneurial farm business. It is a year-long training and support program with three components:

• Winter classes – 9 sessions that focus on planning for profit (October to March)
• Spring Field Days/Workshops - hands on field days and workshops (March to June
• Mentoring from a successful sustainable farmer in your field of interest (April to October)

"There is absolutely nothing like talking to the very people who have walked the path of sustainable farming. I learned so much hearing the success stories, and even the failures, from the wide variety of farmers that presented, one class after another. Getting to know my fellow students was a treasure as well. I look forward to comparing notes with them in the years ahead. What a blessing and a bargain this course was. Farm Beginnings will likely save me thousands of dollars in mistakes!"

-Bill Wilson, Central Illinois Farm Beginnings Graduate, 2006

Illinois Farm Beginnings is held in two locations:

	Stateline Farm Beginnings (facilitated by the Angelic Organics Learning Center) serves Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. For more information, contact Parker Forsell, Program Director, at (815) 389-8455 or
	Central Illinois Farm Beginnings (facilitated by The Land Connection and the University of Illinois Extension) serves Illinois counties south of Interstate 80. For more information, contact Terra Brockman, Program Director, at (847) 338-1861 or or Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, Small Farm and Sustainable Agriculture Specialist, at (217) 968-5512 or

All Farm Beginnings® material was developed by the Land Stewardship Project based on the experiences of their farmer members. It is used by permission under license. To learn more, visit www.landstewardshipproject.org. Central Illinois Farm Beginnings® and Stateline Farm Beginnings® adapt these original materials based on the experiences of their member farmers.