FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Center for Arkansas Farms and Food will hold a short course on small-scale farming May 3-4.

SHORT COURSE — Mike Popp, professor and agricultural economist, speaks to Center for Arkansas Farms and Food program participants. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)

The CAFF Small Farm Short Course titled “Grow Your Farm” provides an intensive two-day workshop with a deep dive into bed building, equipment and transplanting.

“We’ll also cover the basics of record keeping, profitability, branding and marketing,” said CAFF Program Director Heather Friedrich. “The course features both classroom and field study, so wear your work clothes. We’ll demo equipment and tour some local farms, too!”

The course will be held 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, May 3, and continue 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 4. The Center for Arkansas Farms and Food is located at 1005 Meade Ave., Fayetteville.

The cost of the workshop is $100 thanks to a grant from Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grants and outreach program. Scholarships are also available. Lunch, refreshments and snacks will be provided. No experience is required, and the course is beginning-farmer-friendly, Friedrich noted. Guest speakers will include local farmers and technical experts.

The deadline to register is April 28 at NWAFarming.org.

This is the second CAFF Small Farm short course of 2024, with the first being held in February. The third and final short course of the year will be Oct. 18-19, focusing on crop planning and budgeting, soil health and equipment care.

CAFF supports local food entrepreneurs and increases small farm viability through experiential learning. Explore courses at LearnToFarm.org and follow on Instagram @caff_ar_farms. CAFF is part of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Center for Arkansas Farms and Food will begin its 2024 session of Beginning Farmer classes on Jan. 18 online via Zoom while a series of two-day Small Farm Short Courses will be held in person.

GREEN THUMBS — The Center for Arkansas Farms and Food will start its 2024 Beginning Farmer classes on Jan. 18 and conduct Small Farm Short Courses three times this year. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)

The online Beginning Farmer classes are held virtually 6-8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays through the end of February and focus on building a successful, sustainable market farm. Farmers share their experiences and knowledge as part of the classes. The online classes are $10 each and incorporate learning activities with other local service providers.

“You can expect new knowledge and insights even if you’ve taken the course before,” said Heather Friedrich, Center for Arkansas Farms and Food program manager.

Recordings of the online classes will remain available to registrants through Oct. 31. There will be 13 classes in the 2024 session covering a wide variety of topics that include growing produce, marketing, transitioning to organic, agritourism, and consumer supported agriculture, also known as CSA.

To pay the $10 access fee per course, visit the registration page at www.farmandfoodsystems.uada.edu/classes/. An email will be sent to registrants the day before each class and a follow up email will provide links to resources and a recording of the class

Friedrich noted the benefit of attending the classes virtually, rather than watching the recordings, is having the opportunity to ask questions during the class.

Small Farm Short Courses

New in 2024, CAFF is offering three intensive two-day in-person workshops called Small Farm Short Courses. The two-day, in-person workshops will be offered with seasonally relevant content at the Center for Arkansas Farms and Food, 1005 Meade, in Fayetteville.

The first workshop is Feb. 2-3 and addresses transplant production, markets, soil health, setting up systems for success, cultivating community in your food system and a spotlight on CSAs. The second workshop will be May 3-4 with topics including field preparation and building beds, equipment demonstrations, record keeping and messaging, and marketing. The third and final workshop will be held Oct. 18-19 and will focus on developing skills for crop planning, equipment maintenance, understanding costs of production, cover cropping and building farm management skills.

The courses will offer classroom and field instruction 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Presenters will include CAFF staff, local farmers and representatives from local organizations that work with farmers and small businesses. Lunch, refreshments and snacks will be provided. Registration fees are $200 for each two-day workshop. Scholarships are available for those with limited resources, and historically underserved people.

For more information on the online classes and short courses, please email Friedrich at heatherf@uark.edu.

‘Grow Your Farm’ short course coming up in May

CAFF 2024 Beginning Farmer classes start Jan. 18