Farm Beginnings
Where Community is Central to Learning
Farm Beginnings is more than a business course.
FARRMS' 12-week course delivers community-based sustainable agriculture education, guided by local farmers who view farming as a holistic lifestyle. Farmers will receive guidance in crafting a whole farm plan and will be connected to essential resources for farm success. With community at the core, this program is deeply rooted in collaborative, farmer-led learning, ensuring that every lesson is practical, relevant, and community-focused.
A whole farm plan encompasses various components including a business plan, soil health and natural resource management plan, food safety plan, and marketing plan, all essential for the successful operation and sustainability of the farm. Each lesson throughout this course will help you create a section of your whole farm plan.
Who can take Farm Beginnings?
What to Expect
Course Benefits
Costs & Scholarships
Meet the Instructors!
During this course you will hear from professionals at USDA Farm Service Agency, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, North Dakota Small Business Development Center (SBDC), North Dakota Department of Agriculture, and more.
Holistic Management Presenter
Cree Bradley
Cree has served in a variety of positions with a local food and farming focus in Colorado and throughout the Midwest. Over a 20-year period, she has organized programs with the Sustainable Farming Association, Institute for a Sustainable Future, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, and the Land Stewardship Project.
Instructor
Jon Stika
Jon was a conservationist, agronomist, soil scientist, and soil health instructor with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, retiring in 2015. He continued his work with North Dakota State University Dickinson Research Extension Center and republished in 2025, his book, “A Soil Owner's Manual: How To Restore and Maintain Soil Health."
Facilitator
Jake Callander
Jake is from the suburbs of Minnesota, moving to Fargo, ND to complete his degree in Agricultural Systems Management. Before launching his own small-scale produce farm and vermicomposting operation in Hillsboro, ND, in 2020, Jake actively sought knowledge through FARRMS' programs. The Sustainable Ag Internship provided hands-on experience, Farm Dreams helped solidify his farm vision, and Farm Beginnings equipped him with business planning expertise. In late 2023, his dedication and passion to grower education landed him the role of Farmer Educator at FARRMS.
Farmer
Jen Skoog
An accountant by trade, Jen Skoog discovered a love for farming at the age of 35 when she moved out of Fargo to an 80 acre property near Christine, ND. Jen currently owns Family Roots Farm, a diversified haven with everything from chickens and lamb to fresh produce, honey and preserves. She is a Farm Beginnings Graduate who thrives on bringing financial expertise and a passion for agriculture together to both manage her own farm and assist others.
One of the best parts of this experience is, that my partner and I have had some very productive discussions about our individual and shared goals for our farm.
I'm so grateful for the resources and presentations FARRMS put together in Farm Beginnings. There's so many more resources available that I didn't know about before this course, and the presenters made difficult subjects like finding insurance, record keeping, and funding, much easier to understand and recognize where to go for help.
This program has really helped us solidify that our farm is a business; to be taken seriously just the same as any other small business. The program helped me to focus on what was truly needed and the level of detail needed for different audiences. So many different points of view were shared that really made me think differently about our farm.
For me, having a garden for my family wasn’t enough. I wanted to farm so I can feed my community. FARRMS helped me bring my farm dreams to life and has helped me make my farm what it is today.
All of the presenters and FARRMS staff were more than helpful and open to giving their time and expertise to see all of us succeed. I am sure we will stay in touch with many of them to share experiences and resources as time goes on.
SO USEFUL. Feel very prepared. Definitely bring Cree back for future years. She's amazing and incredibly thorough.