Newest Farm Beginnings Class Finds Strong Support and Increased Demand
DRA kicked off its 5th year of Farm Beginnings classes on Nov. 23rd in Rapid City, marking the first year the program has ever been offered in western South Dakota. This year’s class has record enrollment with fifteen families participating. Members and staff raised nearly $9,000 this year in scholarship funding and program support, another record, most of which was awarded to families requesting help in offsetting tuition costs. This amount included two scholarships offered by the Farmer Veteran Coalition to veterans applying for scholarship this year. Although our fundraising exceeded our goal, the number of families requesting scholarships exceeded the amount raised and so we are still looking to fundraise about $1200 to cover the full scholarship fund.
Farm Beginnings has seen strong fundraising support since its inception. In the past five years the Leadership Team has raised $31,000 in grassroots funds for student scholarships and program support for the Farm Beginnings class. This money has been contributed entirely by community organizations, businesses, and individuals
Including the students enrolled this year, the DRA Farm Beginnings program has served 49 families since launching in 2009. The course has been held two years in Brookings, two years in Sioux Falls, and now once in Rapid City. Last spring DRA took a survey of all graduates from the first four years of classes and found that 88% of graduates report they have engaged in farming activities since taking the class, with only 30% reporting that were involved before taking the class.
There are around 20 local farmers and ag professionals who participate in helping to teach the Farm Beginnings classes. These classes focus on Whole Farm Planning, Business Planning, Financial Planning, Marketing, Connecting with Resources, and Connecting with Mentors. Farm Beginnings offers 44 hours of in-class instruction and is followed up by on-farm experiences such as tours, skills sessions, and internships.
The class is overseen by a Leadership Team made up of farmer-mentors and course graduates. The class is linked closely with the Farmer Network, which provides opportunities for mentorship between beginning and established farmers as well as provides on-farm education opportunities such as farm tours and skills sessions.
DRA works closely with the Farm Beginnings Collaborative, a national alliance of independent regional groups of farmers and farmer-training support organizations who work together to promote Farm Beginnings. Currently DRA is contributing to this effort by working to organize continuing education for all Farm Beginnings course facilitators by developing workshops where facilitators can develop best practices, troubleshoot issues, and share curriculum.
The course is currently supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Develop Program (BFRDP) through the USDA. The BFRDP is one of the stranded programs in the Farm Bill and the DRA is seeking new funding sources for the program beginning next August.