Apply By November 30 for the 2013 Beginner Farmer Training Program

Future Harvest – CASA’s Beginner Farmer Training Program (BFTP) is accepting applications through November 30 for enrollment for the 2013 season. Loudoun Economic Development is a proud sponsor of this program. Now in its 5th year, the BFTP will expand in 2013 with a regional program to encompass new locations on the western and eastern shores of Maryland, as well as parts of Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The program is geared toward people who want to make sustainable or organic farming a career, have 1-2 years of farming experience, and can commit time both to learning about farming in the classroom and to a day or more of hands-on apprenticeship on an area farm. Visit the Future Harvest CASA website to read more about the Beginner Farmer Training Program, including success stories from previous graduates and publications celebrating the BFTP.

The 2013 BFTP will start off with a meeting at the Future Harvest CASA 14th Annual “Farming for Profit and Stewardship” Conference on January 18 & 19, 2013 at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, VA. In the early spring, trainees will attend an 8-week classroom series taught by University of Maryland Extension professionals and guest speakers.

When the growing season begins, trainees will be assigned to one of several qualified training farms, where they work one or more days a week alongside the farm’s owners or managers to see how classroom topics apply in the field. Trainees will also participate in several field days during the summer on non-trainer farms to learn about a range of best practices in various aspects of sustainable agriculture. Upon completion of several program milestones, successful trainees may be eligible for farm start-up mini-grants.

Apply online today or contact Cathy Tipper at cathy@futureharvestcasa.org or (410) 218-3620 for more information. Application deadline is November 30, 2012.

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Future Harvest – Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture (CASA) is a network of farmers, agricultural professionals, landowners and consumers living and working in the Chesapeake region (Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington DC). Future Harvest CASA promotes profitable, environmentally sound and socially acceptable food and farming systems that work to sustain communities.